409. Samedi de la 4è semaine de carême Saturday of the 4th week of Lent
Forth Week of March : Saturday of the forth week of Lent
“Some of the crowds who had been listening said, ’He is indeed the prophet,’ and some said , ’He is the Christ’, but others said, ’Would the Christ come from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ descended from David and come from Bethlehem, the village where David was? So the people could not agree about him.” Here we are once again before different reactions produced by the Words of Jesus. Certain believed him to be a prophet, others said : ’He is the Messiah!’ “Jesus is the sign of contradiction that Simeon had announced to Mary, he does not leave those who hear him in a state of indifference.The guards’ response show the strength of Jesus’ words : ’Never has a man spoken like this man!’ He is the”Truth“and his way of speaking reflects this. We, too, are engaged in this combat for Him to save us! We are concerned by the implacable resistance of the Pharisees who destroy God’s work. Yet it is God’s Benevolence that saves us. Very often it passes through the look of poor and little ones who move ahead in confidence and who reflect the image and resemblance of God in humanity. It is from the vulnerability and poverty of our humanity that life is given.” He is the great prophet!“they said of Jesus.”He is the Messiah!“Hope bounds forth from the heart of the poor; It is the place where God dwells, Present in the dark night of faith.”Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him. The guards went back to the chief priest and Pharisees who said to them, “Why haven’t you brought him?’ The guards replied, ’No-one has ever spoken like this man.’ So, the Pharisees answered, ’You, too, have been led astray? Have any of the authorities come to believe in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law - they are damned!”
Jesus spoke in the language of charity and love, his works and Words manifest the deep Love he has for the whole of mankind, especially for those most in need. And this is what is produced on that day amongst those who hear him. Today, also, his works provoke astonishment, admiration, as well as criticism, rumours, hatred! The guards stayed in God’s presence, with the poor and little ones, , they understand that ’ God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son.’ We know by experience that the opposition of the High priests and the Pharisees find an echo inside of ourselves, in our wounded psychology that has gone through trials. We hear “others” express this feeling of rejection, joining negation of one self, a rejection we carry within us. To come to our help, God has given us all his Love, he has given us Jesus who manifests a face of love opposite that of the adversary’s hatred.
“One of them, Nicodemus-the same man who had come to Jesus earlier-said to them,”But surely our Law does not allow us to pass judgement on anyone without first giving him a hearing and discovering what he is doing? To this they answered, ’Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter and see for yourself: prophets do not arise in Galilee. They all went home.“As in the time of Christ, we Christians are also a sign of discord, for we should not speak and act as others do. In imitating and following Jesus we use”the language of charity and love“, a universal language that all men are capable of using.” Love will always be necessary, even in the most just societies( …). He who wants to free himself from love is preparing to free himself from man and from what is most human in him.", said Benedict 16 . Nicodemus is this benevolent look of the brother who can help us to persevere in the struggle for light. God, who comes to free us from a closing in upon ourselves and from hell, proposes to us an aid
where we find the intelligence of Love that can save us. This Light is that of hope, a remedy that can heal us in such a world that has lost its way. The condemned Jesus will free us, in His Passion he will make the Infinite Love of God triumph for us.