"The Father is in me and I am in the Father." This is the expression of the complete union between Jesus and His Father. This is precisely what we need to grow in our relationship with God. Often there are obstacles that prevent us from growing in this relationship. Just like the Jewish leaders in the Gospel reading. Though they understood the thrust of Jesus' words, their preoccupations and unbelief prevented them from accepting Jesus' claim as true. It is this area that we need to examine particularly during this Lenten season.

In verse 38 of today's Gospel reading, we see miracles as part of Jesus' words. It was Jesus' quality of life, not the people's inability to explain His words that He primarily spoke of here. As followers of Christ, what quality of life do we witness to others around us?

When confronted with obstacles and problems in life, let us also be assured by the words in the first reading, 'the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero, my opponents will stumble, mastered, confronted by their fathers ...'