Choose Wisely

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐖𝐢𝐬 𝟐:𝟏𝐚, 𝟏𝟐-𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟒:𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟑 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟕: 𝟏-𝟐, 𝟏𝟎, 𝟐𝟓-𝟑𝟎

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟗) 

            It comes as a surprise why despite the latest tools in communications and the vastly developed messengers who proclaim the Gospel of truth, there are still many today who cannot accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of all and this is borne out by the battle for possession that is ongoing in our lives.

         I was watching a feature presentation on You Tube last night on the making of the Passion of Christ and in the presentation included what took place during the filming of the movie, how everything seemed to fall in place and the many challenges the production unit faced as if there was a hidden force that was trying to stop the movie.

         What struck me most was the revelation of members of the production crew who were known atheists and their families who were converted and were baptized in the Catholic Church. There were testimonies from crew members who saw and felt the presence of an unseen being who was moving throughout the filming and guiding the production crew on how the scenes could be made more realistic.

         There were also claims of people who were healed of their afflictions while watching the film in movie theaters.

         When filming was completed movie actor Mel Gibson who sold almost everything to finance the movie that cost $45-million to make because there was no one in Hollywood who would like to produce the movie, had to sell tickets to Churches, Parishes and Catholic Schools and Christendom responded and the movie grossed more than $612-million worldwide, the highest grossing Christian film ever.

         Why am I saying this? Because personal testimonies and actual life experience is a great influence when we are faced with a decision to make. Our personal faith conversion is a decision that only we can make but contingent on the declaration of witnesses who have firsthand experience of their own conversion story. Such truths are what shape our faith and beliefs, especially from the revelations contained in the Sacred Scriptures.

         If God has a plan and that is for us to live an abundant life, the devil also has a plan and that is to separate us from the love of God. On one side is our God who desires to possess us, but he requires of us a life surrendered to his Will. On the other hand, there is Satan who is present in the material world that the devil uses to deceive us and lure us into thinking that the world is where we can find happiness.

         There is a tendency we may feel helpless to put a stop to this battle between good and evil that still rages today but we shouldn’t because we have the power to put a stop to it and this we can do by simply making a choice, by coming to a decision as to which side we are on and arriving at such a decision should not pose any difficulty at all. If we choose good, we are assured of the eternal salvation that God had promised. If we choose evil, then be prepared for the eternal damnation that awaits us. That’s all there is to it.

         In today’s Gospel reading we see at least two reasons why the religious leaders of his time could not accept Jesus as the Messiah whom God has sent to liberate Israel from bondage. One was that they expected the Messiah to ride into Israel as a conquering king and not as a son of a carpenter from Nazareth.

         The other reason was because many of the religious leaders never had it so good. They have expanded the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law into hundreds of minute laws such that the people became subservient to them rather than to God who was supposed to be object of their worship.

         In addition, the religious leaders were treated like royalty seating at the head table and being honored when they walk on the streets or in marketplaces with large tassels adorning the edge of their robes.

         The situation must have become worse that Jesus on second thought decided to go and attend the Festival of Tabernacles even after he told his kin that he was not going because “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞” (𝐯.𝟔) 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 (𝐯.𝟏𝟎) because the people were watching out for him – some to listen to him preach while some wanted to harm him.

         The reaction of the crowd at the Temple was mixed – some were amazed at the kind of authority with which he taught while others accused him of imagining the threats to his life even ascribing his works to the demon (𝐯.𝟐𝟎).

         This reaction was not surprising because Jesus came with a new version of Theology. While he proclaimed he came not to abolish the law, he reformatted the teachings of the Scribes and the Pharisees and gave it a new dimension. The law on forgiveness for example limits the Jews to forgiving someone who have wronged them at least three times, but Jesus said God prefers that we must forgive at least 70 times 7 which actually meant a never-ending process of forgiveness.

         The Jews also rejected him because they knew where he came from and his coming did not conform to popular belief that the Messiah would burst upon the world in a mysterious way and Jesus did not fit into the standard by which the Jews measured the coming of the Messiah.

         It was not because the Jews were less religious except that they worshipped God as the magnificent God in whom all things were made but they could see God in ordinary things much less see God as a son of an ordinary carpenter. To them the coming of the Messiah has to be an extraordinary event such as the parting of the Red Sea. There was no doubt either that they worshipped God except that their worship was governed by the expanded Mosaic law.

         The kind of religion that Christ brought was a radical departure from the way the Jews worshipped and with the objections of the Jews in mind, Jesus shocked the people at the Temple with two shocking statements. He said that while it was true the Jews knew where he came from, it cannot be disputed that he came direct from God. Jesus also said that the people did not know God, but he did (𝐯𝐯.𝟐𝟖-𝟐𝟗).

         This was probably the biggest insult that anyone can levy on the Jews – to say they did not know God. Up to this time, the religious leaders treated him as a rabble rouser but after he had spoken these words Jesus now was to be accused of blasphemy.

         There was an underlying reality from all these, and it was possible that the Jews just could not accept Jesus even if they knew he spoke with authority but because they could no longer change their ways. In fact, it was probable the Jews were struck with fear of the unknown if they were to listen and believe in Jesus.

         This is the same choice that is being placed on the table before us. On one side is the world to which we grew up and all the allurements that have been made available to us to make our lives comfortable. The advent of technology has provided us with ease in the way we go through life.

         Before, there was Google which contains tons of information available to man. Today we have the Meta AI and Chat GPT that can answer almost everything that you ask of these platforms. Even more surprising is how the developers of these AI tools were able to turn these into human-like discourse. Again, having such tools can actually help us when we find ourselves confronted with the whys and wherefores relative to the practice of our faith.

         At the temple, we find Jesus through whom eternal salvation is available but without any assurance that life would be easy. In fact, it was Jesus Himself who said that anyone who wants to become his disciple will have to deny himself, take up his cross and follow him (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑).

         A deeper understanding of this passage means we need to die to ourselves by detaching ourselves from the world and to accept and endure all the trials that will come our way as part of God’s plan. There is no doubt that it is difficult to live as a Christian. The reality, however, is we have no choice because we cannot possibly live in eternity apart from Christ.

         Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) put it this way: “𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔. 𝒀𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔; 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆.”        

         Jesus claimed to have a unique relationship with God something the Jews failed to comprehend. To identity himself as being one with God was blasphemous as far as the Jews are concerned. But we cannot be indifferent to this proclamation of Jesus because we are blessed with all the necessary information relative to our Christian faith.

         Which is why today there are only two choices we can make – it’s either we are for him or against him. There is no middle ground. We can either remain in the world and try to fit Jesus in the way we live, in the way we pursue our business, and in the way we relate to others.

          My own conversion was of course the work of the Holy Spirit. But the testimonies of those who guided and shepherded me during my faith journey in the renewal community where our Lord Jesus revealed himself also helped greatly in my decision to yield to our Lord and Savior.

         There is still a long way to go, and the Holy Spirit isn’t finished with me yet. But there is no turning back. I made my choice and my prayer is for the Holy Spirit to be my counselor, comforter, teacher and advocate until I finish the race.

          Or we can allow Jesus to take control of our life and allow him to deliver us from own ignorance and pride. It will help perhaps if we ask ourselves if we recognize all that Jesus has done for us with faith and reverence or do we shun Jesus with disbelief and contempt? (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 20, 2026)