HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!!! THE DISCIPLE SAW AND BELIEVED!

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The beloved disciple serves as a model for our faith in the resurrection. Different from Peter who entered the sepulcher and tried to analyze the place carefully, noticing the details, the beloved disciple realized that something very important had happened to the Master.

Dear Fellow disciples, peace.

The chief of the Roman soldiers recognizes the son of God in the crucified Jesus. He makes a confession of faith as a disciple. This was the intent of the evangelist Mark all along in his version of the gospel.

The centurion's confession passes through the contemplation of the crucified master, in whom he (and we) recognize the Son of God. He confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The desire of the Greeks, "We want to see Jesus", lacked some clarity. What kind of Jesus did they want to see? The miracle worker? The leader of the multitude? The Master who speaks things never heard before? The one who gives hope to those who despair? In short, what was in the minds and hearts of those foreigners?

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Nicodemus' visit at night allows Jesus to address a theme not only important to the disciples but to humanity. The predisposition we have to let ourselves be involved with darkness, even though the light is offered to us. Nobody is free from such risk.

Jesus is the Light the Father offers humanity. His witness of love, even to the extreme of his total surrender was enough to touch people's hearts. Was it? Many decided to tread the path of selfishness and favor injustice and evil with no regard for those who suffer.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The profanation of the temple of Jerusalem, with the commerce and exploitation of the poor dried up Jesus' patience. The gesture of throwing the money changers out of the sacred space comes from the sad realization that God's image had been distorted and profaned.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The contemplation of Jesus' transfiguration, during our Lenten journey, has a very precise reason. It is given to us to contemplate the Son who in a short time we will contemplate hanging on the cross. On Calvary, if we don't pay close attention, we can think of him as cursed by the Father, as his enemies would think and expect. Or as a disqualified criminal as the Romans would see and think about the crucified.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The tempter's focus was always to detract Jesus from his mission. He knew that getting Jesus to question his condition as Son of God, he could push him away from the mission of restoring the communion between God and humanity. What he didn't know was that Jesus would never give in. He would never disobey the Father, because being one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the plan and mission were also created and decided by him.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus teaches solidarity with concrete actions, not with abstract discourses. It was up to the disciples to assimilate the message to practice it later.

The scene of the leper is typical in Jesus' life. The man on his knees declares, "If you want I can be cleaned!". This gives Jesus the chance to make public the desire he has in his heart. Jesus' desire is unanticipated by the leper's declaration. For in fact, Jesus desires to heal everyone from all their infirmities and doing so give back to them the joy of life.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus' ministry is geared to spread goodness. His exhausting journeys and working days were marked by his service to those in need. That was one of many ways he attracted people. He was always available, and with compassion would attend to each and every one looking for his help. He refuses any temptation to return to a place and for a time for himself apart from his prayer time.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The evangelist uses the voice of a man with an unclean spirit to identify who Jesus is most accurately, The Holy One of God! This expression synthesizes the identity of the Master in the most peculiar way. Holiness was a mark of Jesus' ministry and proximity with God, the Holy par excellence. Jesus is Holy because He is God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Also because in His life and heart there was no space for selfishness, nor did it influence His actions.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus' mission begins when John the Baptist is arrested. His ministry wasn't parallel nor in competition with John's. Neither was Jesus' ministry the continuation of John's ministry. It was something totally different. The messianic vision of Jesus left aside the preaching of the Baptist and followed its own pattern.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

We are starting again at ordinary time and right away, we are in front of an invitation from Jesus, "Come and See". The disciples of John went and saw where Jesus lived and what kind of rabbi he was. They stayed with Him. What did they see? Or what did they want to see? Was it just curiosity on their part? For the master Jesus was a pilgrim, with no housing nor means.