Today's Gospel

Find Your Sacred Place

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is the longest of the year. It is from John's Gospel. It consists of all of chapter 18 and all of chapter 19 of the Gospel of John. So remember, we don't have to absorb it all. We don't have to understand it all. We only need to pay attention to the Spirit, the promptings, the nudgings of the Spirit, specifically to what is the one thing that the Spirit guides you toward in this reading today? You're going to experience this reading at other times in your life, and at those times, God may guide you to something else, may guide you to the same thing. That's okay.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with His disciples across the Kidron Valley where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now, Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples. So Judas, procuring a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." And Jesus said to them, "I am he."

Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them when he said to them, "I am he." They drew back and fell to the ground. Again, he asked them, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I told you. I am he. So if you seek me, let these other men go." This was to fulfill the word which he had spoken. Of those whom you gave me, I lost not one. And Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest slave and cut off his right ear.

The slave's name, Malchus, Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath, shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me." So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him. First, they led him to Annes, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had given counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. As this disciple was known to the high priest, he entered the court of the high priest along with Jesus.

While Peter stood outside at the door, so the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the maid who kept the door and brought Peter in. The maid who kept the door said to Peter, "Are you also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not." Now, the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them standing and warming himself. The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple where all Jews come together. I have said nothing secretly. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. They know what I said." When he had said this, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" And Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?" Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest. Now, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, "Are not you also one of this man's disciples?" He denied it and said, "I am not." One of the servants of the high priest, the kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did not I see you in the garden with him?" Peter again denied it, and at once, the cock crowed. Then they led Jesus from the House of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium so that they might not be defiled but might eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to him and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?"

They answered him, "If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have handed him over to you." Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." This was to fulfill the word which Jesus had spoken to show by what death he was to die. Pilate entered the Praetorium again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" Jesus answered, "Am I a Jew?" "Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" And Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world. My kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews, but my kingship is not from this world." Pilate said to him, "So you are a king." Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no crime in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. Will you have me release for you, the king of the Jews?" They cried out again, "Not this man, but Barabbas." Now, Barabbas was a robber. Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head and arrayed Him in a purple robe and came up to Him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews," struck Him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no crime in Him." So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the Man." When the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, "Crucify Him. Crucify Him." Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no crime in Him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law, He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God." When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid. He entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave no answer. Pilate, therefore, said to Him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have the power to release You and the power to crucify You?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me to you has the greater sin." Upon this, Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar."

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabatha. Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King." And they cried out, "Away with Him. Away with Him. Crucify Him." Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priest answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed Him over to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and He went out bearing His own cross to the place called The Place of a Skull, which is called, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

The chief priest and the Jews then said to Pilate, "Do not write, The King of the Jews, but this Man said, I am the king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and made four parts, one for each soldier, also His tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." was to fulfill the Scripture. They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots. So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopis and Mary Magdalene, when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom He loved standing near. He said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour, the disciple took her into his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture, "I thirst." A bowl full of vinegar stood there, so they put a sponge full of vinegar and hiss it and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished." And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Since it was the day of preparation in order to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once, there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness, his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth, that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Not a bone on him shall be broken.

And again, another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they have pierced." After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about 100 pounds weight. They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now, in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. So what in this long reading did the Holy Spirit use to capture attention? It's interesting for me. It was something right toward the very beginning. They're talking about the garden, the garden of Gethsemane. And you talk about Jesus going to the garden to pray. And then the Scripture says, "Judas knew this place well." Why did Judas know this place well? Because Jesus used to pray there regularly. And what struck me was that this wasn't the first time Jesus had prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. This was a place He prayed regularly. And we need those places in our lives. We need places of prayer, places that feel comfortable to you because you've prayed there so many times, so long that it feels comfortable to you.

And so today, I ask you, do you have sacred places? It's interesting because my travels around the world, I have favorite places to pray. My home parish back in Sydney, little chapels here and there in different parts of the world. And of course, at home, a chapel here at Dynamic Catholic. We need sacred places, quiet places, classrooms of silence to spend time with God. And so I encourage you today to think about those places in your life. And if you don't have places, to begin today to establish a sacred place of prayer. Have a great day. Remember, Be Bold. Be Catholic.