It's easy to be critical when reading Scripture. I cringe when Adam and Eve break the one rule God gives them. The Israelites are so consistently hopeless and just can't seem to get it right. For me, more than any other example, it is really, truly, incredibly easy to be critical of Thomas in today's Gospel.

Maybe that’s why Lent is a good time to read this famous story. Maybe we have to go from recognising ourselves in the righteous older brother, to recognising ourselves in the humbled, down on his knees younger one. The ‘ministry of reconciliation’ that St Paul talks about in the second reading is for US. We need to forgive those we have grudges against. We need the Father to help us drop our guard if we’re going to enter into the party of heaven.

A personal favourite of mine is John 4, the Woman at the Well. It’s a classic verse most people have heard before, am I right? But rarely is time spent reflecting deeper. But, I would vouch it’s worth spending the time reflecting on what else Jesus was saying.

I relate to Peter so much, so often in the Gospels (for obvious reasons) but in this passage when he says, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters,” it is so human, he has seen Jesus in all his Glory and he doesn’t want it to stop, he wants to sit there, in a very real way he doesn’t want to come down from the mountain.

The thing I find hardest about Lent is once I've decided what I'll give up, is sticking to the plan. Nothing looks quite as appealing as that chocolate you've decided not to eat. Suddenly, there are 100 reasons why using Social Media is an essential activity or why fasting won't work today for whatever reason. All of this resides within my very comfortable life and minor Lenten penances.

Over in the gospel, when Jesus says “how can a blind man lead a blind man”, he’s talking to you and me! ‘Cos how often do we do just that? That’s why, as Jesus says, we should listen to the teachers/mentors in our lives and not presume we know better than they do. Humility is the beginning of wisdom!

Ask yourself, who are other people in your life? Is there someone at school, at work, in your street, or on your sporting team that you haven’t spoken with before? When you treat others as you would want to be treated, it becomes a lot easier to not judge or condemn others, to forgive others and to love your enemies.

There are two comparisons Luke wants us to make. Firstly that, in God’s kind of history, it is not the movers and shakers of the earth who are the main characters. The Spirit moves where He wills and builds His kingdom with those who are most receptive to His Word, notably not the emperor called ‘a god’, nor the high priest sitting on the chair of Moses.

The parable of the fig tree within this particular Gospel further highlights that it is in fact the small things that guide us to the greater truth; the greater victory; the greater life. Tree’s are like the big events of this world- they consume a lot of ground, and are so easily generalised that it’s hard to tell what season it is just by observing from afar. But when we take a closer look, it is through observing the leaves of the tree and their sprouts- the small parts- that reveal to us what season it is, and what season is coming. Similarly, when we focus on Christ alone as the centre of all things- not just the big- and abide by his words of truth and his simple, humble way of life, we will no longer find ourselves distracted and consumed by mainstream events of this world.

The One True King is indescribable. I know there are still so many parts of my own life that I haven’t yet allowed Jesus to be the King of. Today. I encourage you to examine your heart. To find the places where you have tried to lead. Where you have tried to be the king of your own heart or allowed the idols of this world to become that for you. And then, take his hand and allow Him to lead you to fullness.

Over and over again, Jesus points to his passion and death as the natural road to his Messiahship, and many times his disciples have failed to understand him through that lens as the Messiah who will have to die. The point is that we cannot understand Jesus and his mission apart from his passion and resurrection. His sacrifice on the cross becomes the ultimate sacrifice of all time, doing away the sacrifice of bulls and calves offered yearly that couldn’t take away sins forever. The animal sacrifices were only a reminder of people’s sins.

Jesus saw the rich and fancy leaders of the day giving very generously out of their wealth to the Temple. A single donation from one of them was big money with lots of potential for good – perhaps it fed many poor families for a whole year. Yet, Jesus doesn’t praise them- he actually condemns them and their ‘smart business tactics’ that actually suck the money right out of the same poor people they’re now claiming to help.

We are created to love and to live in love. God is love, and anyone who lives in love lives in God. The flow happening between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is the flow of love. This love is expressed in the Genesis poem; let us make man in our own image and likeness; an expression of love seeking to overflow. Humanity became the result of that overflow of love. No wonder God’s love for us is unconditional… we are born out of love.

Fact: we have a God who doesn’t forget any of His children. The first reading says that is a cause for great joy that should make us shout! In this gospel passage, we see that regardless of the opinions of most people around him, Jesus responded to blind Bartimaeus calling out to Him because His purpose is always to heal and strengthen and liberate and protect. That’s what He does and who He is.

Jesus however, invites them to the way of descent, the way of service, of not expecting rewards because you are moved by the love to serve. In the Kingdom of God, the power concepts are radically changed to servanthood. This is something Jesus modelled with his life and death and invites them and everyone else to take up their crosses and follow him.

If, like me, you have ever done this, then together we’re guilty of the same kind of thinking which frustrated Jesus in the Gospel today. Jesus saw, and loved, the heart of a genuinely good guy – a young man who had done the right thing all his life – and saw how much he wanted more. However, the man walked away sad – heaven came with too high a price tag. This is when Jesus cracks it.

When two people come together in marriage, they are simply mirroring what is happening in the Divine flow, what God is. In marriage, a couple gives themselves to each other in a way they wouldn’t give themselves to any person in the universe. In doing so, they are physically expressing God’s love. As marriage is an expression of God’s love, it means that God ordains it for his purposes. Two people coming together in marriage is an expression of God bringing them together for his purposes.

There’s a lot of heat on the Church from secular society, and it makes it easier to create an “us” and “them” mentality. But there is no ‘us and them’. Not in Jesus’ mind. For Jesus actually made every single “us” and every single “them”. We’re special, but so are they. They just don’t know it as well as we might. And what a crying shame that is!

In the Gospel today the disciples were arguing about whom was the best out of them. It can be really easy to be critical of this as a modern reader but conversely think about the last time you had a harsh and critical thought about a friend, co-worker or family member. We can be susceptible to comparing ourselves to those around us, and not always in trying to learn from the positive example they might be setting.

If Jesus is the King of all Kings, the mighty popular healer of all people and the victorious liberator from sin and death of those who follow him, why wouldn't we follow him? I'm pretty sure that's what Peter was thinking in following Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t deem any one of us unclean or unworthy either. No matter what’s going on in our lives, Jesus is always there willing to help and to heal us. In the midst of a broken world, Jesus is the ultimate healer and a living sign and symbol of God’s compassion. Healing is a sign of God’s incredible love and compassion for his people. Jesus doesn’t leave us where we are but takes us to new places if we choose to come before him.

Jesus too proclaims that “for it is from within, from the human heart, the evil intentions come… all these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Sometimes we are so focused on creating an image of ourselves to others, that we forget that the person we become is defined by the values we hold within our hearts and uphold each day.

Jesus never came to earth to be popular. Our faith isn’t one that panders to what is nice, it looks for what is good, holy and right, even if those truths are uncomfortable in our contexts. Jesus asks if the Apostles want to leave as well and Peter answers with incredible insight; “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God."

But Mary doesn’t do that. She is joyful and creates this beautiful song of praise. Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth and shared this gift with her. “Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?”. Mary isn’t thinking of herself, she already knows that this child is not ‘for her’, He is for us all.

“What if?” is such a powerful pair of words. It can be so crushing. What if I lose my job? What if she/he never loves me? What if I don’t get into that class? What if I fail? Two words that can ruin a day. But that’s not all they are. “What if” need not be a bad pair with doom and destruction in their wake. What if has the power to make our lives beautiful. They are words that can lead us to dream and plan a new vision.

In this Gospel, Jesus refers to Moses and his people eating manna in the desert when they wandered for forty years. God provided this heavenly food to sustain them - after all, other food would spoil and you can’t grow much in the desert anyway! It’s the same for us. In our world we can often plant many seeds that bear no fruit, or find many things we’ve put our hopes in spoil or go rotten. It can feel like a real desert out here.

Every day the world reminds us how small we are; how seemingly insignificant we are and our actions are. But not with Jesus. His coming paved the way for us to reach the many. How? He gave thanks (John 6:11). He had faith that his Father would provide. He knew that his humble actions would reach the hearts of the 5000 and beyond.

This gospel feels at first like a lesson in good self-care, because the disciples are so flat out they’re not eating properly and Jesus, the wise leader that he is, steps in and takes them away for a break. But when Jesus sees the lost, hurting, confused, broken and tired crowd who beat him and the disciples to their getaway, he can’t help but look after them.

At the end of every Mass, I am challenged by the invitation from the celebrant. "Go and proclaim the Word of the Lord!" How often do I actively proclaim the Word straight from the Gospel? Sure, I live a Catholic life and love speaking about the faith when I can, but it's hard to specifically proclaim the Word!

The people in Jesus’ hometown were comfortable too. So set in their ways, that Jesus could do no work there. Nothing! Jesus couldn’t perform miracles because the people in the town wouldn’t let him! They did not believe he was who he said he was, they sneered at his radical ideas and slumped back into their status quo sofa, and were not changed.