Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved about within Galilee;
he did not wish to travel in Judea,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.

But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,
“Is he not the one they are trying to kill?
And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.
Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,
“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
So they tried to arrest him,
but no one laid a hand upon him,
because his hour had not yet come.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“No one laid a hand on him because his hour had not come.” 

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Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus makes constant reference to his “hour.” 

We first hear him speak about it at the wedding at Cana, when he turns 150 gallons of water into wine at the prompting of Mary.

He references his “hour” again in today’s Gospel. The religious authorities are collapsing in on Jesus, plotting to kill him, but they cannot do so yet because his “hour” has not yet come.

Everything that Jesus does throughout his ministry, every sermon he preaches, every miracle he performs is somehow inspired by – and related to – this “hour.”

So, what is this “hour” Jesus is so conscious of?

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The “hour” of his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. As he says the night he’s arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, “for this hour have I come.”

In two weeks, you and I will journey with the Lord into the Garden of Gethsemane, through his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, then to the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. 

Jesus prepared his whole life for this hour, when the fullness of God’s love for humanity would be revealed. Lent has been the time for us to prepare to journey with him.

What has my Lenten pilgrimage been like thus far? Have I felt myself growing closer to Christ? Have I discovered the limits of my spiritual strength? Can I muster the energy to make a final push towards Easter?

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On Good Friday, Jesus will embrace his “hour” with unimaginable courage, bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. He will descend into the darkness of death, trusting that his Father will raise him again.

May we prepare ourselves to stand with the Lord, our hearts and minds made pure. For Christ’s resurrection promises the possibility of our own.

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Image credits: (1) Praying Through the Scriptures, WordPress (2) LDS Living (3) Christianity.com

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Gospel: Matthew 1:16-24

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate the life of a man whom we know almost nothing about. 

Joseph was the foster father of Jesus. But he never speaks a word in the Gospels, disappearing from the scriptures when Jesus is twelve. 

God spoke to Joseph, but only in dreams, first encouraging him to not be afraid to take Mary into his home. Later, another angel appeared, warning him to leave the very same home with Mary and the Christ-child in tow, because King Herod wanted Jesus dead.

So, the Holy Family took what little they had and walked the same road that cuts through Gaza today, from Bethlehem to Egypt. After an indefinite period of time in exile, they returned home – to a simple life.

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Simple because Joseph never went to college. He never wrote a book. He never owned shares in the stock market. He never held public office. He never made the news. He did nothing memorable in the world’s eyes. 

He was uneducated; a peasant; a foster father; a refugee.

A nobody.

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But 2,000 years have come and gone, and we still honor his life. Out of the billions of people who’ve lived and died, Joseph is one of the few our world still remembers fondly.

Maybe that’s because we all see something of ourselves in him. 

He worked hard. He loved deeply. He was a faithful husband. A devout father. And, most importantly, obedient to the tasks that God entrusted to him, even when only directed in a dream. 

Joseph shows us what really matters in the end.

Fidelity. Humility. Taking responsibility for the tasks that God has given us to do. If we can emulate his example, then we, too, shall be blessed in the eyes of God. 

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

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Image credits: (1) Cathopic (2) Year of Saint Joseph (3) The First Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.

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Gospel: John 5: 17-30

Jesus answered the Jews: 
“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”
For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Jesus answered and said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone,
but he has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Whoever does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this,
because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come out,
those who have done good deeds
to the resurrection of life,
but those who have done wicked deeds
to the resurrection of condemnation.

“I cannot do anything on my own;
I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Perhaps the most famous love story in literary history is William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet.

You may remember the famous balcony scene when Juliet gazes down upon Romeo and says, “Romeo, the more I give to you, the more I seem to have.”

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Juliet learned to see the world through Romeo’s eyes.

She dreamt her lover’s dreams and sought to please her lover’s needs, because the happier Romeo was, the happier Juliet became.

The more she gave, the more she had.

That’s the essence of love.

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Jesus is describing a similar love with his Father in today’s Gospel.

“I do not seek my own will,” he says, “but the will of the one who sent me.” 

The more Jesus gives himself away – the more he preaches the truth, the more he loves, the more he heals, the more he forgives those caught in sin – the more he seems to have.

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The same is true for us.

The more we give ourselves to God in love, prayer, fasting, and charity, the happier we become.

In what ways might we love and serve the Lord today?

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Image credits: (1) Canyon Lake United Methodist Church (2) Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo (3) FaithGateway