First Reading Commentary
“The days
are coming, says the Lord” immediately turns the heart and mind towards
prophecy. The Finger of God points us to
the future. A new covenant is being made
with God’s people which is unlike the covenant made in the days of the Exodus from
Egypt
Friends,
relatives and those who have the gifts to teach the faith are used as God’s
instruments; therefore, when this Reading suggests that no longer will
individuals be needed to teach, the understanding is that they are used as
instruments of God but the faith and conversion experience is the sole work of
the Holy Spirit. Remember that even the
great Saint Paul
The Lord
remembering our sin no more points to the Sacrament of Baptism as baptism
washes away original sin. It also points
to the Sacrament of Confession which absolves the sins which follow after one
has been baptized.
Second Reading Commentary
What the
writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is trying to portray about Jesus in the
Flesh is the time when God humbled Himself and willingly took on a mortal and
suffering condition.
Offering
“prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the One Who is able to
save . . . from death” are actions of
mortal man. And the understanding of
mortal man that God saves from death delineates man’s dependency on Him. Jesus taught us through His suffering, that
human nature can and should surrender to the divine will. Every prayer which Jesus made that was heard
by man, was heard for reverential regard.
That is, Jesus was heard in order that we might grasp reverential fear,
respectful submission and piety. Thus
Jesus, was perfected as Man by possessing all the virtues, and because He is
also true God, He is the Source of our salvation.
Gospel Commentary
Saint John’s
Gospel more so than the Synoptic Gospels is mystical. When reading his Gospel, one has to read it
in the light of how it applies to the heart, soul, and inner life of man. All Christians serious about their spiritual
life collectively groan within the same words spoken to Philip: “We would like
to see Jesus.” The spiritual life is a
lifelong search for the Face of Jesus.
In Jesus Christ, Almighty God has been given a human Face.
For us
today, within the boundaries of time, “the hour has” already “come for the Son
of Man to be glorified.” But for the
interior man, the battle of good versus evil wages within us and it is a
lifelong struggle to work for the greater glory of the Indwelling of the Son of
Man. In an ideal situation, the
behavior: actions, thoughts and deeds for every Christian should radiate the
God within us. But we are a fallen
nature, and while it may never be our intention to stray from God, the reality
is that we do.
There’s a
twofold meaning for the grain of wheat example given by Jesus. First, it was the death of our Lord that
produced much fruit – fruit that would never have ripened if Jesus hadn’t died
on the Cross. Saint Augustine
We
see a little of the struggle of the interior life in Jesus the Man by the
words: “I am troubled now.” Our Savior,
because He had a human nature, was no stranger to the battle within. But it is through His divine nature that He
was able to win this battle and say: “Father, glorify Your Name.” What that teaches us is that we cannot win
these battles without divine intervention.
So often we try to, though. If
this weren’t true, stress would never be a silent killer. Unfortunately we can’t snap our fingers and
make it all happen. Laying down our
lives at this level and entrusting the war within to Jesus requires deep,
intense prayer. This will lead to a
closer, intimate union with our Lord.
Love for Him will grow and when love grows so does trust. This ultimately glorifies the Lord and
benefits our brothers and sisters.
