Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: John 8: 51-59

Jesus said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel passage contains part of the most heated exchange between Jesus and the religious authorities within the Temple. 

The authorities are so enraged by Jesus, that they not only accuse him of being possessed by a demon, they also gather a pile of stones, attempting to kill him.

The very heart of the debate centers around who Jesus is – a lunatic, a liar, a prophet, or, mysteriously, the Person of God himself. The stakes cannot be any higher.

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“Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died?” they ask. “Who do you make yourself out to be?” 

Here Jesus delivers a real zinger. “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” Ultimately, these are the two highly explosive words that cost Jesus his life.

“I AM.”

In the Old Testament, this was the name of God himself. It was so sacred that no one was allowed to say it. But Jesus not only uses God’s name; he also claims to be God. There is no clearer proclamation of his belief in his divinity than this.

He claims to be the one who spoke to Moses behind the burning bush; the one who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt; the one who promised freedom to God’s people; the one who their ancestors unknowingly worshipped; the author the of Law; the creator of the prophets.

The source of life itself.

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It’s understandable that the authorities were flabbergasted by what they heard. No one had ever made such a claim – and no one ever has since. But the Lord backed it up with miraculous works and divine teaching.

This is the central mystery behind Christianity. 

God has taken on flesh. He became a baby at Christmas, a teenager once lost in the Temple, an adult who performed miracles, and a brilliant debater who stumped the very minds and hearts of the people he came to save.

If this doesn’t boggle the mind, then what will?

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Unlike the religious leaders of his day, who scoffed at his words, may our reaction to Christ’s claim – “I AM” – be one of wonder and awe. “For whoever keeps my word,” he says, “will never see death.” The worst type of death, of course, being separated from him.

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Image credits: (1) ibelieve.com (2) Rev. Lisa Degrania (3) Scripture Lullabies

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Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s no way Mary could’ve reasoned her way to “yes.”

This was a trial of the heart.

At the Annunciation, Mary is faced with the greatest – yet most necessary – challenge that every believer faces: to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, body, and soul. 

In saying to the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done unto me according to your word,” Mary proves that she loves God more than anyone – more than Joseph, more than the opinion of others, even more than herself.

If any other person, hope, dream, or thing occupied first place in her heart, then God’s plan for salvation would’ve come to a screeching halt. 

Thus, this is Mary’s greatest moment. Her “fiat,” her “yes,” is greater than the moment she gave birth to Christ at Christmas; it’s greater than the moment she found Jesus in the Temple at twelve; it’s greater than her standing at Calvary or seeing the empty tomb.

It’s greater because her “yes” fulfills all of religion, leaving us a model to follow.

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Mary smuggled God into this world, first sheltering him safely within her womb for nine precious months. She experienced the surprise and joy of motherhood while facing an uncertain future, living under the political darkness of Herod’s tyrannical reign. 

She then carried the Christ-child in her arms out of her homeland into the unknown, into the strange and foreign land of Egypt. As the child aged, Mary remained docile, attentive to Jesus’ every word. 

She was his first, and most devout, disciple.

I imagine Mary proudly claimed Christ as her own, until that providential wedding in Cana when she knew it was time to let go and share him with the world. 

“They have no wine,” she said to Jesus, and so the Lord revealed his glory, turning 150 gallons of water into wine, initiating his public ministry. Christ then followed the sacrifice of his mother, who thirty years prior surrendered her own body to the will of God.

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Mary asks us today, “How have we welcomed Christ into our own lives? How have we enfleshed him for others?”

As Saint Teresa of Avila reminds us, “Christ has no body now, but yours.”

May the example of the Blessed Mother not only inspire us, but also compel us to welcome Jesus – in a sense, to be Jesus – bringing peace, hope, and love into a world desperate for it.

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Image credits: (1) Madonna and Child, William Bouguereau (2) Exeter Cathedral (3) Aldersgatechurch.com

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Gospel: John 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“You will die in your sins,” Jesus says to the religious authorities. That’s a grim promise. 

But Jesus is reading their hearts. It isn’t that God will not forgive their sins. Rather, the authorities do not see Jesus as the way to God.

They see him as in the way.

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Jesus is in the way of their religion.

He’s in the way of their egos.

He’s in the way of their convenient lifestyles.

He’s upsetting their plans, flipping tables, and turning their belief system upside down, while dining with tax collectors and prostitutes, forgiving sinners, and breaking the Sabbath.

On Palm Sunday we will see the scribes and Pharisees’ frustrated desire to remove Jesus from their way finally begin to unfold. 

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It’s a humbling question to consider, but when do the Lord’s teachings, or the pull of our conscience, get in our way?

For example, Christ’s command to, “forgive, not seven, but seventy-seven times,” gets in the way of holding a grudge.

His command to, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” gets in the way of judging or condemning other people.

His command to, “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” gets in the way of giving into temptation.

His command to, “Follow me,” gets in the way of charting our own destiny or taking the driver’s seat.

As we approach Holy Week, may show the Lord that he is never in the way; rather, he is the way to God, where we discover true life in abundance.

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Image credits: (1) Jesus, Pantocrator, Sinai (2) Jesus Cleansing the Temple, Bernardino Mei (3) Group Bible Study