Location, Location, Location | March 12, 2016

March 12, 2016

Galilee gets a real bad rap in today’s gospel! I wonder if it lacked sophistication like a small hick town? Was it a shady place like the hood? Was it low class? Did it smell? Did Galileans have thick accents that perhaps made them sound less educated? Don’t we still judge towns, regions, and neighborhoods by these shallow standards to this day? Location, location, location! Right? And God said, “exactly!!!” In fact, I’ll start in a lowly manger from which animals eat, and then I’ll upgrade to a region with little respect, unassuming, and highly unlikely for the Son of God to grow up in! It seems that one of God’s favorite things to do is bring glory up out of the most unsuspecting places, in the most unlikely of characters, because He knows that others will pay attention, and in today’s gospel that is exactly what happened.

Jesus continued to impress people with his eloquence, his creativity, his knowledge of the law and scripture, and he continued to stir up controversy with his radical ways of living a life centered on love. Much like our own current debates over our presidential candidates, the crowds and Jewish leaders were divided about him. Some definitely thought that he was the one and others were vehemently opposed to this notion. I bet when these spats were taking place Jesus just folded his arms and watched with a knowing smirk on is face, winking every now and then at the apostles. The clincher was when they quoted the prophecy saying, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” How this proclamation must have made Jesus chuckle!! Their ignorance became evident with this statement. Raise your hand if you have ever blurted out an ignorant statement in an argument. It happens and Jesus probably chuckles at us too.

After Nicodemus boldly defends Jesus, coming out of the closet, if you will, as a Jesus supporter, they accuse him of also being from Galilee and that he can just look it up and see that NO prophet has ever come from there! Perhaps this was another time when Jesus bent down and wrote a word or name in the sand…Jonah was from Galilee!

Today’s gospel reminds us yet again that when we focus on petty things, our ignorance will not only become evident, but it will actually flaunt itself like a runway model on the cat walk, posing at the end of it for all to see. We also remember that God does not need sophistication to show Himself to the world, in fact, it is in simplicity that His grandeur is made known. The title of this blog is “Small Things” and that is how God loves to be known. Last, but not least, Jesus is not shaken by our ignorance and his patience with us is beautiful. He will keep on teaching us through Word and deed until we get it. So when we think location, location, location, we just need to look into our own heart, where Jesus already lives, and think that God can bring glory out of even the lowliest of places. Have a blessed day.

Reading 1 JER 11:18-20

I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.

Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”

But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!

Responsorial Psalm PS 7:2-3, 9BC-10, 11-12

R. (2a) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

Verse Before The Gospel SEE LK 8:15

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Gospel JN 7:40-53

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, 
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Then each went to his own house.