15-Oct-15

Gospel LK 11:47-54
The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
Reflection:
"Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
In saying, "Woe to you scholars of the law!" Jesus is letting them know they will have great sorrow and distress for their actions of having ".........taken away the key of knowledge" of God's love and forgiveness from people.
He is telling them that they themselves "did not enter" into the truth of God's unconditional love, and they "stopped those trying to enter" into the understanding that God's love does not have to be earned.
The scholars of the law were the ones who taught the people about the nature of God, much as teachers today teach children. A teacher has tremendous influence over the mind of their students.
Jesus's outrage at these men is understandable. Imagine someone teaching your child that their mother and father would not love them unless they behaved perfectly in all things. You would understandably be furious that such a burden was laid upon your child.
Today, as Christians, we are blessed in our understanding that there is nothing that we can do to either earn God's love or lose God's love.
God's love for us is constant. His love is not conditioned on our behavior.
God's love for each of us is exactly like the love we have for our children. The very ability to love our children as we do is because we are made "in the image of God."
Like a parent's love, God's love cannot be turned off and on like a light switch. Once it's on, it is on forever.
"God's love is unbounded. It has no limits." Pope Francis