He is truly the Son of God
One day, one of the most famous professors at the university, a candidate for the Nobel Prize, reached the shores of the lake. He asked the carrier to take him on his boat for a ride on the lake. The good man agreed. When they were far from the shore, the professor started asking him: Do you know the history? Not! So, a quarter of your life is lost. Do you know astronomy? Not. So, two-quarters of your life has been wasted. Or maybe you know philosophy? Not. So, three-quarters of your life is lost. Suddenly, a terrible storm began to rage. The boat in the middle of the lake swayed like a nutshell. The carrier, shouting over the roar of the wind, asked the professor: Can you swim? Not! the professor shouted. So, replied the sailor, your whole life is lost!
We often think that knowledge can save us, help us live better. And this is often the case, but ... not always. Today's Gospel shows that the scribes, experts on the Mosaic law, people of great knowledge in the Jewish community of that time, question the authority of Jesus and reject him as the expected Messiah, because they know better who the Messiah will be, where he will come from, what he will do and what he will say. The figure of Jesus does not meet their expectations, it destroys their world, destroys their ideas. Yet many people have followed Jesus, acknowledging that He is indeed the Savior of the World, the long-awaited Messiah, the one who gives eternal life as a gift. Why were these people able to recognize Jesus as the Son of God? Their advantage was simplicity. They knew how to accept Jesus because they believed more in what they saw and heard than in their own attitudes and ideas. They allowed that the signs that Jesus performed: healing, casting out evil spirits, and words of exhortation to God's love, brotherly love, and self-love correctly understood to become stronger than their own prejudices or attitudes.
Each of us has something of a Pharisee in us. It is difficult for us to accept Jesus' message and his person so simply, so ordinary. We all have a problem with the right image of God. Our image of God was formed in us under the influence of very different experiences with other people, and above all with our parents. It is difficult for us to accept that God can love us selflessly, completely and for free, because we have not received such love from people. Each of us must have a spiritual fight, a fight on the level of faith. On the one hand, prejudices resulting from injuries suffered by people clashing in us, and on the other hand, the desire to enter a deep relationship of love for God. On the one hand, anxiety resulting from closeness, which is risky, and on the other hand, a great desire to unite ourselves with God in love, being for others, being loved and loving others. What will win in us? Probably what will be strengthened in us.
We need to look on ourselves every day, to look at the world, people, God and ourselves in such a way as to find evidence that it is possible the life in love. It is not easy, but it is possible. Without this faith in love in life, we cannot be happy. We cannot achieve this happiness alone. We need Jesus who, on the cross, obtained for us from God the Father the grace to live in love and for love. We can live like this if we want it and if we base our lives in simplicity of heart on Jesus, believing that he is truly the Son of God.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george