10 March 2010: Jesus accused and examined at the tribunal of Caiphas

“... the chief priests and the whole council sought false witnesses against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none.” (Mt 26:59-60)

Our Lord’s life was so holy his sworn enemies, despite many witnesses against him, false ones included, could find nothing to accuse him of, not even the shadow of sin, or an imperfection. “The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’”(Mt 26:62) “But Jesus held his peace.” (Mk 14:61)

Wonderful indeed was this silence of our Lord. His honor, reputation, and life were in peril. He could so easily defend and acquit himself; but remained silent. He left his defence in the hands of his Father.

How different we are! Falsely accused, he was silent. We, who glory in being his disciples, cannot stand a reproof that we know we deserve, or a kind observation, without becoming defensive. Sometimes even at the expense of truth.

“The high priest said to him, ‘I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are Christ, the Son of the living God’." (Mt 26:63) “Jesus replied, ‘You have said so’.” (Mt 26:64)

Here is a valuable lesson -- as long as our Lord’s own person was concerned, he kept silence; but when it was a question of his Father’s glory, the salvation of souls, or a point of faith, he spoke, and confessed the truth freely though he knew it would cost him his life.

When to speak and when to be silent requires thought, a calm mind, and great firmness of character. Have we sometimes sacrificed truth by keeping silence?

Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp104-5

Detachment and generosity

“You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mt 6:24) Material goods can become chains which prevent our reaching out to Christ. And if we don’t get to him what is the purpose of our lives? “For us to reach God, Christ is the Way; but Christ is on the Cross, and to climb up to the Cross we must have our hearts free, not tied to earthly things.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, "The Way of the Cross", Tenth Station)

Christ led by example; and used earthly goods with perfect dominion over them and in the fullest freedom. “He became so poor that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) A necessary condition to enable us to follow him is, “Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:33).

Material goods are good since they come from God, placed at man’s disposal since creation began, for his growth and development in society. We are administrators of these goods for a short term only. Everything should lead us to love God -- Creator and Father.

If we get too fond of creatures and we do not make effective acts of detachment from them, they are converted into evil. Whoever make riches the centre of their lives are excluded from heaven. True interior life and a loving relationship with God are incompatible with avarice which St Paul calls “idolatry” (Col 3:5).

Egoism and tepidity prevent one from seeing the needs of one’s neighbour. People are then treated as objects, to be picked up or dropped as one sees fit, of no value. How we use the riches God has endowed us with can win for us eternal life. Distributing these riches in acts of charity can help realize God’s kingdom on earth, now.

This detachment must be ‘effective’ with obvious results and obtained only by sacrifice. It must also be ‘natural and discriminating’, as befits Christians who live in the middle of the world using such goods as means of trade and apostolic work. Also, it must be ‘positive’ and ‘internal’ affecting one’s desires; and be done ‘cheerfully’.

Detachment is ‘born out of love’ for Christ; at the same time ‘makes it possible for this love to live and to grow’. Thus we need a constant vigil over interior order and cleanliness. The detachment required of one who wishes to follow Our Lord includes “a detachment from ourselves” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 114) -- what others think of us, noble ambitions, professional success, even our health.

Ref: cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:93-8

The World is Thirsty for Mercy

Man has deep need to meet with the mercy of God, today more than ever. To feel himself radically understood, in the weakness of his wounded nature, above all to have spiritual experience of that Love which receives, enlivens and resuscitates to new life. In acceptance of all poverty, spiritual and material, you desire to promote and favor such a meeting between modern man and the Lord’s goodness ...

Courage, dearest brethren. 'The world is thirsty', even without knowing it, 'for the Divine Mercy', and you are called to proffer this prodigious water, healing to soul and body. You venerate the Mother of Mercy under the particular title of "Mary Mediatrix". May she make you ever more conscious of her motherhood, "which endures without cease from the moment of the consent faithfully given to the Annunciation", and may she make you all apostles, workers and servers of the Divine Goodness and mercy. I accompany you with my blessing.

Ref: cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, pp105-6

Mary, Mother of Mercy

‘Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy ...’ For centuries people have invoked Mary under this title, and now in modern times, Pope John Paul II has presented it to us again to emphasize the unique role Mary plays in God’s eternal plan of mercy.

In his encyclical letter, ‘Rich in Mercy’, he devotes an entire section to Mary, the ‘Mother of Mercy'. She is the one, he explains, who has the deepest understanding of God’s mercy, the one who, more than anyone else, deserved and received mercy. Called in a special way to share her Son’s mission to reveal His Love, she continues to proclaim His mercy ‘from generation to generation’.

Ref: “Handbook of Devotion to the Divine Mercy”, 1995, p88

Our Lady of the Vine, near Viterbo, in Tuscany, a fine church occupied at present by Dominicans. — Bzovius, ad ann., 1487. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (http://www/divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)