John 12
During this pandemic, we already hear the phrase “the new normal.” People will and should behave differently than before. For sure, this will not be a very pleasant new era, although we cannot tell how long this new period will last. Every day, at every human contact, we will have to remind ourselves that everybody is a potential virus carrier. This constant reminder will change our human interactions in many a significant way.
Nevertheless, Christian ways of life do not change. It doesn’t mean there will be no change in our human interactions or our liturgical gestures. There will be many adjustments in specifics. However, there will be no change in our Christian spirit, because we are still with the same Christ and the same Holy Spirit and the same God the Father. Christian teachings stay ever the same.
Rather, this pandemic and the post-pandemic will allow us to renew our Christian ways of life in the same Christian spirit. It will be a time for both adjustment and renewal.
In today’s gospel, Jesus assures us of his unchangeable norms. Christ Jesus is our light. And the word he spoke is our norm. The word he spoke is our guide and judge now and will judge us on the last day. The word Christ spoke is unchangeable because it is not human but divine. Jesus spoke not on his own but from what he heard from his heavenly Father. The word of Christ is not interpretations of God’s mind but actual commands of God, because Christ Jesus is one with God the Father as his only begotten Son.
This is a time we want to listen to the word of Jesus. Please open the gospel. And let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide our eyes and hearts so that we may abide by the spirit of Christ in this difficult time as faithful ones.
