"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, sot hat the whole nation may not perish." He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest 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. (boldface mine)
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?"
Meditation related to this passage I read this morning:
"The simple truth is that the human soul can flourish spiritually only be cultivating a contemplative quality. A commitment to some external quiet in a day is therefore essential. The amount of time may be a personal choice, but the need is undeniable.
There may be people who consider this need for silence an eccentric or unnatural impulse. Indeed, it is a regrettable feature of modern life and its technological dependencies that for many people a choice for silence can be completely absent in a typical day. Yet is is only silence that replenishes our inner spirit and keeps a deeper layer of soul in us open to truth.
The reason for this is quickly experience. The presence of some silence in our day has the effect of drawing us to a more generous attentiveness. Silence does not just make us listen better. Its greater impact is on the quality of our eyes. A more selfless act of attention permeates our perception of reality as we live a day. Perhaps we are attracted then to a silence that resides at the hart of all reality and all events.
Noise and turmoil may be inescapable, but the surface turbulence is not everything, and a love for silence conveys a deeper truth. It allows us to sense that God is present with his secret gaze upon all that occurs in every day."
May we all cultivate silence as prepare to enter Holy Week. In silence we better see and hear Jesus.
(Pray that I might!)
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| Some tools we are excited to use this Holy Week and Easter! |
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| Read through some of it last night and did some acting. |
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