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.

(John 7: 45-53)

Here are the complete readings for Saturday, April 5, 2025.

(“Jesus and Nicodemus” JESUS MAFA. Nicodemus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. )

Jesus’ adversaries look pretty petty in this Gospel. How shall we reflect on this passage and their treatment, not just of Jesus, but of one of their own, Nicodemus? It could be an example of the effects of jealousy, or a herd mentality spiraling out of control. The more I read these exchanges, the more familiar it seems to me. It speaks to me about how often I rationalize my actions to make me feel better. We all are guilty of this. We rationalize our bad decisions and judgments so that we seem courageous rather than cowardly, and to isolate those we deem unfit to be in our midst. Note the use of the “you are not from Galilee, too?” takedown of Nicodemus. This passage makes me cringe, but how often have we employed similar tactics in small or significant ways as a matter of convenience? We avoid self-reflection because it is hard to come to terms with our own brokenness for fear of looking weak or for the pain this kind of honesty can reveal. And rather than admit to our friends that maybe we are not being completely honest, we do like the Pharisees and retreat to our own corners. During this season, how can we look at daily contemplation, even a small amount, as a way to discover who we really are and to free that self from the distortion caused by our myopic view of the world? How can we take these prayerful steps to correct and reconnect?

You have freely chosen
to respond to the call of God
to live a life of love
in faith and trust,
as a disciple of God’s Son, Jesus Christ,
through the Xaverian Way.
In calling you
God too was completely free.
Your Founder,
Theodore James Ryken,
was most conscious of this,
since he wrote about his own vocation:
God is not obliged
to give an account to anybody,
even if God wants to use a sinner. – The Fundamental Principles of the Xaverian Brothers

God, you know us better than we know ourselves. Help us to ask ourselves the difficult and sometimes painful questions about who we think we want to be and who we are actually meant to be. Thank you for the courageous people in this world who show us that humility and kindness are signs of great strength. We are grateful for the quiet moments in our busy days where we can emerge from our disguises and be ourselves in this life.

Amen