Posted by The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Roger Bag-ao SVD – Cebu City, Philippines
Thursday 5th Week of Lent
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
“Before Abraham came to be, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him.”
Truth is relative, according to the philosophy of relativism. What is true is contingent on the one who perceives it. We call this point of view. If you stand at the foot of the mountain you will only see the trees, the land and its vegetation. When you stand on the top of it, you will see much broader realities beyond your imagination.
Many times we have been confined in the prisons of our own perceptions. We cannot be objective in our own judgments, making it hard for us to see the objective truth. Worse is when we try to dictate the truth to align with our own wishes. This is understandably human. Nevertheless, the truth remains the truth devoid of perceptual and human considerations.
The Jews cannot accept the truth of Christ’s words because their egoistic preferences imprisoned them. In many instances, they manipulated the truth to suit their own motives and agenda. The reason why they cannot accept the truth is their refusal to reform and align their actions accordingly.
Today’s Gospel reading prepares us for a deeper reality of the Paschal Triduum which is the reckoning of the truth of salvation history. God carried out his salvific plan not according to power but of powerlessness, not of riches but of poverty, not of pride but sheer humility in the cross.
It is through the cross, that indeed Jesus is far greater than Abraham. If we want to understand the mystery of Jesus, we might as well believe and follow him in the most unconventional way of carrying our crosses daily.
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