Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, March 21, 2024

Gospel

Jn 8:51-59

Jesus said to the Jews:

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

So the Jews said to him,

“Now we are sure that you are possessed.

Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,

‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?

Or the prophets, who died?

Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;

but it is my Father who glorifies me,

of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

You do not know him, but I know him.

And if I should say that I do not know him,

I would be like you a liar.

But I do know him and I keep his word.

Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;

he saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him,

“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,

before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

So they picked up stones to throw at him;

but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

Reflection

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’"

Jesus really knows how to give profound answers. This sentence has so much meaning. Jesus is a reflection of the Father in heaven. All the good that Jesus does, He does for the Father in Heaven. In turn the Father glorifies Jesus. This reminds me of the saying, the more love you give, the more you will receive. If we do not give, how can there be a return of anything?

There is a story about three women who run a marathon race. They have trained for a long time to get where they could finish the race and get first place. The day comes and the race begins. When they get down to the last few yards, the woman who is in first place collapses a few feet away from the finish line. The second person comes up and passes the first one up in hopes to capture the first place finish, but stops before crossing and jogs back to help the other woman. The third lady comes up and starts to pass them up, quite excited that her luck will give her a first place finish, but also stops before crossing and goes back to help. They help the woman on the ground to get up and hang on their shoulders, then all three cross the finish line together. Why they decided to do what they did is a mystery, but if you think about it, maybe you can come up with some good reasons why they chose to give up what they had trained so hard for.

When we do things for others, the Lord will see and reward our efforts more that we can imagine.