… and there he remained with the disciples. – John 11:54

       Taybeh is a town inside the West Bank in Palestine. It is well-known for a few things. It has a large world-class beer brewery; it is predominantly Christian; and its old name is Ephraim, the town mentioned in today’s Gospel where Jesus went to spend time preparing for His coming passion.

      We all need a Taybeh in our lives, a place of quiet where we can clearly hear the Spirit’s leading. Harassed by threats and surrounded by panic, many of us can understand why Jesus needed to retreat to Ephraim. We go through seasons in our lives when we feel the same way and have the same need for silence.

       Jesus teaches us what to do in these situations because He often (a) retreated to quiet places, (b) was often accompanied by His mother and disciples, and (c) He spent enormous amounts of time listening to the Father.

       This Holy Week, let us seek to find time to prepare as Jesus did to drown out the noise of the world and to listen more intently to God’s leading. Rod Velez (rod.velez@gmail.com)

Reflection:When you are hungry, you eat. How do you know when your soul is hungry and what do you feed it?

I only have one God and He gave His life to save mine. Teach me, Lord, to spend this week in gratitude.

St. Julie Billiart, pray for us.

Fame, money and power are some of the many false idols in the world today. Let us ask ourselves, “What is of supreme importance to me?” The answer will reveal what our heart is focused on. If it is not God, be warned.

21 Thus says the Lord God: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land. 22 I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one prince for them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that they may be my people and I may be their God. 24 My servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one shepherd for them all; they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees. 25 They shall live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived; they shall live on it forever, they, and their children, and their children’s children, with my servant David their prince forever. 26 I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the Lord, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

R: The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. (R) 11 The Lord shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. 12 Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings: the grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. (R) 13 Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. (R)

Jesus no longer went to the cities and towns because He knew that His life was in danger. But this threat did not silence Him. The Father gave Jesus a mission and nothing will stop Him from fulfilling it, even if it meant suffering a horrible death. Similarly, we know that many will ridicule us when we preach the Gospel. The prospect of suffering and death did not stop Jesus; neither should it stop us.

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

45 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, 50 nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 So from that day on they planned to kill him. 54 So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. 56 They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?”  

think: In what ways do you misunderstand Jesus?

Read the Bible in one year Exodus 28-30

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

COMING AND GOING

“Many who had come to Mary began to believe.” Drawing nearer must pay off. According to Tagalog wisdom, even fresh firewood, when placed close to the fire, will eventually burn. “Kahit sariwang kahoy kapag nadarang, ay magliliyab din.”

       There is wisdom in allowing people the opportunity to draw nearer. And drawing nearer that lends itself to faith is more than just the physical phenomenon of osmosis. The very same Gospel passage from John also tells us its exact opposite: “Some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.”

       Drawing nearer or getting farther, coming or going, placing oneself closer to the fire or moving away from the light? Which way, Juan de la Cruz?

       All of Scripture paints an image of a God who first gathers before He sends. Creation is a call to life. Redemption is a call to fullness of life. The God that Ezekiel was familiar with was a God who wanted to “take the children of Israel from among the nations,” and one who would “gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.”

       The Church is a product of a divine act of convoking before she was made to do the mission of dispersing. God, first of all, calls. He called Abram from Ur. In the First Reading, He still calls to form them into His people and utters a promise that would guarantee the fulfillment of His call: “I will be their God!”

     I know this firsthand as a long-time seminary formator. Formators allow seminarians to have every imaginable opportunity for a variety of endeavors, be it in sports, music, arts, theater, writing, speaking, etc.

       Those who draw near eventually learn. Give them enough time to practice the guitar or the harmonium or piano, and in no time, you develop budding and accomplished musicians in their own right. Expose them to spending time with the Lord in private and public prayer, and a great many of them do learn to love God. Learning by doing also applies to love.

       But there is something one must do. One must draw near. Coming precedes going to the world. “Come and see.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

In what ways do you draw near to Jesus?

Jesus my Savior, You call me each day to come before You in prayer. Let this be my first act as I awake that I may have the grace to fulfill the mission You have set out for me to do. Amen.