Commentary on the Gospel of
The Hour
Theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar presents the salvation history as theo-drama, which unfolds in various acts and scenes. Even when a tragic event happens at a given moment, there is lot more to unfold, and we must patiently wait for the climax even as we engage the given moment. In today’s first reading, people are plotting against the protagonist. They have an illusory sense of control. In the gospel, his enemies want to arrest Jesus yet cannot, because “his hour had not yet come.” How liberating would it be, if we truly believed that God is in charge and nothing could happen to us until our appointed time in the theo-drama of history arrived! Nothing would stop us then from living our prophetic vocation fearlessly, living our life of grace in full. How God dies a thousand deaths in us because we are too fearful to venture out of ourselves in defense of truth!
