GOSPEL
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”

The Word of the Lord.

Of the righteous and the unrighteous.

The Spirit can speak even through the mouths of God’s enemies. It is significant that the High Priest, by virtue of his office, was a channel of God even when he was betraying Him. Such is the power of God that reigns over the good and the bad, the righteous and the unrighteous.

Applied to Married Life:

Luis: I find it difficult to believe that God speaks to me through you because I see your sin, since you have it just like I do.
Maite: I understand because I feel the same way.
Luis: But the reality is that it is He who has chosen you to be a minister of God’s graces for me. And that is why I should be attentive to God’s voice through you.
Maite: That’s a very timely reflection. Sometimes I dismiss what comes from you because of the way it’s said. I don’t see charity in your corrections, and I think they can’t come from God anymore. But this reflection makes me think.
Luis: God is God, and He manifests Himself through His ministers, whether they are saints or not.

Mother,

May we be more attentive to God’s action through our spouse. They are a channel of grace for me. Praise be to God.