The Feast of Tabernacles

Chapter 56
JOHN 7:14-29
JESUS ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM ABOUT OCTOBER 2O, when the week-long Feast of Tabernacles was already half over. When He began teaching in the temple, the Jews were surprised that an untutored man should be so learned, but Jesus said to them:
"My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. If anyone desires to do His will, he will know of the teaching whether it is from God, or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory. But he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is truthful, and there is no injustice in him. 'Did not Moses give you the Law, and none of you observes the Law? Why do you seek to put Me to death?"
The people, who were ignorant of the plans of their leaders, thought He was mad, but Jesus said to them:
"One work I did and you all wonder. For this reason Moses gave you the circumcision, and on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath, that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you indignant with Me because I made a whole man well on a Sabbath? Judge not by appearances but give just judgment."
Now they remembered Jesus' miracle at the Passover, six months before, when He cured a paralytic at the Pool of Bethsaida and was accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath. And they said to each other, "Is not this the man they seek to kill? And behold, He speaks openly and they say nothing to Him. Can it be that the rulers have really come to know that this is the Christ? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from." Then He told them that they erred in concerning themselves with His human origin. It is the divine origin of His mission that they must accept.
"You both know Me, and know where I am from. Yet I have not come of Myself, but He is true who has sent Me, whom you do not know. I know Him because I am from Him, and He has sent Me."

Our Lord stressed that He was sent from His Father in heaven and sought His glory. How different are we! For almost everything we do, we have a personal and selfish reason. It is the mark of a follower of Christ to act without thinking first of himself, of his interests, of his desires. To become thoroughly Christ-like, which is the vocation of every Christian, we must conquer selfishness in our lives.

The Good Samaritan

Chapter 55
LUKE 10: 25-42
ON ONE OF THE TOWNS ALONG THE ROAD a doctor of the Law asked Jesus what he must do to be saved. Jesus answered with a question:
"What is written in the Law? How dost thou read?"
Quoting from the Scriptures, the lawyer answered: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Said Jesus:
"Thou hast answered rightly; do this and thou shalt live."
"And who is my neighbor?" asked the lawyer. And Jesus replied with this parable:
"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead. But, as it happened, a certain priest was going down the same way; and when he saw him, he passed by. And likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And he went up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more thou spendest, I, on my way back, will repay thee.'
"Which of these three, in thy opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?"
"He who took pity on him," he replied. And Jesus said:
"Go and do thou also in like manner."
In a village near Jerusalem a woman named Martha invited Him to dine. While she was busy with the meal, her sister, Mary, sat at Jesus' feet and listened to Him. Irked, Martha asked Jesus to bid Mary help her. But He said:
"Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken from her."


The learned lawyer asked a question. "Who is my neighbor?" He was prepared to discuss the point learnedly, to define and re-define terms, to quote authorities. But our Lord would have none of such academic discussion. In a simple and pointed story He informed the lawyer that his love should go out to anyone in trouble. The same simple prescription is meant for me also. If I am a follower of Christ, I must show my love and render unselfish service to anyone in trouble.

Return of the Disciples

Chapter 54
MATT. 11:25-30; 13:16-17; LUKE 10:17-24

BEFORE JESUS REACHED JERUSALEM HE was rejoined by the seventy-two missionaries He had sent out. Joyful at the success of their mission, they reported that they had even been able to cast out devils in His name. And Jesus answered that He had observed their efforts with satisfaction, though they were not to take pride in the power He had given them:
"I was watching Satan fall as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Yet do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven."
And He exulted in the divine wisdom which had empowered for His work these humble instruments, rather than the learned men of Israel.
"I praise Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones. Yes, Father, for such was Thy good pleasure. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."
In a tender invitation to all men, He called them to accept Him as their comforter and model.
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden light."
Then He turned to His disciples and reminded them of their great privilege in seeing and hearing the Redeemer, the Messiah promised by the prophets:
"But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have longed to see what you see, and they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it."

To see and to hear the Redeemer made the disciples blessed above all the prophets. In reflecting on the privilege of the disciples, we can think also of our own even greater privileges. They could see and hear Him. But we are joined to Him in His Mystical Body, the Church. Our intimacy with Him jar exceeds that of His contemporaries. For "it is now no longer 1 that live, but Christ lives in me."

Jesus Sends Out Seventy-Two Disciples

Chapter 53
MATT. 11:20-24; 10:40; LUKE: 10:1-16

IN THE COURSE OF His JOURNEY to Jerusalem Jesus chose seventy-two disciples and sent them off in pairs to preach and heal in the villages along the route.
"The harvest indeed is abundant, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest. Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry neither purse, nor wallet, nor sandals, and greet no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have; for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. And whatever town you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' But whatever town you enter, and they do not receive you—go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust from your town that cleaves to us we shake off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at hand.' I say to you, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in that day than that town."
Such towns would have the same fate as those which had rejected Him, and which He now reproached:
"Woe to thee, Corozain! woe to thee, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon had been worked the miracles that have been worked in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capharnaum, shall thou be exalted to heaven? Thou shall be thrust down to hell! For if the miracles had been worked in Sodom that have been worked in thee, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for thee."
And sending out the seventy-two, He said:
"He who hears you, hears Me; and he who rejects you, rejects Me; and he who rejects Me, rejects Him who sent Me."

To listen to the preaching of the seventy-two was equivalent to listening to Christ. For He had sent them forth. The same can be said of Christ's Vicar on earth today, the Pope. To listen to him is to listen to our Lord; he speaks in the name of Christ. Modern popes have spoken on many of the problems vexing our world. Have I listened to the directing voice of Christ's Vicar on earth? Do I try to learn his views on contemporary problems?