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March 27, 2012
Friends
Below you'll find a homily from the Fifth Sunday of
Lent, Passion Sunday, preached by Fr. Thomas. Also, here are some
recent postings on our blog:"
Time is Short: A Meditation on Passion Sunday
by Fr. Thomas Bolin, O.S.B.
Monastery of San Benedetto, Norcia, Italy
Today, the fifth Sunday of Lent, is traditionally called Passion
Sunday. This Sunday takes this name because from this point onward, the
liturgy begins to focus on the sufferings and death of Jesus,
anticipating more distinctly the particular commemoration which will
take place during the Holy Triduum.
Today’s Gospel passage
gives a response to the question, “Why do the Jews want to kill
Jesus?” What did they have against him? The response is very simple.
It was for blasphemy, because he held that he was the Son of God, and
therefore, God himself. In this passage, the affirmation is clear
enough, and the Jews clearly understand him. He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am”
(Jn 8:58). Here, we notice two things. First, he affirms that he was
before Abraham. In the minds of the Jews, this is already grave
enough. The second thing, though, is much worse. He takes the divine
name, “I am”. This is intended as the name of God, and therefore the Jews want to stone him.
At the beginning of the passage, Jesus gives an explanation of the situation. “If
I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God
hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you
are not of God” (Jn 8:47). St. Gregory, speaking of this passage,
says, “Each one of us can ask ourselves if we listen to the word of God
with the ears of our hearts.” Then, he adds: “Certainly, they don’t
listen to the words of God who disdain to practice them.” So the
question for us is if we listen to the words of God. First, do we
really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? If we do believe this, do
we practice it? And how?
From
beginning to end, the message of the Gospel vigorously underlines the
necessity of repentance. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins his
preaching with the message: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). And in the Acts of the Apostles, after the resurrection of Jesus, when the crowd asks the Apostles, “What should we do?”, Peter responds, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
Therefore,
the same thing goes for us. The time is short. There are only two
weeks left before Easter. We need to use this brief time well, and
prepare ourselves, examining our lives with repentance for our sins.
Normally, one goes to confession before Easter. Let us do this well
this year. Let us try to be ready to change our lives so that we can be
better prepared to truly listen to the words of God.
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