Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 1, 2022
Jesus moved about within Galilee;
he did not wish to travel in Judea,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.
But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.
Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,
“Is he not the one they are trying to kill?
And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.
Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,
“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
So they tried to arrest him,
but no one laid a hand upon him,
because his hour had not yet come.
I am often perplexed by the instances when Jesus is nearly arrested but eludes the authorities and walks away. The Pharisees and officials could have arrested Jesus on numerous occasions, but they didn’t. They couldn’t because it was not yet the appointed moment. Jesus’ arrest was perfectly planned in God’s time—not a minute sooner or later.
In my own life, my prayers have been answered in God’s time and not my own. So often, I have prayed fervently for something to happen (or not happen). Sometimes my prayers are answered quickly to my satisfaction, and other times I don’t receive a response from God for days, months, or even years. This can be quite difficult to accept, particularly in our modern era, where we are accustomed to immediate gratification, access to information, and results.
God does not work like this. It is not in our time but in God’s. God has neither ignored nor forgotten our prayers. We can take comfort in knowing each prayer is heard and answered. All that is required of us is to wait patiently and to have faith in the answer God gives us.
Easier said than done for sure!
During the season of Lent, we are called to prayer and patience, and faith that our prayers will be answered in due course when God is ready. If Jesus could wait patiently for God’s perfect timing in his own life, so must we.
Prayer
Jesus, Son of God the most high, you live in intimate union with the Father and you invite us to share in your life. May the fruits of our own Baptism be more evident than ever these Lenten days, that we may celebrate Easter with unrestrained rejoicing. You live and reign with the Father and the Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Macarius' legacy is one of working miracles and standing for truth even in the face of torture.
Macarius was born in the ninth century in Constantinople, originally named Christopher. He took the name Macarius when he became a monk.
Eventually, he was selected as abbot of his monastery and became well-known for healing miracles, which is how he earned his title: St. Macarius the Wonder-Worker. Crowds would flock to the monastery to seek cures.
Macarius opposed the emperor’s orders to suppress icons in one of the great iconoclasm controversies. The controversy over icons was a dispute that arose when some misinterpreted the Second Commandment, which forbids the worship of images. The Church has consistently insisted upon the orthodoxy of icons and other religious imagery as a consequence of the Incarnation: Jesus proved that God redeems all of creation, and that all of creation can help mediate God’s presence to us. Icons and religious imagery point our hearts and minds to God and remind us of holy figures, they are not themselves objects of veneration.
Macarius was imprisoned and tortured for defending the use of icons. When the emperor died, the successor released him from prison and tried to win him over. He rejected the new emperor as well and was exiled. He died during this banishment.
The relics of St. Macarius rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus, and this prayer is attributed to him:
“To you, O Master, who loves all humanity, I hasten on rising from sleep. By your mercy, I go out to do your work and I make my prayer to you. Help me at all times and in all things. Deliver me from every evil thing of this world and from pursuit by the devil. Save me and bring me to your eternal kingdom, for you are my creator, and you inspire all good thoughts in me. In you is all my hope and to you, I give glory, now and forever.”
The icon of Saint Macarius featured today shows him standing next to a cherub.
St. Macarius, who suffered torture and exile for your defense of religious images—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Macarius is in the public domain. Last accessed February 17, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
