The Gospel according to John (Jn 12:1-11) says that it was six days before Passover when Jesus went to Bethany, to visit his friends Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus – the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Bethany was reasonably close to Jerusalem, so a large crowd gathered in Bethany when they heard that Jesus was there. They wanted to see Jesus, writes John, but they also wanted to see Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead. The reading for today ends with the ominous note of a plot hatched against Jesus and Lazarus. The chief priests want to kill Lazarus, too, because many of the people had come to believe in Jesus after they saw for themselves that what they had been told was true – Jesus had really raised Lazarus from the dead. The Gospel reading gives the explanation that Jesus was about to be killed because He made the chief priests feel that they were losing their followers.

Eliminating the competition is an old strategy in religious affairs. It is so disgusting as to turn good people into enemies of religion. Sometimes it results in the kind of sectarian warfare that has plagued Northern Ireland, Serbia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Iraq. Perhaps today is an opportunity for Christians to reflect on the Church’s ugly past when religion became the cause for war, crusades, genocide, and religious persecution. If there is a central message in today’s readings it is the nefarious ways in which religious violence and prejudice sometimes turn people away from religion.

Here in the Philippines now is a good day to renew commitments to inter-faith dialogue and understanding. Unless reason and understanding prevail, the future looks bleak for the nation and for the world.