Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032626.cfm 

In our gospel for today we see another confrontation between Jesus and the Jews. Jesus was teaching that he is indeed the Messiah and God and to believe in him mean that you have eternal life.

The Jews had a problem accepting the fact that Jesus was both God and Man. They only saw the fact that he was man and considered him possessed for teaching that he is God and as a result were ready to stone him to death.

During this time of Lent as we journey towards Holy Week and Easter Sunday, we can ask ourselves what is our attitude towards Jesus? Is our faith strong in believing that he is the Messiah and our Lord and Savior? Or do we sometimes have doubts as to who Jesus really is in our lives.

There could be many reasons why we would doubt Jesus and his divinity. We daily face issues that we feel frustrated over and may not feel his presence in our day-to-day existence. In our own confusion and pain, it can be hard to hear, hard to see God with us. What might you be clinging to so tightly that you’re not seeing? What’s getting in the way of receiving Jesus?

During the remainder of Lent and during Holy Week, turn to Jesus and pray for help in our issues and pain. Ask the Lord for an increase your faith. Pray: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” Amen.

"By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons."

 

Scripture for this reflection can be found at  Thursday of the Third Week of Lent | USCCB

In our gospel for today, we see how people had a problem with who Jesus was and what he was doing regarding the healings he was performing. They assumed it was through the Evil One that the Lord was doing these healings. They had trouble accepting the fact that he was the Messiah they have been waiting for and had power over good and evil. Because he is both fully God and fully man, he had this power to heal people and to expel demons. Yet the people were blinded to this truth and rejected him. Jesus rightly points out, “…if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”

What is our attitude towards Jesus? Do we accept him as Messiah and God? Or do we have our doubts about who he and what he can do in our lives. In today’s gospel and throughout all the gospels we can see and come to know that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. We just need to put our trust in him and know that he will be there for us in all our needs. Our needs may not be as dramatic as in today’s gospel where Jesus is expelling a demon, but Jesus is there for us in all our problems, whether emotional or physical. We just need to turn to him and ask him for his help and healing in whatever we are facing, whether for ourselves or for our families or friends.

In our first reading we hear Jerimiah give us this message from God: “Listen to myvoice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the waysthat I command you, so that you may prosper.” Let us always have God in the center of who we are so that we can receive the emotional or physical healing we need. God will always answer our prayers in a way that we need. We my not get the answer we expect but we will always get the answer or healing God feels we need. We just need to be open to God’s voice in every aspect of our lives.

Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever.