Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent
(Wisdom 2:1a.12-22; John 7:1-2.25-30)
In both readings today, arrogant men claim to know the
motives and destinies of just ones. The
reading from the Book of Wisdom shows the self-righteous judging a good person. They resent the good person who points their faults
and acts in ways contrary to their own. (Think of Richard Rich treatment of Thomas
More in A Man for all Seasons.)
In the gospel the men of Jerusalem claim to know Jesus because
they have heard where he is from.
They presume -- like Nathanael in the gospel’s opening scene: “’ Can
anything good come from Nazareth?’” But
they are wrong. Before Jesus grew up in Nazareth,
he was with the Father from all eternity.
We profess faith in Jesus, the Just One. His life reveals to us who we are. Like the men of Jerusalem condemning Jesus,
we are sinners given to think of ourselves as better than others. But when we repent of our sins as he
preached, we experience the reconciliation he achieved on the cross. Also, through his resurrection from the dead he
instills in us a never-ending life of virtue.
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