The thing that I noticed most about today’s gospel reading for Mass is that Jesus had to move about in secret. Why? Because the Jews judged him so harshly that they wanted to kill him. He was innocent, but the Jews only saw the external things and judged what he said. They thought they were righteous in doing this, but they weren’t.
The first reading for Mass is from the book of Wisdom, and it could have been written about Jesus’s life. He was innocent, but judged guilty by those who were themselves very wicked.
Then, if you read the responsorial psalm today, it can also be said to reflect Christ’s life:
“The Lord redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.”
In many ways, I can relate to all three of the readings for Mass today, but the memory that comes to mind first is how we raised our son.
Our son had a lot of medical problems and had multiple surgeries as a baby. He grew up with a problem concentrating and paying attention. David acted up a lot in school and had failing grades every year. We hired an after school tutor and tried special learning resources. David went to summer school and took correspondence courses almost every year too. Our son barely graduated high school and the guidance counselor at his school told us that “he wasn’t college material”.
We felt like all of the teachers, principle, scout leaders, guidance counselor, church youth group leaders and other parents judged us and our son very negatively. We really felt bad about ourselves as parents because we couldn’t teach our son to do better in school, and calm down (because he was hyperactive). We felt like failures as parents.
Our son graduated high school and then worked part time sacking groceries at the grocery store. He also worked part time as a janitor at our church for a year or two after graduation.
However, one day he came to me and showed me a brochure from a college that he wanted to go to, that had a curriculum in computer network security. It was very expensive. I was hesitant to sign a student loan and give him a lot of our own money for college, if he couldn’t actually do it. I remembered the school guidance counselor’s words, “your son isn’t college material.”
However, I took a chance on our son and I signed the student loans and gave him as much money as I could so he could go to this college.
Our son succeeded in college beyond anything we could have ever imagined. After college, he held a very good paying job for the past four years. However, just this week he was hired for a new position that pays four times the salary that the guidance counselor from his high school did. (The one who told him “he wasn’t college material”.) He is very generous with his money too, helping his friends and sister and whoever needs some extra help, without counting the cost or asking to be repaid.
I do not tell you this story to brag about my son, but only to encourage parents, (and all of us really), that people are not what they seem to be from the outside looking in. No one knew that my son was highly intelligent and creative, from the outside looking in. And, no one knew that Jesus was truly the Son of the Living God from the outside looking in either, no matter how negatively other people judged him.
For all those who feel “judged” by other people, in the church, at work, in school, or in your family – I encourage you to not care what other people think about you. Trust in Jesus Christ and believe in your family, no matter what rough spots you encounter in life.
.
Daily Mass Readings:
Wis 2: 1, 12-22; Ps 33; Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30
