March 2010 - Bible Diary
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BIBLE DIARY 2010
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| March 2010 |
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| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
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| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
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January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
March 1
Monday
2nd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Dn 9:4b–10
I prayed to Yahweh, my God, and made this confession: “Lord God, great and to be feared, you keep your Covenant and love for those who love you and observe your commandments. We have sinned, we have not been just, we have been rebels, and have turned away from your commandments and laws. We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers and to all the people of the land.
Lord, justice is yours, but ours is a face full of shame, as it is to this day—we, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in all the lands where you have dispersed us because of the infidelity we have committed against you. Ours is the shame, O Lord for we, our kings, princes, fathers, have sinned against you. We hope for pardon and mercy from the Lord, because we have rebelled against him. We have not listened to the voice of Yahweh, our God, or followed the laws which he has given us through his servants, the prophets.
►Gospel: Lk 6:36–38
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”
REFLECTION
“The measure you use for others is the measure God will use for you.”
God did not create us for ourselves alone.
We are meant to be the spirit of Jesus
here and now,
knowing that God will then bless us
to the very degree
that we have been a blessing for others.
2nd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Is 1:10, 16–20
Hear the warning of Yahweh, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah.” Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from my sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good.
Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow.” “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together.
Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool.
If you will obey me, you will eat the goods of the earth; but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.
►Gospel: Mt 23:1–12
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them. They do everything in order to be seen by people; so they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first place at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and being greeted in the marketplace and being called ‘Master’ by the people.
“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, he who is in heaven. Nor should you be called leader, because Christ is the only leader for you. Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”
REFLECTION
“Whoever make themselves great will be humbled.”
The Jesus who became just like us
warns us not to make ourselves
superior to others by using the titles
and trappings of power against others.
Those who do, Jesus warns,
only expose their own smallness.
2nd Week of Lent
Katharine Drexel
►1st Reading: Jer 18:18–20
The people of Judah and the citizen of Jerusalem said, “Come, let us plot against Jeremiah, for even without him, there will be priests to interpret the Teachings of the Law; there will always be wise men to impart counsel and prophets to proclaim the word. Come, let us accuse him and strike him down instead of listening to what he says.” Hear me, O Yahweh! Listen to what my accusers say. Is evil the reward for good? Why do they dig a grave for me? Remember how I stood before you to speak well on their behalf so that your anger might subside.
►Gospel: Mt 20:17–28
When Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside and said to them on the way, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law who will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the foreigners who will mock him, scourge him and crucify him. But he will be raised to life on the third day.” Then the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down to ask a favor. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here you have my two sons. Grant that they may sit, one at your right and one at your left, when you are in your kingdom.”
Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to grant. That will be for those for whom the Father has prepared it.”
The other ten heard all this and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you; whoever wants to be more important in your group shall make himself your servant. And if you want to be first, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man who has come, not to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.”
REFLECTION
“If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest....
like the Son of Man who did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life to redeem many people.”
All around us people are in bondage
to poverty, to persecution, to personal limitations.
To really follow Jesus
we, too, must go where these people are
and redeem them from their isolation
and pain.
2nd Week of Lent
Casimir
►1st Reading: Jer 17:5–10
This is what Yahweh says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart is drawn away from Yahweh! He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in a salt land where no one lives and who never finds happiness. Blessed is the man who puts his trust in Yahweh and whose confidence is in him! He is like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots towards the stream. He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; the year of drought is no problem and he can always bear fruit. Most deceitful is the heart. What is there within man, who can understand him? I, Yahweh, search the heart and penetrate the mind. I reward each one according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds.
►Gospel: Lk 16:19–31*(completed)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores. It happened that the poor man died and angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. From hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest.
He called out: ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus with the tip of his finger dipped in water to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.’
Abraham replied: ‘My son, remember that in your lifetime you were well-off while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in comfort and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you or from your side to us.’
The rich man implored once more: ‘Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house where my five brothers live. Let him warn them so that they may not end up in this place of torment.’ Abraham replied: ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ But the rich man said: ‘No, Father Abraham. But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Abraham said: ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the grave.’”
REFLECTION
“If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets they will not be convinced
even if someone were to rise from the dead.”
The life of the Jesus who says to all of us,
‘Come follow me,’
is a life of service and resurrection for many.
What more do we need
to convince us that we ourselves
must do the same for the poor of our time?
2nd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Gen 37:3–4, 12–13a, 17b–28a
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, for he was the son of his old age and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. His brothers who saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, hated him and could no longer speak to him in a friendly way.
His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the flock at Shechem; come along, I’ll send you to them.” Joseph replied, “Here I am.”
The man said, “They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let’s go to Dothan!” So Joseph went off after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw him in the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes the specialist in dreams! Now’s the time! Let’s kill him and throw him into a well. We’ll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what his dreams were all about!” But Reu-ben heard this and tried to save him from their hands saying, “Let us not kill him; shed no blood! Throw him in this well in the wilderness, but do him no violence.” This he said to save him from them and take him back to his father.
So as soon as Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his long-sleeved coat that he wore and then took him and threw him in the well. Now the well was empty, without water.
They were sitting for a meal when they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with spices, balm and myrrh, which they were taking down to Egypt. Judah then said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and hiding his blood? Come! We’ll sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh!” His brothers agreed to this.
So when the Midianite merchants came along they pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph to the Midianites, who took him with them to Egypt.
►Gospel: Mt 21:33–43, 45–46
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, “Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned another.
Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son, thinking: ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought: ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him in due time.”
And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; and we marvel at it. Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realized that Jesus was referring to them They would have arrested him, but they were afraid of the crowd who regarded him as a prophet.
REFLECTION
“‘And so I tell you,’ Jesus went on,‘the Kingdom of God
will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits.’”
Union with God
means that we must come to see the world
as God sees the world
and we must respond to it with the same care,
the same commitment to justice
for the poor and persecuted as Jesus did.
2nd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Mic 7:14–15, 18–20
Shepherd your people with your staff, shepherd the flock of your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Show us your wonders. Who is a god like you, who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of his inheritance? Who is like you whose anger does not last?
For you delight in merciful forgiveness.
Once again you will show us your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea. Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.
►Gospel: Lk 15:1–3, 11–32*(completed)
Tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable:
Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father: ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.
Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.
Finally coming to his senses, he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind he set off for his father’s house.
He was still a long way off when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said: ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son…’
But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick! Bring out the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and kill it. We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is found.’ And the celebration began.
Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and was near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered: ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration and killed the fattened calf.’
The elder son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The indignant son said: ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.’
The father said: ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.’”
REFLECTION
“This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them.”
One of the signs that we are really
following Jesus is that we find ourselves
in places and with people
we consider spiritually inferior–
but maybe spiritually more honest–than we are.
Then the grace of God is most at work,
in ourselves as well as in them.
3rd Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Ex 3:1–8a, 13–15
Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.
The Angel of Yahweh appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?”
Yahweh saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.” Yahweh said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.” And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God. Yahweh said, “I have seen the humiliation of my people in Egypt and I hear their cry when they are cruelly treated by their taskmasters. I know their suffering. I have come down to free them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a beautiful spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me: ‘What is his name?’ What shall I answer them?”
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to you.” God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites: ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be my name forever, and by this name they shall call upon me for all generations to come.”
►2nd Reading: 1 Cor 10:1–6, 10–12
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea to join Moses and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink. For you know that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. However, most of them did not please God, and the desert was strewn with their bodies.
All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did. Nor grumble as some of them did and were cut down by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as an example, and they were written as a warning for us, as the last times come upon us. Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall.
►Gospel: Lk 13:1–9
One day some persons told Jesus what had occurred in the Temple: Pilate had Galileans killed and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.
“And those eighteen persons in Siloah who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.”
And Jesus continued with this story, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener: ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it use up the ground?’ The gardener replied: ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; and perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it doesn’t, you can cut it down.”
REFLECTION
“If the tree bears fruit next year, so much the better.
If not, you can have it cut down.”
The patience God shows with us
as we make one mistake after another,
as we ignore His call
and forget His love,
we are called to give to one another.
Who needs your patient love right now?
3rd Week of Lent
St. John of God
►1st Reading: 2 K 5:1–15ab*
Naaman was the army commander of the king of Aram. This man was highly regarded and enjoyed the king’s favor, for Yahweh had helped him lead the army of the Arameans to victory. But this valiant man was sick with leprosy.
One day some Aramean soldiers raided the land of Israel and took a young girl captive who became a servant to the wife of Naaman. She said to her mistress, “If my master would only present himself to the prophet in Samaria, he would surely cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went to tell the king what the young Israelite maidservant had said. The king of Aram said to him, “Go to the prophet, and I shall also send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman went and took with him ten gold bars, six thousand pieces of silver and ten festal garments. …
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stopped before the house of Elisha. Elisha then sent a messenger to tell him, “Go to the river Jordan and wash seven times, and your flesh shall be as it was before, and you shall be cleansed.”
Naaman was angry, so he went away. He thought: “On my arrival, he should have personally come out, and then paused and called on the name of Yahweh, his God. And he should have touched with his hand the infected part, and I would have been healed. Are the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar not better than all the rivers of the land of Israel? Could I not wash there to be healed?”
His servants approached him and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had ordered you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? But how much easier when he said: Take a bath and you will be cleansed.”
So Naaman went down to the Jordan where he washed himself seven times as Elisha had ordered. His skin became soft like that of a child and he was cleansed.
Then Naaman returned to the man of God with all his men. He entered and said to him, “Now I know that there is no other God anywhere in the world but in Israel. I ask you to accept these gifts from your servant.”
►Gospel: Lk 4:24–30
Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”
On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.
REFLECTION
“Prophets are never welcomed in their home town.”
It is difficult to see the work of God
in the familiar,
It is hard to hear the word of God
in the voice of those we know
but it is only in the immediate that we can
come to know God at all.
It is time to find God in what is in front of us.
3rd Week of Lent
Frances of Rome
►1st Reading: Dn 3:25, 34–43
Azariah stood up in the midst of the fire and prayed aloud:
Do not abandon us forever, do not reject your covenant for your Name’s sake.
Do not withdraw your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac, your servant, of Israel, your holy one, to whom you promised to multiply their race as the stars of heaven and the sand on the shore of the sea.
Lord, see, we have become the least among the nations in all the world, and we are humiliated because of our sins.
At this time, we no longer have a king, or prophet, or leader. We cannot offer you holocausts, sacrifices, offerings, or incense. We have no place to present to you the first-fruits of our crops, and so obtain your favor.
But at least when we present ourselves with a contrite soul and humbled spirit may we then be acceptable to you, more than by offerings of rams and calves as holocausts, and of thousands of fat lambs.
May this sacrifice of ours today obtain for us your favor for we know that those who trust in you shall never be disappointed.
And now, we serve you with our whole heart, we fear you and we seek your face. Do not leave us in our humiliation, but treat us according to your kindness and your great mercy. Free us in keeping with your wonders, and give us the glory of your Name, Lord.
►Gospel: Mt 18:21–35*(completed)
Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses of my brother or sister? Seven times?” Jesus answered, “No, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A king decided to settle the accounts of his servants. Among the first was one who owed him ten thousand gold ingots. As the man could not repay the debt, the king commanded that he be sold as a slave with his wife, children and all his goods in payment.
“The official threw himself at the feet of the king and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you back everything.’ The king took pity on him and not only set him free but even canceled his debt.
“This official then left the king’s presence and he met one of his companions who owed him a hundred pieces of silver. He grabbed him by the neck and almost strangled him, shouting, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ His companion threw himself at his feet and asked him, ‘Give me time, and I will pay everything.’ The other did not agree, but sent him to prison until he had paid all his debt. His companions saw what happened. They were indignant and so they went and reported everything to their lord…. The lord was now angry, so he handed his servant over to be punished, until he had paid his whole debt.”
Jesus added, “So will my heavenly Father do with you unless each of you sincerely forgive your brother or sister.”
REFLECTION
“If my brother keeps sinning against me,
how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven?”
The mercy of God is unlimited, eternal, unending.
It has but one criterion
in order to earn the mercy we need ourselves:
that is the mercy
we are meant to show to others.
We are not meant to judge one another;
we are meant to love one another.
3rd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Dt 4:1, 5–9
Moses said to the people, “And now, Israel, listen to the norms and laws which I teach that you may put them into practice. And you will live and enter and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.
See, as Yahweh, my God, ordered me, I am teaching you the norms and the laws that you may put them into practice in the land you are going to enter and have as your own. If you observe and practice them, other peoples will regard you as wise and intelligent. When they come to know of all these laws, they will say, “There is no people as wise and as intelligent as this great nation.” For in truth, is there a nation as great as ours, whose gods are as near to it as Yahweh, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? And is there a nation as great as ours whose norms and laws are as just as this Law which I give you today?
But be careful and be on your guard. Do not forget these things which your own eyes have seen nor let them depart from your heart as long as you live. But on the contrary, teach them to your children and to your children’s children.
►Gospel: Mt 5:17–19
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not think that I have come to remove the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to remove but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or stroke of the Law will change until all is fulfilled.
“So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them and teaches others to do the same will be great in the kingdom of heaven.”
REFLECTION
“Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses
and the teachings of the prophets.”
The will of God has come to humankind
across the centuries
and from age to age.
What we have learned from our spiritual ancestors
we are called to make present
for our own generation, as well.
3rd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Jer 7:23–28
Thus says Yahweh, “One thing I did command them: Listen to my voice and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in the way I command you and all will be well with you. But they did not listen and paid no attention; they followed the bad habits of their stubborn heart and turned away from me.
From the time I brought their forebearers out of Egypt until this day I have continually sent them my servants, the prophets, but this stiff-necked people did not listen. They paid no atten-tion and were worse than their forebearers.
You may say all these things to them but they will not listen; you will call them but they will not answer. This is a nation that did not obey Yahweh and refused to be disciplined; truth has perished and is no longer heard from their lips.”
►Gospel: Lk 11:14–23
One day Jesus was driving out a dumb demon. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign.
But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons? They will be your judges then.
“But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.”
REFLECTION
“Anyone who is not for me is really against me;
anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.”
Those who do the will of God–
from whatever nation or tradition
or race or gender–
are God’s beloved and our companions on the way.
We must not divide the family of God
through religious prejudices.
3rd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Hos 14:2–10
Return to your God Yahweh, O Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall. Return to Yahweh with humble words. Say to him, “Oh you who show compassion to the fatherless forgive our debt, be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips. Assyria will not save us: no longer shall we look for horses nor ever again shall we say ‘Our gods’ to the work of our hands.” I will heal their wavering and love them with all my heart for my anger has turned from them. I shall be like dew to Israel like the lily will he blossom. Like a cedar he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow and spread. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar. They will dwell in my shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine. What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from me. Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of Yahweh: the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.
►Gospel: Mk 12:28–34
A teacher of the Law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them. So he came up and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
Jesus answered, “The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes another one: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”
The teacher of the Law said to him, “Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”
Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
REFLECTION
“It is more important to obey these two commandments
than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.”
Performing religious rituals
while we make other things beside God
the real gods of our life
and loving no one but ourselves
is far from what it means to be
a religious person.
3rd Week of Lent
Patrick
►1st Reading: Hos 6:1–6
Come, let us return to Yahweh. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; he has struck us down, but he will bind up our wounds.
Two days later he will bring us back to life; on the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence. Let us strive to know Yahweh. His coming is as certain as the dawn; his judgment will burst forth like the light; he will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth.
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of my mouth.
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.
►Gospel: Lk 18:9–14
Jesus told another parable to some persons fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others, “Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and said: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give the tenth of all my income to the Temple.’
“In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying: ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’
“I tell you, when this man went down to his house, he had been set right with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised.”
REFLECTION
“People told this parable to people
who were sure of their own goodness and despised everyone else.”
Only when we admit to ourselves
our own weaknesses
can we really come before
the Lord of Mercy
with confidence that mercy
will be ours.
4th Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Jos 5:9a, 10–12
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have removed from you the shame of Egypt.” So the place is called Gilgal up to this day.
The Israelites encamped in Gilgal where they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the following day, they ate of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain on that very day. And from that day on when they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.
There was no more manna for the Israelites, and that year they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan.
►2nd Reading: 2 Cor 5:17–21
The one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things have passed away; a new world has come. All this is the work of God who in Christ reconciled us to himself, and who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. Because in Christ, God reconciled the world with himself, no longer taking into account their trespasses and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made him bear our sin, so that in him we might share the holiness of God.
►Gospel: Lk 15:1–3, 11–32
Tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what he had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable:
“There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father: ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.
“Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.
“Finally coming to his senses, he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ (With that thought in mind he set off for his father’s house.)
“He was still a long way off when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said: ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son...’
“But the father turned to his servants: ‘Quick! Bring out the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and kill it. We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and is found.’ And the celebration began.
“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and was near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered: ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration and killed the fattened calf.’
“The elder son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The indignant son said: ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.’
“The father said: ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life. He was lost and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.’”
REFLECTION
“This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them.”
The Jesus who welcomes us
with all our secret failures, all our lukewarm hearts,
into the Kingdom
expects us to do the same
for those around us who are also weak
and exposed by their weaknesses for all to see.
4th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Is 65:17–21
I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again.
Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people.
The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more.
You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit.
►Gospel: Jn 4:43–54
In those days Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. Jesus himself said that no prophet is recognized in his own country. Yet the Galileans welcomed him when he arrived, because of all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the Festival and which they had seen. For they, too, had gone to the feast.
Jesus went back to Cana of Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. At Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill, and when he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe!” The official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” And Jesus replied, “Go, your son is living.” The man had faith in the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. He was already going down the hilly road when his servants met him with this news, “Your son has recovered!” So he asked them at what hour the child had begun to recover and they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday in the afternoon about one o’clock.” And the father realized that it was the time when Jesus told him, “Your son is living.” And he became a believer, he and all his family. Jesus performed this second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.
REFLECTION
“None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles and wonders.”
God sends us the miracles of life–
love and joy, security and beauty–
so that we might see behind those things.
It is up to us to realize that these things
are signs of the presence of God
even here, even now.
4th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Ezk 47:1–9, 12*
The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water coming out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastwards…. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing the east and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.
The man had a measuring cord in his hand. As he went towards the east he measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water which was up to my ankles. He measured off another thousand cubits and made me cross the water which came to my knees. He measured off another thousand cubits and we crossed the water which was up to my waist. When he had again measured a thousand cubits, I could not cross the torrent for it had swollen to a depth which was impossible to cross without swimming.
The man then said to me, “Son of man, did you see?” He led me on further and then brought me back to the bank of the river. … . He said to me, “This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become wholesome. Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in …. Wherever it flows, life will abound.
Near the river on both banks there will be all kinds of fruit … each month they will bear a fresh crop because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.
►Gospel: Jn 5:1–16*
After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. …. There is a pool (called Bethzatha in Hebrew) surrounded by five galleries. In these galleries lay a multitude of sick people – blind, lame and paralyzed.
(….)
There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him, and since he knew how long this man had been lying there, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” And the sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; so while I am still on my way, another steps down before me.”
Jesus then said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his mat and walked.
Now that day happened to be the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had just been healed, “It is the Sabbath and the Law doesn’t allow you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The one who healed me said to me: Take up your mat and walk.” They asked him, “Who is the one who said to you: Take up your mat and walk?” But the sick man had no idea who it was who had cured him, for Jesus had slipped away among the crowd that filled the place.
Afterwards Jesus met him in the Temple court and told him, ”Now you are well; don’t sin again, lest something worse happen to you.” And the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jews persecuted Jesus because he performed healings like that on the Sabbath.
REFLECTION
“And Jesus said, ‘Don’t you want to get well?’
And the man said, ‘Sir, there is no one to carry me down.’”
Like Jesus, we are put here on earth
to “carry one another down”
through the hard parts of life,
to heal one another’s hurts,
to fill one another’s hearts with love.
4th Week of Lent
Patrick
►1st Reading: Is 49:8–15*
This is what Yahweh says:
“At a favorable time I have answered you, on the day of salvation I have been your help; I have formed you and made you to be my covenant with the people.
You will restore the land, and allot its abandoned farms. You will say to the captives: Come out; and to those in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the road; they will find pasture on barren hills. 1They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching wind or the sun beat upon them; for he who has mercy on them will guide them and lead them to springs of water. …
Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth;
break forth into song, O mountains:
for Yahweh has comforted his people
and taken pity on those who are afflicted.
But Zion said: “Yahweh has forsaken me,
my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a woman forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child of her womb?
Yet though she forget, I will never forget you.
►Gospel: Jn 5:17–30*
Jesus said to the Jews, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling him his own Father.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.
Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. …. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. And he has empowered him as well to carry out Judgment, for he is a son of man.
Do not be surprised at this: the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
I can do nothing of myself, and I need to hear Another One to judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”
REFLECTION
“Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
In the face of Jesus we see
the compassionate face of God.
It is that very compassion
we ourselves are meant to show to others.
Then, as Jesus is the face of God for us,
we ourselves become the face of Jesus
for others.
4th Week of Lent
Cyril of Jerusalem
►1st Reading: Ex 32:7–14
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said: ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.’”
And Yahweh said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked people. Now just leave me that my anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.”
But Moses calmed the anger of Yahweh, his God, and said, “Why, O‑Yahweh, should your anger burst against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say: ‘Yahweh brought them out with evil intent, for he wanted to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from the heat of your anger and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise you yourself swore: I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”
Yahweh then changed his mind and would not yet harm his people.
►Gospel: Jn 5:31–47
Jesus said to the Jews, “If I bore witness to myself, my testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to me and I know that his testimony is true when he bears witness to me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.
“John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John—the works which the Father entrusted to me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness: the Father has sent me. Thus he who bears witness to me is the Father who sent me. Then, as long as you do not believe his messenger, his word is not in you.
“You search in the Scriptures thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to me. But you refuse to come to me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in my Father’s name and you do not accept me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another instead of seeking the glory coming from the only God, how can you believe?
“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
REFLECTION
Jesus said, ‘What I do speaks on my behalf and shows that the Father has sent me.”
There is nothing we do
that does not say something
about who we are
and what we want to be in life.
The world is waiting for us, too,
to be signs of the love of God.
4th Week of Lent
Joseph, Husband of Mary
►1st Reading: 2 S 7:4–5a, 12–14a, 16
But that very night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, this is what Yahweh says: Are you able to build a house for me to live in?
When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you and I will make his reign secure. He shall build a house for my name and I will firmly establish his kingship forever. I will be a father to him and he shall be my son. If he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod, as men do.
Your house and your reign shall last forever before me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”
►2nd Reading: Rom 4:13, 16–18, 22
If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendants, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith.
For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed.
Abraham is the father of all of us, as it is written: I will make you father of many nations. He is our father in the eyes of Him who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence what does not yet exist, for this is the God in whom he believed.
Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told: See how many will be your descendants.
This was taken into account for him to attain right¬eousness.
►Gospel: Mt 1:16, 18–21, 24a (or Lk 2:41–51a)
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ—the Messiah.
This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do and he took his wife to his home.
REFLECTION
“On the third day they found him in the Temple,
sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions.”
By listening and asking questions,
by giving ourselves to the conscious pursuit
of the spiritual life
we, too, grow in wisdom, age and grace.
Then we are ready to do God’s work
God’s way.
4th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Jer 11:18–20
Yahweh made it known to me and so I know! And you let me see their scheming: “Take care, even your kinsfolk and your own family are false with you and behind your back they freely criticize you. Do not trust them when they approach you in a friendly way.”
But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.”
Yahweh, God of hosts, you who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.
►Gospel: Jn 7:40–53
Many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? Doesn’t Scripture say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?” The crowd was divided over him. Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
The officers of the Temple went back to the chief priests who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man.” The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the Law!”
Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, “Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”
And they all went home.
REFLECTION
“Have you ever known one of the authorities or one pharisee to believe in him?”
In the end, we are all responsible
for our own decisions, our own insights for our own decisions,
our own insights about Jesus.
We cannot hand over our souls to anyone–
not even to teachers and theologians
who, history shows us, have also been often wrong.
5th Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Is 43:16–21
Thus says Yahweh, who opened a way through the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who brought down chariots and horses, a whole army of them, and there they lay, never to rise again, snuffed out like a wick.
But do not dwell on the past, or remember the things of old.
Look, I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth. Do you not see? I am opening up a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The beasts of the land will honor me, jackals and ostriches, because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert that my chosen people may drink.
I have formed this people for myself; they will proclaim my praise.
►2nd Reading: Phil 3:8–14
Everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have let everything fall away and I now consider all as garbage, if instead I may gain Christ. May I be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but with the righteousness that God gives to those who believe.
May I know him and experience the power of his resurrection and share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, and attain through this, God willing, the resurrection from the dead!
I do not believe I have already reached the goal, nor do I consider myself perfect, but I press on till I conquer Christ Jesus, as I have already been conquered by him. No, brothers and sisters, I do not claim to have claimed the prize yet. I say only this: forgetting what is behind me, I race forward and run towards the goal, my eyes on the prize to which God has called us from above in Christ Jesus.
►Gospel: Jn 8:1–11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak Jesus appeared in the Temple again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them.
Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone. “Master,” they said, “this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now the Law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but you, what do you say?” They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against him.
Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And he bent down again, writing on the ground.
As a result of these words, they went away, one by one, starting with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin again.”
REFLECTION
“Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone.”
Everything is meant for our good: even sin.
Once we confront the sin in ourselves
there is no room for arrogance anymore,
no room to be judgmental of others.
Sin, if we admit it in ourself, frees us
to be kind, to be merciful, to be humble.
5th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Dn 13:1–9, 15–17, 19–30, 33–62 (or 13:14c–62)
There lived in Babylon a man named Joakim, who was married to a very beautiful God-fearing woman, Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter, whose pious parents had trained her in the law of Moses. A very rich man and greatly respected by all the Jews, Joakim was frequently visited by the Jews in his house adjoining a garden.
That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, in whom this word of the Lord became true, “Wickedness has come forth from Babylon, through the elders appointed judges, who were supposed to govern the people.” These men frequented Joakim’s house, and all who had legal disputes used to come to them.
After the people had left at noon, Susanna would go into her husband’s garden for a walk. The two old men began to lust for her as they watched her enter the garden every day. Forgetting the demands of justice and virtue, their lust grew all the more as they made no effort to turn their eyes to heaven.
One day, as they were waiting for an opportune time, Susanna entered the garden as usual with only two maids. She decided to bathe, for it was a hot day. Nobody else was there except the two elders watching her from where they had hidden themselves.
She said to the maids, “Bring me oil and ointments, and shut the garden doors while I bathe.”
When the maids had left, the two elders hurried to her and said, “Look, the garden doors are shut and no one sees us. We desire to possess you. If you refuse to give in, we will testify that you sent your maids away for there was a young man here with you.”
Susanna moaned, “Whatever I do, I am trapped. If I give in to your desire, it will be death for me; if I refuse, I won’t escape your persecution. I would rather be persecuted than sin in the eyes of the Lord.”
Susanna shrieked, but the old men shouted, putting the blame on her. One of them ran and opened the garden doors. Hearing the noise in the garden, the household servants rushed in by the side entrance to see what was happening. They were taken aback when they heard the elders’ accusation, for never had anything like this been said of Susanna.
The next day a meeting was held at Joakim’s house. The two elders arrived, vindictively determined to have Susanna sentenced to death. They ordered before all the people, “Send for Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter and Joakim’s wife.” They sent for her, and she came with her parents, children and all her relatives.
Her family and friends and all who saw her wept.
The two elders stood up and laid their hands upon her head. Completely trusting in the Lord, she raised her tearful eyes to heaven.
The elders started making their accusation, “We were taking a walk in the garden when this woman came in with two maids. She ordered them to shut the garden doors and dismissed them. Then a young man came out of hiding and lay with her. We were in a corner of the garden, and we saw this crime from there. We ran to them, and caught them in the act of embracing. We were unable to take hold of the man. He was too strong for us. He made a dash for the door, opened it and ran off. But we were able to seize this woman. We asked her who the young man was, but she refused to tell us. This is our statement, and we testify to its truth.”
The assembly took their word, since they were elders and judges of the people. Susanna was condemned to death. She cried aloud, “Eternal God, nothing is hidden from you; you know all things before they come to be. You know that these men have testified falsely against me. Would you let me die, though I am not guilty of all their malicious charges?”
The Lord heard her, and as she was being led to her execution, God aroused the holy spirit residing in a young lad named Daniel. He shouted, “I will have no part in the death of this woman!”
Those present turned to him, “What did you say?” they all asked.
Standing in their midst, he said to them, “Have you become fools, you Israelites, to condemn a daughter of Israel without due process and in the absence of clear evidence? Return to court, for those men have testified falsely against her.”
Hurriedly they returned, and the elders said to Daniel, “Come and sit with us, for you also possess the gifts -bestowed by God upon the elders.”
Daniel said to the people, “Separate these two from one another and I will examine each of them.”
When the two elders were separated from each other, Daniel called one of them and said, “How wicked you have grown with age. Your sins of earlier days have piled up against you, and now is the time of reckoning. Remember how you have passed unjust sentences, condemning the innocent and freeing the guilty, although the Lord has said ‘The innocent and the just should not be put to death.’ Now, if you really witnessed the crime, under what tree did you see them do it?”
The elder answered, “Under a mastic tree.”
Daniel said, “Your lie will cost you your head. You will be cut in two, as soon as the Lord’s angel receives your sentence from God.”
Putting the first one aside, Daniel called the other elder and said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, you have long allowed yourself to be perverted by lust. This is how you have dealt with the daughters of Israel, who out of fear have yielded to you. But here is a daughter of Judah who would not tolerate your wickedness. Tell me then, under what tree did you catch them committing the crime?”
The answer came, “Under an oak.”
“Your lie has also cost you your head,” Daniel said. “God’s angel waits to cut you both in two.”
The whole assembly shouted and blessed God for helping those who hope in him. They turned against the two elders who, through Daniel’s efforts, had been convicted by their own mouths. In accordance with Moses’ law, the penalty the two elders had intended to impose upon their neighbor was inflicted upon them. They were sentenced to death. Thus was the life of an innocent woman spared that day.
►Gospel: Jn 8:12–20
Jesus spoke to them again, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have light and life.” The Pharisees replied, “Now you are speaking on your own behalf, your testimony is worthless.”
Then Jesus said, “Even though I bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.
You judge by human standards; as for me, I don’t judge anyone. But if I had to judge, my judgment would be valid for I am not alone: the Father who sent me is with me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid; so I am bearing witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me.”
They asked him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father as well.”
Jesus said these things when he was teaching in the Temple area, in the place where they received the offerings. No one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
REFLECTION
“Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will not walk in darkness.”
We all follow someone or something.
The only question is whether or not
we become better or worse for it,
more full of light or mired in darkness.
To follow Jesus is to follow life
to its center, its end, to goodness, to God.
5th Week of Lent
Toribio de Mogrovejo
►1st Reading: Num 21:4–9
From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.” Yahweh then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against Yahweh and against you. Plead with Yahweh to take the serpents away.” Moses pleaded for the people and Yahweh said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.
►Gospel: Jn 8:21–30
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?”
But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins unless you believe that I am He.”
They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.” They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself, but I say just what the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.” As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.
REFLECTION
“He who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone...”
To feel that we are alone in the dark places of life,
to feel helpless in the face of what’s happening to us
is a frightening, lonely, experience.
But it is not a real one.
The God who made us is in us and with us always.
What is asked of us now is to let God be God.
5th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Dn 3:14–20, 91–92, 95*(completed)
King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? If you hear now the sound of horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and other instruments, will you fall down and worship the statue I made? If you won’t, you know the punishment: you will immediately be thrown into a burning furnace. And then what god can deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we need not defend ourselves before you on this matter. If you order us to be thrown into the furnace, the God we serve will rescue us. But even if he won’t, we would like you to know, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s face reddened with fury as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up in great amazement and asked his counselors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the fire?” They answered, “Certainly.” The king said, “But I can see four men walking about freely through the fire without suffering any harm, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who sent his angel to free his servants who, trusting in him, disobeyed the king’s order and preferred to give their bodies to the fire rather than serve and worship any other god but their God.
►Gospel: Jn 8:31–42
Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in him: “You will be my true disciples if you keep my word. Then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying: You will be free?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.
I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you. For my part I speak of what I have seen in the Father’s presence, but you do what you have learned from your father.”
They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill me, the one who tells you the truth—the truth that I have learned from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”
The Jews said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I didn’t come by my own decision, but it was he himself who sent me.
REFLECTION
“I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”
It takes a lot of living to finally discover
that each of us is in bondage to ourselves.
It is our desires, our angers, our arrogance
that enslave us, not anyone else.
But from internal bondage only following Jesus
can set us free.
Annunciation of the Lord
►1st Reading: Is 7:10–14; 8:10
Once again Yahweh addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from Yahweh your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”
But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put Yahweh to the test.”
Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The Virgin is with child and bears a son and calls his name Immanuel.
►2nd Reading: Heb 10:4–10
And never will the blood of bulls and goats take away these sins.
This is why on entering the world, Christ says: You did not desire sacrifice and offering; you were not pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said: “Here I am. It was written of me in the scroll. I will do your will, O God.”
First he says: Sacrifice, offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire nor were you pleased with them—although they were required by the Law. Then he says: Here I am to do your will.
This is enough to nullify the first will and establish the new. Now, by this will of God, we are sanctified once and for all by the sacrifice of the body of Christ Jesus.
►Gospel: Lk 1:26–38
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus.” He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
REFLECTION
“Mary was deeply troubled by the angel’s message.”
Each of us is called to follow Jesus,
to do the will of God.
It is often unclear, often not easy, always a mystery.
Yet, God is with us, as the angel was with Mary,
blessing us, giving us strength,
to do what we are being called to do.
5th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Jer 20:10–13
I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip: “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”
But Yahweh, a mighty warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. Yahweh, God of hosts, you test the just and probe the heart and mind.
Let me see your revenge on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh and say: he has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!
►Gospel: Jn 10:31–42
The Jews picked up stones to throw at Jesus; so he said, “I have openly done many good works among you which the Father gave me to do. For which of these do you stone me?”
The Jews answered, “We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for insulting God; you are only a man and you make yourself God.”
Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your Law: I said: you are gods? So those who received this word of God were called gods and the Scripture is always true. Then what should be said of the one anointed and sent into the world by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say: ‘I am the Son of God’?
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in me, believe because of the works I do, and know that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”
Again they tried to arrest him, but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptized, and there he stayed.
Many people came to him and said, “John showed no miraculous signs, but he spoke of this man and everything he said was true.” And many became believers in that place.
REFLECTION
“‘John never worked miracles,’ the people said, ‘
but everything he said about this man is true.’”
It takes courage to speak our truth
in the face of hostility and disdain.
It takes strength to challenge public opinion.
It is easier to be silent than to speak
when speaking stands to isolate us.
Being a witness to the Word also brings the Word.
5th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Ezk 37:21–28
You will then say to them: Thus says Yahweh: I am about to withdraw the Israelites from where they were among the nations. I shall gather them from all around and bring them back to their land. I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel and one king is to be king of them all. They will no longer form two nations or be two separate kingdoms, nor will they defile themselves again with their idols, their detestable practices and their sins. I shall free them from the guilt of their treachery; I shall cleanse them and they will be for me a people and I shall be God for them. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all. They will live according to my laws and follow and practice my decrees. They will settle in the land I gave to my servant Jacob where their ancestors lived. There they will live forever, their children and their children’s children. David my servant will be their prince forever.
I shall establish a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I shall settle them and they will increase and I shall put my sanctuary in their midst forever. I shall make my home at their side; I shall be their God and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh who makes Israel holy, having my sanctuary among them forever.”
►Gospel: Jn 11:45–56
Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did; but some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the Sanhedrin Council.
They said, “What are we to do? For this man keeps on giving miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, all the people will believe in him and, as a result of this, the Romans will come and sweep away our Holy Place and our nation.”
Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all nor do you see clearly what you need. It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed.”
In saying this Caiaphas did not speak for himself, but being High Priest that year, he foretold as a prophet that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the scattered children of God. So, from that day on, they were determined to kill him.
Because of this, Jesus no longer moved about freely among the Jews. He withdrew instead to the country near the wilderness and stayed with his disciples in a town called Ephraim.
The Passover of the Jews was at hand and people from everywhere were coming to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. They looked for Jesus and as they stood in the Temple, they talked with one another, “What do you think? Will he come to the festival?”
REFLECTION
“The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders
that if anyone knew where Jesus was,
he must report it, so that they could arrest him.”
Conscience formation is a profound
and a necessary part of life.
It enables us to distinguish holiness from expedience.
When we turn our consciences over to authority–
any authority–just because it is an authority,
we run the risk of betraying Jesus for personal gain.
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
►1st Reading: Is 50:4–7
The Lord Yahweh has taught me so I speak as his disciple and I know how to sustain the weary. Morning after morning he wakes me up to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear. I have not rebelled, nor have I withdrawn. I offered my back to those who strike me, my cheeks to those who pulled my beard; neither did I shield my face from blows, spittle and disgrace. I have not despaired, for the Lord Yahweh comes to my help. So, like a flint I set my face, knowing that I will not be disgraced.
►2nd Reading: Phil 2:6–11
Though Christ Jesus was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in his appearance found as a man. He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
►Gospel: Lk 23:1–49
The whole council rose and brought Jesus to Pilate. They gave their accusation: “We found this man subverting our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ the king.”
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You said so.” Turning to the chief priests and the crowd, Pilate said, “I find no basis for a case against this man.” But they insisted, “All the country of the Jews is being stirred up with his teaching. He began in Galilee and now he has come all the way here.”
When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. Finding the accused to come under Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate sent Jesus over to Herod who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.
Herod was delighted to have Jesus before him now; for a long time he had wanted to see him because of the reports about him, and he was hoping to see Jesus work some miracle. He piled up question upon question, but got no reply from Jesus.
All the while the chief priests and the scribes remained standing there, vehemently pressing their accusations. Finally, Herod ridiculed him and with his guards mocked him. And when he had put a rich cloak on him, he sent him back to Pilate. Pilate and Herod who were enemies before, became friends from that day.
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the elders before all the people, and said to them, “You have brought this man before me and accused him of subversion. In your presence I have examined him and found no basis for your charges. And neither has Herod, for he sent him back to me. It is quite clear that this man has done nothing that deserves a death sentence. I will therefore have him scourged and then release him.” (On the Passover Pilate had to release a prisoner.)
Howling as one man, they protested: “No! Away with this man! Release Barabbas instead.” This man had been thrown into prison for an uprising in the city and for murder.
Since Pilate wanted to release Jesus, he appealed to the crowd once more, but they shouted back, “To the cross with him! To the cross!” A third time Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? Since no crime deserving death has been proved, I shall have him scourged and let him go.”
But they went on shouting and demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their shouts grew louder. So Pilate decided to pass the sentence they demanded. He released the man they asked for, the one who was in prison for rebellion and murder, and he delivered Jesus in accordance with their wishes.
When they led Jesus away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the fields, and laid the cross on him, to carry it behind Jesus.
A large crowd of people followed him; among them were women beating their breast and wailing for him, but Jesus turned to them and said, “Wo¬men of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, weep rather for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when people will say: ‘Happy are the women without child! Happy are those who have not given birth or nursed a child! And they will say to the mountains: Fall on us! And to the hills: Cover us!” For if this is the lot of the green wood, what will happen to the dry?”
Along with Jesus, two criminals also were led out to be executed. There at the place called The Skull he was crucified together with the criminals – one on his right and another on his left. (Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”) And the guards cast lots to divide his clothes among themselves.
The people stood by watching. As for the rulers, they jeered at him, saying to one another, “Let the man who saved others now save himself, for he is the Messiah, the chosen one of God!”
The soldiers also mocked him and when they drew near to offer him bitter wine, they said, “So you are the king of the Jews? Free yourself!” For above him was an inscription which read, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals hanging with Jesus insulted him, “So you are the Messiah? Save yourself and us as well!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Have you no fear of God, you who received the same sentence as he did? For us it is just: this is payment for what we have done. But this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, re¬member me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Truly, you will be with me to¬day in paradise.”
It was now about noon. The sun was hid¬den and darkness came over the whole land until mid-afternoon; and at that time the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two. Then Jesus gave a loud cry, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And saying that, he gave up his spirit.
The captain on seeing what had happened, acknowledged the hand of God. He said, “Surely this was an upright man.” And all the people who had gathered to watch the spectacle, as soon as they saw what had happened went home beating their breasts. Only those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, especially the women who had followed him from Galilee; they witnessed all this.
REFLECTION
“This is my body which is given for you.”
The ultimate Christian act
is to risk our own comfort, convenience or even life
for the sake of others.
We recognize it when we see it in service personnel.
We too often forget that we are called
to do the same thing ourselves,
every day of our lives.
Monday, Holy Week
►1st Reading: Is 42:1–7
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I have put my spirit upon him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He does not shout or raise his voice
proclamations are not heard in the streets.
A broken reed he will not crush,
nor will he snuff out the light
of the wavering wick.
He will make justice appear in truth.
He will not waver or be broken
until he has established justice on earth;
the islands are waiting for his law.
Thus says God, Yahweh,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread the earth and all that comes from it,
who gives life and breath to those who walk on it:
I, Yahweh, have called you for the sake of justice;
I will hold your hand to make you firm;
I will make you as a covenant to the people,
and as a light to the nations,
to open eyes that do not see,
to free captives from prison,
to bring out to light those who sit in darkness.
►Gospel: Jn 12:1–11
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where he had raised Lazarus, the dead man, to life. Now they gave a dinner for him, and while Martha waited on them, Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus.
Then Mary took a pound of costly perfume made from genuine nard and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Judas, son of Simon Iscariot—the disciple who was to betray Jesus—remarked, “This perfume could have been sold for three hundred silver coins and turned over to the poor.” Judas, indeed, had no concern for the poor; he was a thief and as he held the common purse, he used to help himself to the funds.
But Jesus spoke up, “Leave her alone. Was she not keeping it for the day of my burial? (The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me.)”
Many Jews heard that Jesus was there and they came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests thought about killing Lazarus as well, for many of the Jews were drifting away because of him and believing in Jesus.
REFLECTION
“You will always have the poor with you but you will not always have me.”
It is important to learn to rejoice in life,
to make life happy for ourselves and others.
It is joy that gives us
the energy we need
to bear the burdens of life.
Tuesday, Holy Week
►1st Reading: Is 49:1–6
Listen to me, O islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands.
Yahweh called me from my mother’s womb;
he pronounced my name before I was born.
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword.
He hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a polished arrow
set apart in his quiver.
He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant,
Through you I will be known.”
“I have labored in vain,” I thought
and spent my strength for nothing.”
Yet what is due me was in the hand of Yahweh,
and my reward was with my God.
I am important in the sight of Yahweh,
and my God is my strength.
And now Yahweh has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him.
He said: “It is not enough
that you be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob,
to bring back the remnant of Israel.
I will make you the light of the nations,
that my salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”
►Gospel: Jn 13:21–33, 36–38*(completed)
Jesus was distressed in spirit and said plainly, “Truly, one of you will betray me.” The disciples then looked at one another, wondering who he meant. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining near Jesus; so Simon Peter signaled him to ask Jesus whom he meant.
And the disciple who was reclining near Jesus asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “I shall dip a piece of bread in the dish, and he to whom I give it, is the one.”
So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And as Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus then said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
None of the others reclining at table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. As he had the common purse, they may have thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or, “Give something to the poor.” Judas left as soon as he had eaten the bread. It was night.
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. God will glorify him, and he will glorify him very soon.
My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for me, but, as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you: where I am going you cannot come.
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but afterwards you will.” Peter said, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I am ready to give my life for you.” Jesus answered, “To give your life for me! Truly, I tell you, the cock will not crow before you have denied me three times.”
REFLECTION
“‘Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” Peter said. ‘I am ready to die for you.’”
Commitment is tested by behavior.
What we say we believe is measured
only by what we do because of it.
To follow Christ, then, requires that we do
what Jesus would do in the same situation–
whatever the cost to ourselves.
Wednesday, Holy Week
►1st Reading: Is 50:4–9a
The Lord Yahweh has taught me
so I speak as his disciple
and I know how to sustain the weary.
Morning after morning he wakes me up
to hear, to listen like a disciple.
The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear.
I have not rebelled,
nor have I withdrawn.
I offered my back to those who strike me,
my cheeks to those who pulled my beard;
neither did I shield my face
from blows, spittle and disgrace.
I have not despaired,
for the Lord Yahweh comes to my help.
So, like a flint I set my face,
knowing that I will not be disgraced.
He who avenges me is near.
Who then will accuse me?
Let us confront each other.
Who is now my accuser?
Let him approach.
If the Lord Yahweh is my help.
who will condemn me?
All of them will wear out like cloth;
the moth will devour them.
►Gospel: Mt 26:14–25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went off to the chief priests and said, “How much will you give me if I hand him over to you?” They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver, and from then on he kept looking for the best way to hand him over to them.
On the first day of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?” Jesus answered, “Go into the city, to the house of a certain man, and tell him: ‘The Master says: My hour is near, and I will celebrate the Passover with my disciples in your house.’”
The disciples did as Jesus had ordered and prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, Jesus sat at table with the Twelve. While they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you: one of you will betray me.” They were deeply distressed and asked him in turn, “You do not mean me, do you, Lord?”
He answered, “He who will betray me is one of those who dips his bread in the dish with me. The Son of Man is going as the Scriptures say he will. But alas for that one who betrays the Son of Man; better for him not to have been born.” Judas, who was betraying him, also asked, “You do not mean me, Master, do you?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
REFLECTION
“What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?”
When we live our lives for personal profit
or self-centered comforts and economic gain
rather than by Christian principles,
we betray the model of Jesus who lived his life
doing good in the face of rejection.
