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Reflection on 3rd Sunday: 23rd Jan 2022

What do we bring to our listening? 

‘Today’s gospel reading is often described as Jesus’ inaugural address, his mission statement. He is saying very clearly what he is going to stand for and it is summarised so simply. He ends the quote from Isaiah with the proclamation of a year of favour from the Lord but he omits the words which follow in Isaiah 61:2 : “and the day of our God’s vengeance.” Jesus has not come to proclaim judgment. His message is not one of retribution or retributive justice. This is a classic text for what we call restorative justice. God’s justice is fulfilled by lovingly and patiently remaking us into His image and likeness. Jesus announced that he has come to replace the old Jewish love of law with a new law of love.’1 We know only too well how those in the synagogue responded to Jesus’ words. The verses following today’s reading indicate how ‘they closed their minds to the message and the messenger. The whole episode shows that what we hear depends greatly on what we bring to our listening.’2

What do we bring to our listening to God when he speaks to us? We have heard the weekly readings so often. Do we really listen to them?  For many years the practice of Lectio Divina  (Divine Reading) has been a recognised way of praying the Scriptures, where we keep returning to a word or phrase which deepens our experience of God’s oneness with us. ‘We are like a child who chooses the same bedtime story night after night and never tires of hearing it. It’s not just the book that the parents are reading. It’s also the way the parents and child are connecting in the reading of the book and delighting in their relationship.’ [3] ‘Hearing is about more than sound. It is about our presence, openness, and receptivity.’ [4] When we bring these qualities to our listening we are like the pre-school child who was listening to his teacher tell a story. When it was finished, he rubbed his tummy and said, “I feel so full!”

At the beginning of each year, let us become as little children and bring the familiar Scripture stories and sit in the presence of God. ‘We’re not listening for information. It’s not our intention to be transformed or to grow, although that will happen. Our desire is simply to be in relationship with the Source of infinite love.’3 And maybe we will hear Jesus say to us, ‘This is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ 

Adapted: [1] Richard Rohr    [2] galwaydiocese.ie/reflection    [3] James Finley  [4] Michael Marsh

Gospel Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 

Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received. 

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. 

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the Synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: ‘The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.  He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.’ 

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.” 

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Reflection on the 2nd Sunday: 16th January 2022

The Miracle Begins when the Wine Runs Out

 ‘The literal interpretation of Scripture is the least helpful. The symbolic level is the level filled with meaning that changes our lives. We don’t know if the events in today’s Gospel really happened in this way, but there are a lot of give-aways that there is a deeper message here. One of these is the focus on the six stone jars that were used for purification rites. Much of the history of religion is about ceremonial washing where the emphasis is on purification because we are not perfect enough. The jars in today’s Gospel are empty. Jesus filled the jars to the brim with wine. This is not just a miracle story. It is a transformational story about what Jesus is bringing about in the history of religion. We thought that religion was about a list of requirements which we have to fulfil so that God will love us. As in so many Scripture passages, matrimonial imagery is used in today’s Gospel to tell us that what God wants with humanity is a love affair, a marriage. We find it difficult to accept that God would want such an intimate relationship with us, so we keep going back to the six empty jars of purifying water, to fulfilling the law. But laws don’t teach us how to love. In today’s Gospel, Jesus changes the focus of religion from a religion of legalism to a religion of love, filled to the brim with joy and celebration.1

Today’s Gospel could also be symbolic of those times when our lives seem empty and dry, when we ‘have no wine.’ ‘Each one of us could tell a story about the day the wine gave out: stories of failure, self-doubt, regrets or disappointments; stories of loss – of a loved one or of a familiar way of life. We become increasingly aware that we cannot replenish the wine of our life from our own resources. Regardless of how it feels or what we think about it, the day the wine runs out is the beginning of a miracle. That day confronts us with a truth as old as creation itself: we are the recipients and not the creators of our life. We were never intended nor expected to live by the sufficiency of our own resources.’2 When we freely surrender to God’s loving, sustaining presence in our lives, our hearts are filled to the brim with ‘a peace that passes all understanding’ (Phil 4:7), a peace that enables us to rejoice once more in God’s outpouring of so many gifts; a peace that reassures us that ‘there is no such thing, either in the world or in the heart as a vacuum. And whatever space is really left by apparent emptiness, there is God.’3

Adapted: [1] Richard Rohr   [2] Michael Marsh   [3] Karl Rahner

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. One may have the gift of preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; and another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing through this one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes gifts to different people just as he chooses.

Gospel: John 2:1-12

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” There were six stone water jugs standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”, and they filled them to the brim. “Draw some out now” he told them “and take it to the steward.”  They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servant who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, “People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.”

This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and the brothers, but they stayed there only a few days.

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Reflection on the Baptism of Jesus: 9th January 2022

Aah moments

‘The Baptism of Jesus is the third of three great epiphanies or revelations of God-with-us which characterise the liturgical Christmas season: the birth of Jesus, made known to the shepherds, representing the poor and the marginalised; the visit of the Three Wise Men, which reveals that Jesus was born not only for his own people but for people of every country and every race everywhere’;1 and the Baptism of Jesus which is ‘the great epiphany of the Trinity on the day when Jesus’ identity is revealed.’2 All these epiphanies are manifestations of what has always been, revelations of ‘the invincible loving presence of God, welling up and giving himself unexplainably, permeating us through and through.’3

‘What we experience and celebrate in all these epiphanies is that it is God who is manifest, not our formulations of God! An epiphany is not an idea. As D. H. Lawrence said, people can do anything they want with an idea, but a truly new experience changes everything. Before you can do anything with it, it does something with you! God is someone to be personally experienced, and not just mentally agreed upon, proven, accepted or argued about. Like Jesus, all that we undertake must flow from our experience of who we are – God’s beloved. It is the experience of who we are in God that enables us to carry out our mission in life even in those times when it is difficult to experience love because of experiences of failure, humiliation, suffering and difficulties in relationships.’4 At the beginning of a new year, today’s gospel tells us that ‘being the beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence. Our main mission in life is to embrace our belovedness and to become who we are. When we claim and constantly reclaim the truth of being the beloved, we soon discover within ourselves a deep desire to reveal to others that they are also beloved.’5

It’s great to have an epiphany, an “Aah!” moment, but what we do with that new clarity is what matters most. ‘Each choice we make creates the road that will take us to the place where at last we will kneel before mystery.’6         

Adapted: [1] Living space, [2]  Pope Saint John Paul II, [3] James Finley, [5] Henri Nouwen, [6] Jan Richardson

Gospel: Luke 3:15-16,21-22

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’

Now when all the people had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.”

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Reflection on the 2nd after Christmas: 2-Jan-2022

In the beginning

‘NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Dec 25, 2021 at 7:20 a.m. EST. We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we’ve never before seen or imagined.

Administrator Bill Nelson says, “The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it’s what we don’t yet understand or can’t yet fathom about our universe. I can’t wait to see what it uncovers!” Its mission is to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe, to explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, to everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.’1

We cannot fail to share in the excitement of all who have dedicated their time and talents to the Webb Space Telescope mission. We experience their sense of awe and wonder at what has already been revealed and what has yet to be revealed. Richard Rohr tells us that ‘now that we are coming to understand the magnificent nature of the cosmos, we’re finding that many mystics’ spiritual intuitions are paralleled by scientific theories and explanations. All disciplines, arts, and sciences are just approaching truth from different perspectives.’

We can have our own awesome daily discoveries when we sit with the opening verses of today’s gospel: In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower. Each time we reflect on these words ‘God will enlighten the eyes of our mind.’ We will grow in awareness that ‘the Incarnation enables us to burrow deep into the heart of planet Earth and find it shimmering with divinity.’2 Yet whether we ‘go forth to wonder at the height of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the ocean or the course of the stars, let us not forget to wonder at ourselves’3

‘I wish I could show you the Astonishing Light of your own Being.’4

[1] webb.nasa.gov [2] Cardinal Avery Dulles [3] St Augustine. Adapted [4] Hafiz

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6,15-18

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ, for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved. That will explain why I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit.

Gospel: John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower. A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light. The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself. The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. John appears as his witness. He proclaims: “This is the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks before me because he existed before me.” Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received – yes, grace in return for grace, since though the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

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Reflection on 4th of Advent: 19th December 2021

Believing

What if we really believed God is uniquely present and active in the circumstances of each of our lives? What if instead of allowing our circumstances to determine what we believe, we allowed our believing to reinterpret the circumstances? That would be blessed believing, Elizabeth and Mary type of believing, the kind of believing that gives birth to new life. That believing is at the heart of today’s gospel reading. Two pregnant women, neither of whom, according to their circumstances, should be or could be pregnant. One is too old. One is too young. One is barren. One is a virgin. Yet, both are pregnant.

Neither Elizabeth nor Mary allowed the circumstances of their lives to define who they were or limit who they might become. Believing for them was not so much about what they see but how they see. Each one believed she was more than the circumstances of her life. Both women saw, hidden within their particular situation, a deeper meaning and a new life. Each one trusted that the God of the impossible was somehow in the circumstances reshaping, transforming, and fulfilling her very existence. God was at work within these two women changing them, not their circumstances. So it is for each one of us.

Michael Marsh

The story of the visitation is not only about pregnancy and physical birth. For Mary and Elizabeth the massive change within them is linked to a radical transformation beyond them. There is a harmony between what God has stirred within them and what God is stirring in the world. Regardless of whether we’re called to give birth to physical children, God challenges us to cultivate an interior spirit that is intimately linked with the world beyond us. In this Advent season, what’s stirring inside me that connects me with the world around me? What is God seeking to bring forth in my life that enables me to participate in the transformation that God is working in all creation?

Jan Richardson

Gospel: Luke 1:39-44

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, She gave a loud cry and said, “Of all women you the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why I should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

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Reflection on 3rd of Advent: 12th December 2021

What must we do?

Wherever their question comes from, whatever has impelled them to ask what they should do, John gives the crowd an answer that, if they heed it, if they take it on as their own, will change them utterly. I’m intrigued by how specific John is with his responses. He does not give his questioners a “one size fits all” solution, as do so many preachers who flavour their sermons with fire. To each group, to each condition presented him, John provides counsel tailored distinctly to their life situation. Amid our daily lives, is there anything more unsettling than receiving a clear word about what it is that we’re meant to do in this world? Is there anything that risks taking us deeper into our insecurities, into our fears, into the dark unknown than when someone who sees and recognizes and knows us, then challenges us to be the person whom God has created and called us to be? And is there anything more full of wonder and hope? “Once you live any piece of your vision it opens you to a constant onslaught of necessities, of fears, but of wonders too, of possibilities.”

Audre Lorde

This, finally, is what John the Baptist, this preparer of the way, is offering to his hearers: wonders; possibilities; the invitation to be initiated into a relationship with God’s own incarnate self. As ever, John in his fierce fashion is pointing to—making the way for—the One who comes. And this One comes not for the purpose of terrifying us but of loving us. Terror alone—fear of hellfire and damnation—is not enough to sustain a lasting relationship with Christ. Only love—the truest fire—can do this. In this season, we remember and celebrate this fierce and fiery love: the love that created us; the love that garbed itself in our own flesh and came among us; the love that beckons us to respond by discerning and doing what it is that God formed and fashioned us, in all our particularity, to do; the love that we will one day see and know in its completeness.

So what should we do, then? How do we carry this question—this question the crowd asked of John—in this season? How do we discern God’s longing for our life? To whom do we listen as we seek an answer to this question?

Adapted : Jan Richardson

‘God’s will is the most loving thing I can do right now – for my body, my mind, this person, this relationship, this family, this plant, this animal.’

James Finley

Gospel: Luke 3:10-18

When all the people asked John, “What must we do then?” he answered, “If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.” There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, “Master, what must we do?” He said to them, “Exact no more than your rate.” Some soldiers asked him in their turn, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!”

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, “I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.” As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.

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Reflection on 2nd of Advent: 5th December 2021

The wilderness

 ‘Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ‘Advent is a time of pilgrimage, a call to embark on a rigorous journey of reclaiming ourselves and our relationship to God but it often comes without our bidding. And, like John’s call, it often comes to us from the wilderness. Wilderness describes a place and time where our usual ways of being and our ordinary coping mechanisms are stripped away. These times can leave us feeling vulnerable and thin-skinned, easily tipping over into sorrow, anxiety and despair and sometimes even feeling truly destabilised. But our wilderness times are also opportunities for us to venture into a deeper way of being in relationship with ourselves and with God. They help us recognise our usual urges for activity, productivity, entertainment, consumerism and escapism. This doesn’t mean that we judge these tendencies or belittle ourselves for them. Just notice the unsettledness within us. Then choose to follow the call of this time to remain, to abide and to deepen our rootedness in our life in God, rather than being scattered by all the activity and stuff that pulls us away from simple attending and being present. We can then taste the profoundly sacred richness and beauty of the present moment that is always filled with the quiet, undemanding, never absent presence of God, the ‘I Am.’ How easily hidden is this dimension of life. I can move past a particular scene but with all the clutter in my life and the noise in my head, it looks flat and or just ordinary. We try so hard to find the very contentment that is patiently waiting for us to finally, eventually slow down, stop, wait, gaze and simply be. Even our moments of profound sorrow can lead us to renewed vision and life. We are being invited to embrace this opportunity of a vulnerable, wilderness encounter.’

Sharon Grussendorff

 ‘Travel the most ancient way of all: the path that leads you to the centre of your life. This journey is not about miles. It is not about how far you can walk or how fast. It is about what you will do with this moment. The treasure in our map is buried not at journey’s end but at its beginning.’

Jan Richardson

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of Tiberias Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.  He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled in, every mountain and hill will be laid low,
winding ways will be straightened and rough roads made smooth.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.

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Reflection for 1st Sunday of Advent: 28 November 2021

Daily Focus for Advent

May these stars of Divine Love and Light shine through you this Advent season.

  1. Let the Star of Hope blaze through discouragement, doubt, and disgruntledness.
  2. Let the Star of Kindness radiate through your words and actions.
  3. Let the Star of Remembrance glitter in thoughts of good people and good deeds.
  4. Let the Star of Satisfaction shine through your expectations, wants and desires.
  5. Let the Star of Understanding beam love to those with whom you cannot relate.
  6. Let the Star of Laughter sparkle in your eyes and in your smile.
  7. Let the Star of Openness be a wide ray of love in your heart for those in need.
  8. Let the Star of Acceptance nudge you to receive the unwanted ones.
  9. Let the Star of Forgiveness draw you nearer to those with whom you are alienated.
  10. Let the Star of Courage grow bright in whatever requires your inner strength.
  11. Let the Star of Joy dance in the corners of your heart that have forgotten to sing.
  12. Let the Star of Gratitude encourage you to be generous with your gifts.
  13. Let the Star of Patience permeate that which you find difficult and irritable.
  14. Let the Star of Wonder draw you to appreciate the beauty in and around you.
  15. Let the Star of Justice lead you to make a positive choice for those in need today.
  16. Let the Star of Equanimity glow through your concerns and struggles
  17. Let the Star of Faith beam through you, reminding you of the Core of Love in you.
  18. Let the Star of Appreciation gleam in your thankfulness to all who bless your life.
  19. Let the Star of Charity keep you balanced in your needs of self and others.
  20. Let the Star of Enthusiasm sparkle amid your tiredness and hurried pace.
  21. Let the Star of Compassion draw you into the world’s wide expanse of suffering.
  22. Let the Star of Delight lift your spirit and help you to see joy in simple things.
  23. Let the Star of Devotion glisten in your work and in the care you offer to others.
  24. Let the Star of Love shine through you to the persons you would rather avoid.
  25. Let the Star of Peace be a ray of steadfast calmness and tranquility within you.

Joyce Rupp

Advent reminds us of, and returns us to our true roots, to God’s first dream for us.

Daniel O’Leary

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Gospel Reflection on Christ the King: 21st November 2021

Christ the King of the Universe

The official name of today’s feast is Christ the King of the Universe. What does this mean? Jesus himself rejected the title of king. “That’s not what I’m about. I just came to reveal the Big Truth, not to be a king in your worldly sense.” Jesus didn’t come to proclaim any kind of domination or control of history. He simply says, “I am naming the deepest meaning of history and the deepest meaning of humanity.” The Franciscan understanding is that the first idea ( the Alpha) of history is that God who is spirit, who is shapeless, who is formless, wanted to take form; that creation, every creature, everything that exists in the material universe, would reveal the invisible God. In a moment in time, this eternal Christ mystery came as a person that you and I call Jesus. This is the deepest, the biggest and vast meaning of the feast of Christ the King of the universe. Rather than ‘king’ maybe we should use the words ‘the first revelation of what’s going on’, ‘the inner DNA of everything.’

There has to be a correspondence between how the universe started and where it’s going; there has to be a connection; there has to be a direction. The second reading tells us that the direction and the meaning were set from the very beginning. “I am the Alpha and the Omega” says the Lord God. The Alpha and the Omega are the same thing. When we experience the universe as Christ-soaked, when we know that the universe is both the hiding place and the revelation of God, when we grow in awareness that in Christ all things were made, we will experience that we are inside of something very sacred, very beautiful, inherently holy and eternal. Each one of us can say, ‘In my beginning is my end.’ (T.S. Eliot)

Jesus bears witness to the Big Truth. The longer I live, the more I believe that truth is not an abstraction or an idea. Truth is who we are.

Adapted: Richard Rohr

Gospel: John 18:33-37

“Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked. Jesus replied, “Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?” Jesus replied, “Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.” “So you are a king, then?” said Pilate. “It is you who say it” answered Jesus. “Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.”

Verse 38 (not included in today’s reading):

Truth? said Pilate. What is that? And with that he went out again to the Jews.