"Each Went to His Own House"
March 16th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Today’s Gospel tells of the growing drama among the chief priests and Pharisees as we approach Christ’s Passion. The crowds generally accepted Jesus as the Messiah or “the Prophet,” while the Pharisees derided the crowds for their belief. In the minds of the chief priests and the Pharisees, the crowds only accepted Jesus because they did not understand the Scriptures. Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees who believed in Jesus, tried to prevent the others from condemning Our Lord before first giving Him a fair trial. However, the other Pharisees refused to listen, maintaining that “no prophet arises from Galilee.” The last sentence of today’s Gospel tells us, “Then each [Pharisee] went to his own house.”
Alcuin of York, a deacon and leading scholar from the court of Charlemagne in the 8th century AD, pointed out that the Pharisees in today’s Gospel only knew where Jesus had lived for most of His life. They did not know, and indeed they “never thought of inquiring[,] where He was born.” The Pharisees lacked any desire to ascertain the truth about Jesus, so they did not bother to find out where He had been born. Had they done so, perhaps their opinion of Him would have changed greatly.
As it was, they remained obstinate in their unbelief. As Alcuin wrote, “Having effected nothing, devoid of faith, and therefore incapable of being benefited, they returned to their home of unbelief and ungodliness.” The Pharisees returned to their homes, in direct contrast to the Apostles who “left all things” (Mk 10: 28 DRB) to follow Jesus.
As we enter Passiontide tomorrow with Passion Sunday, we join the Church in mourning Our Lord’s Passion and Death. Today’s Gospel reminds us that we must be willing to leave all things behind in order to follow Jesus. In the midst of our Lenten self-denial, we are reminded of the reason behind our Lenten practices, namely, that they are a way to remove those attachments that prevent us from fully giving our hearts to God.
We are given the opportunity to imitate the Apostles who left everything behind, rather than the Pharisees who obstinately returned to their unbelief. As we prepare to veil the statues in our churches (and perhaps even in our homes) and eliminate the last traces of joy from our liturgies, may today’s Gospel inspire us to remove everything in our hearts that prevents us from fully loving God, so that we can rejoice in His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Amen!