Bible Diary 2009 - March
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BIBLE DIARY 2009
Liturgical Readings and Reflections
| March 2009 |
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| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Frid | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
January ♦ February ♦ March ♦ April ♦ May ♦ June ♦ July
August ♦ September ♦ October ♦ November ♦ December
March 1
Sunday
1st Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Gen 9:8–15
God spoke to Noah and his son, “See I am making a covenant with you and with your descendants after you; also with every living animal with you: birds, cattle, that is, with every living creature of the earth that came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I make between me and you, and every animal living with you for all future generations. I set my bow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember the covenant between me and you and every kind of living creature, so that never again will flood¬waters destroy all flesh.
►2nd Reading: 1 P 3:18–22
Remember how Christ died, once and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust in order to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the Spirit he was raised to life, and it was then that he went to preach to the imprisoned spirits. They were the generation who did not believe when God, in his great patience, delayed punishing the world while Noah was building the ark in which a small group of eight persons escaped through water. That was a type of the baptism that now saves you; this baptism is not a matter of physical cleansing but of asking God to reconcile us through the resurrection of Christ Jesus. He has ascended to heaven and is at the right hand of God, having subjected the angels, Dominations and Powers.
►Gospel: Mk 1:12–15
Then the Spirit drove him in¬to the desert. Jesus stayed in the desert forty days and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, but angels ministered to him.
After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee and began preaching the Good News of God. He said, “The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News.”
REFLECTION
The season of Lent draws us into the desert with our Lord. The disciplines of prayer, fasting, self-denial and almsgiving serve to focus our attention more acutely upon the things that really matter in this life.
Jesus Himself invites us to the desert. He calls us to the conversion of heart that has us repent of our sins and find forgiveness through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. He invites us to take delight in the nourishment we receive from the table of His Word and the table of His Body and Blood. And through the grace that comes throughout the forty days of this sacred season, we are to be strengthened in body, mind and soul to live out our lives in His service: putting into practice the faith we believe as good and faithful stewards. “The time has come,” Jesus says. This is the season to make changes in our lives. This is the moment to turn away from sin and to embrace His way of life. This is the most important Lent of our lives.
1st Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Lev 19:1–2, 11–18
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them: Be holy for I, Yahweh, your God, am holy.
Do not steal or lie or deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by my name so as to profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.
Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbor fairly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.
Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbor frankly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.
►Gospel: Mt 25:31–46
Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his Glory. All the nations will be brought before him, and as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“The King will say to those on his right: ‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you wel¬¬comed me into your house. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to see me.’
“Then the good people will ask him: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give you drink, or a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly, I say to you: when¬ever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those on his left: ‘Go, cursed peo¬ple, out of my sight into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
They, too, will ask: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ The King will answer them: ‘Truly, I say to you: whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do for me.’
And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life.”
REFLECTION
This is a description of the last judgment. What we inherit is not earned by ourselves. It is God that makes us heirs of heaven. We are not to suppose that acts of bounty will entitle to eternal happiness. Good works done for God's sake mark the character of Christians and are the effects of grace, bestowed on those who do good works. Thus, life and death, good and evil, are set before us, so that we may choose our way, and as we live in love and peace, so shall we die.
While we, as Christians, know that we must serve the very least with our love and service, we should also welcome the participation of all people, who have a concerned heart for the poor of our world, regardless of their religion or belief-system. We should participate and discuss ways to bring an end to the extreme global poverty in our generation. Working together we can accomplish this amazing goal! Let us take up this exciting new approach to our spiritual journey; and on that great judgment day, we may very well end up with the sheep on God’s right!
1st Week of Lent
Katharine Drexel
►1st Reading: Is 55:10–11
As the rain and the snow come down
from the heavens and do not return
till they have watered the earth,
making it yield seed for the sower
and food for others to eat,
so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth:
it will not return to me idle,
but it shall accomplish my will,
the purpose for which it has been sent.
►Gospel: Mt 6:7–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do, for they hold that the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
holy be your name,
your kingdom come
and your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today the kind of bread we need.
Forgive us our debts
just as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
Do not bring us to the test
but deliver us from the evil one.
“If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either.”
REFLECTION
It is taken for granted that all Christians pray. You’re more likely to find a living man who doesn’t breathe, as a living Christian who does not pray. But, what are we praying for when we pray for God's kingdom to come? This Lord's Prayer rules out any idea that the Kingdom of God is a purely heavenly reality. We pray that God’s kingdom may come and we pray that God’s design will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Heaven and earth are the two interlocking arenas of God's world. Heaven is God's space, where God's will is complete and His future purposes are waiting in the wings. Earth is our world, our space. The Lord’s Prayer isn't about humans being snatched up from earth to heaven. It is about the kingdom of God extending from heaven to earth. God's space and ours are finally married, integrated at last. That is what we pray for! Let us daily be aware of the frame of mind in which we offer our prayers and learn from Christ how to pray.
1st Week of Lent
Casimir
►1st Reading: Jon 3:1–10
The word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time: “Go to Ni¬ne¬veh, the great city, and announce to them the message I give you.”
In obedience to the word of Yah¬weh, Jonah went to Nineveh. It was a very large city, and it took three days just to cross it. So Jo¬nah walked a single day’s journey and began proclaiming, “Forty days more and Nineveh will be de¬stroyed.”
The people of the city believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Upon hearing the news, the king of Nineveh got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. He issued a proclamation throughout Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles, no people or beasts, herd or flock, will taste anything; neither will they eat nor drink. But let people and beasts be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call aloud to God, turn from his evil ways and violence. Who knows? God may yet relent, turn from his fierce anger and spare us.”
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened upon them.
►Gospel: Lk 11:29–32
As the crowd increased, Jesus began to speak in this way, “People of the present time are evil people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here there is greater than Solomon. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah.”
REFLECTION
Imagine if every terrorist today, who preaches hate and murder, were suddenly to change their minds, lay down their weapons and to pray to God for deliverance from the destruction coming upon them. Imagine if all the pornographers and thieves and environmentally-brutal corporations were to change their minds about how they lived and worked. What a cause for celebration it would be! All of us, all of those in capitals around the world, would sing and dance for joy.
But, this was not how Jonah originally felt about the people of Nineveh. Jonah was a man of faith, a man who deeply loved his God and his people. But, the fact that he hated evil more than he loved good meant that he had little faith in the power of repentance. So, he became a model for those of us, who forget the lesson of our own salvation: that we, like Jonah, often flee from God and do not do the things He asks of us. Do we want to see our enemies destroyed? Or do we want to warn them of their peril and sincerely hope that they will respond, repent and turn from their evil ways?
1st Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Est C:12, 14–16, 23–25
Seized with anguish in her fear of death, Queen Esther likewise had recourse to the Lord.
Then she prayed to the Lord God of Israel:
My Lord, you who stand alone, come to my help; I am alone and have no help but you. Through my own choice I am endangering my life.
As a child I was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forebears that you, O Lord, chose Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among their ancestors to be your lasting heritage; that you did for them, all that you have promised.
Remember us, Lord; reveal yourself in the time of our calamity. Give me courage, King of gods and master of all power. Make my words persuasive when I face the lion; turn his heart against our enemy, that the latter and his like may be brought to their end.
Save us by your hand; help me who am alone and have none but you, O Lord.
►Gospel: Mt 7:7–12
Jesus said to his disciples, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and the door will be opened to him who knocks. Would any of you give a stone to your son when he asks for bread? Or give him a snake, when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
“So, do to others whatever you would that others do to you: there you have the Law and the Prophets.”
REFLECTION
Prayer is the appointed means for obtaining what we need. Not what we want; what we need! Let us never suppose that God would tell us to pray and then refuse to hear us, or give us what would be hurtful. Pray; pray often; make a business of prayer, and be serious and earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks alms. Ask, as a traveller asks the way. Seek, as for a thing of value that we have lost. Sin has shut and barred the door against us; by prayer we knock. So, knock at the door, just as you knock when you want to enter into a house.
Whatever you pray for, according to the promise, shall be given to you if God sees that you need it. This applies to all who pray the right way. Everyone who asks will receive, be they young or old, rich or poor, high or low, master or servant, learned or illiterate. Whereas parents can be foolishly over-indulgent, God is all-wise; He knows what we need and what is right for us. Our prayer should also be a way of thanking God for His gifts to us. Let us pray!
1st Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Ezk 18:21–28
Thus says Yahweh, “If the sinner turns from his sin, observes my decrees and practices what is right and just, he will live, he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be charged against him; he will live as a consequence of his righteous deeds. Do I want the death of the sinner?—word of Yahweh. Do I not rather want him to turn from his ways and live?
But if the righteous man turns away from what is good and commits sins as the wicked do, will he live? His righteous deeds will no longer be credited to him, but he will die because of his infidelity and his sins.
But you say: Yahweh’s way is not just! Why, Israel! Is my position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong? If the righteous man dies after turning from his righteous deeds and sinning, he dies because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed, he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes and turned from the sins he had committed.
►Gospel: Mt 5:20–26
Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, then, that if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to our people in the past: Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you: whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council; whoever calls a brother or a sister ‘Fool’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.
“Don’t forget this: be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”
REFLECTION
Sometimes society finds it difficult to come to grips with the evils it has done. It tries to make excuses, saying: “it was the best choice we had at the time” or “we didn't know better”. Jesus says that there's a link between what we know and what we are responsible for, and that this is true of whatever groups, cliques, neighbourhoods, ethnicities or races we belong to, no less than it is true for each of us as a person. The truth is always out there and some will see it, eventually toppling the house of cards that backs evil.
God is often at work through those believers, who are victims of injustice. These victims are, after all, the ones who need the binding of wounds and the caring and the feeding and the teaching, the ones who need the support of a powerful God. Jesus made it clear that the relationship with our neighbors is the key to the health of our relationship with God. Society needs his kind of reconciliation more than ever. Jesus’ vision of reconciliation is the most important gift that Christian believers can give to the world and to political systems right now.
1st Week of Lent
Perpetua / Felicity
►1st Reading: Dt 26:16–19
On this day, Yahweh, your God, commands you to fulfill these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today Yahweh has declared to you that he will be your God, and so you shall follow his ways, observing his norms, his commandments and his laws, and listening to his voice.
Today Yahweh has declared that you will be his very own people even as he had promised you, and you must obey all his commandments. He, for his part, will give you honor, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations he has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to Yahweh, your God, as he has declared.
►Gospel: Mt 5:43–48
Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust.
“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? For your part you shall be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”
REFLECTION
Jesus was very serious when he said that it’s hard for us to love our enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat us, those persons who say evil things about us. He realized that it was painfully hard. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of biblical hyperbole: some sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is the basic philosophy of all we hear coming from Jesus’ lips. We have the moral responsibility to discover how we can live out this command and why we should live by it.
Within the best of us, there is some evil; and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to the point that we can look in the face of others and see deep down within them the image of God, then we begin to love them in spite of ourselves. No matter what they do, we see God’s image there. When we discover the element of good in our enemy, instead of hating, we find the center of goodness in all humankind, place our attention there and we take on a new attitude to life.
2nd Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Gen 22:1–2, 9a, 10–13, 15–18
God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you.”
They then came to the place to which God had directed them. When Abraham had built the altar and set the wood on it, he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood placed on the altar. He then stretched out his hand to seize the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.” “Do not lay your hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God, and you have not held back from me your only son.”
Abraham looked around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
And the Angel of Yahweh called from heaven a second time, “By myself I have sworn, it is Yahweh who speaks, because you have done this and not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the lands of their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants because you have obeyed me.”
►2nd Reading: Rom 8:31b–34
What shall we say after this? If God is with us, who shall be against us? If he did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not give us all things with him? Who shall accuse those chosen by God: he takes away their guilt. Who will dare to condemn them? Christ who died, and better still, rose and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?
►Gospel: Mk 9:2–10
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain. There his appearance was changed before their eyes. Even his clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus.
Then Peter spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say; they were overcome with awe. But a cloud formed, covering them in a shadow, and from the cloud came this word, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.” And suddenly, as they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus with them.
As they came down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man be risen from the dead. So they kept this to themselves, although they discussed with one another what ‘to rise from the dead’ could mean.”
REFLECTION
In the Bible, important things happen in high places. The sacrifice of Abraham on Mount Horeb. The giving of the commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. The transfiguration of Jesus upon Mount Tabor.
From time to time God leads His chosen ones to mountain tops so that He might reveal to them His love, mercy and even His very identity. Jesus takes three of His apostles to a high place and reveals to them the His divine nature. He does this so that they might be prepared for yet another mountain top experience, the very same mountain to which we are drawn this day for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
For upon Mount Calvary, our Lord shows to His apostles and to us His true identity as redeemer of the world. He gives His body and blood so that we might have life and have it to the full. At the Holy Mass today we draw near to the holy mountain of Calvary so that we might experience anew the saving power of the Lord. And like the three apostles, we descend from that mountain and go out into the world as living witnesses and faithful stewards of all that the Lord has done for us.
2nd Week of Lent
Frances of Rome
►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.”
REFELECTION
Is it possible to put this gospel saying into practice? Don’t we have to judge, if we don’t want to give up trying to change what is not right? Jesus didn’t intend to abolish law courts. His words concerned, and still today concern, daily life. Although Christians make the choice to love, they still keep on doing things that are wrong; and this has more or less serious consequences. The spontaneous reaction is to judge those who, by their negligence, weaknesses or oversight, cause harm or setbacks.
We can, of course, come up with many excellent reasons to judge our neighbours. Jesus knows the human heart, and he is not taken in by the most hidden motivations. If I’m on the lookout for my neighbour’s smallest mistake, isn’t this just a way of keeping me from facing my own problems? The faults that I find in another don’t prove that I’m worth more than him or her. I’m no longer seeing reality as it is; and I might even be judging someone for an imaginary wrong that he or she has never done. The harshness of my judgment might be hiding my insecurity and my own fear of being judged.
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
"When you’re as great as I am, it’s hard to be humble." Muhammad Ali said that. Jesus did not. Jesus was God in human form.....the word made flesh! But, God’s will was that Jesus humble himself and die as a sacrifice for the sins of all humankind. Jesus was God; but chose not to act like God, not to take advantage of who he was. Instead, he humbled himself unto death, because of our sins. And because he was humble, he is now exalted at the right hand of God.
God exalts the humble. He did it to Bethlehem. He did it to Mary. He did it to Jesus. All were humble. All were exalted. It’s true that we can be exalted in this world by power, wealth, and status. But there’s one problem with worldly exaltation: it’s temporary, just as Muhammad Ali discovered. So it is with all worldly exaltation and greatness. But, the exaltation that God gives lasts forever. Indeed, on the day of the resurrection, those who have humbled themselves, before God as well as before their fellows, will share in the exaltation of Jesus Christ. God exalts the humble. That’s a promise you can count on!
2nd Week of Lent
►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
To put down the ambition of the request from the mother of James and John, Jesus questioned them about what they thought of their future sufferings. He warned them that oftentimes suffering is a bitter cup that is to be drunk, but that it is not necessarily the cup of tyrants. It is, indeed, a bitter draught, but, in the overall scheme of things, it is soon emptied. Suffering for Christ is a sign, by which we are joined to Jesus in covenant and communion. Just as our baptism is an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace, so is our suffering for Christ.
The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus’ sufferings would hold for themselves. It’s always the way: those who are commonly most confident of enduring suffering are usually the least ready for it. But, the person, who labors most diligently and suffers most patiently, most resembles Christ. The suffering and death of Jesus was a sacrifice for the sins of humankind. It was a ransom for many and enough for all. And so, being a sacrifice for many, then our fearful, trembling soul does well to know that it was a sacrifice, fulfilled for us!
2nd Week of Lent
►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
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
Jesus’ words seem to challenge the very core of our existence as citizens of this nation and the world. What was the sin of the rich man? What did he do that put him in the torment of hell after he died? The point of the parable was that he did nothing wrong. He simply did nothing! His sin was one that is especially dangerous to those of us who are religiously observant, but fail to act when we see others in need.
When we come together, individually and collectively, to help our fellows in time of need, we are aware of our Christian duty. But, what happens when the crisis is over? What does it take to get us to act daily on behalf of the poor, not only to take notice of them at times of crisis? How is it that we can open our hearts and urge massive government intervention in the face of national crisis, yet we can allow millions of people to suffer poverty on a long term basis? Why do we so rarely make a public outcry against poverty, one that is consistent or intense enough to do anything serious about it?
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 Reuben 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.
►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. 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 men 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 keystone. 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
What Jesus was saying should also be a cautionary tale to anyone, today, who makes a habit of enjoying the privileges that go with the physical Church. Let us ask ourselves whether we, as a people, who own the vineyard and all of its advantages, do we grow fruits in due season? The chief priests wouldn’t admit Jesus’ doctrine or laws; they threw him aside as a despised stone. Their sin of unbelief would be their ruin. But Christ has many ways of making those, who break away from sin, receive His help and glory.
Jesus shows us a different way to be. Our thinking and talking and worship of Jesus cannot take place in individualistic isolation. Rather, it takes place within the context of the Church, past and present, and in the public sphere of the same kind of greedy world, into which Jesus plunged. We believe that God, in utter humility, became human for us at a particular place and time in first-century Palestine. He came and spoke to us and included us all in His family. First century folk looked at Jesus' followers and knew they had been with Jesus. May it be so with us!
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
Meanwhile 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, mut¬tering, “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.
Finally, he said: ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will go back to my father.’ He set off for his father’s house. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet 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. Take the fattened calf and kill it. We shall celebrate and have a feast.
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. 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
Without a doubt, the most loved parable in the Gospel is The Prodigal Son. We readily identify with its characters: an ungrateful son who wants to go it alone, an older brother quick to judge others but slow to recognize his own failings, and a forbearing father, eager for his son's return. Each of us can apply it to our own selves: I received an inheritance, but I thought it was my own and I blew it on things that would make me happy, make other people like me, but it didn't work. Sad, lonely, cold, hungry I finally wake up. I realize the only place I will find warmth and food is back in my father's house. So I swallow my pride and decide to go back.
The elder brother had convinced himself not only that he was right, but that he had always done right. Just for a moment, smile at his ridiculous pride, his self-justification which was really pathetic. Simply put your hand in the hand of the younger brother and walk through the door. Jesus has stretched his hand out to you at this very moment.
3rd Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Ex 20:1-17
God spoke all these words. He said, “I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Do not have other gods before me.
Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God; for the sin of the fathers, when they rebel against me, I punish the sons, the grandsons and the great-grandsons; but I show steadfast love until the thousandth generation for those who love me and keep my commandments.
Do not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who takes his name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you will labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for Yahweh your God. Do not work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals, nor the stranger who is staying with you. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother that you may have a long life in the land that Yahweh has given you.
Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not give false witness against your neighbor.
Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”
►2nd Reading: 1 Cor 1:22-25
The Jews ask for miracles and the Greeks for a higher knowledge, while we proclaim a crucified Messiah. For the Jews, what a great scandal! And for the Greeks, what nonsense! But he is Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God for those called by God among both Jews and Greeks.
In reality, the “foolishness” of God is wiser than humans, and the “weakness” of God is stronger than humans.
►Gospel: Jn 2:13-25
As the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple court he found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, “Take all this away and stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture: Zeal for your House devours me as a fire.
The Jews then questioned Jesus, “Where are the miraculous signs which give you the right to do this?” And Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then replied, “The building of this temple has already taken forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”
Actually, Jesus was referring to the temple of his body. Only when he had risen from the dead did his disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.
Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival and many believed in his Name when they saw the miraculous signs he performed. But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all of them. He had no need of evidence about anyone for he himself knew what there was in each one.
REFLECTION
Oxen, sheep and doves were for sale in the Temple precincts because animal sacrifice was performed there. Money changers were present because the law prohibited currency that bore the image of the emperor to be used within the Temple. This begs the question: “What was the cause of Jesus’ rampage?” The answer goes to the very heart of the Lord’s mission on earth and His identity as the Son of God.
Jesus comes to usher in a New Covenant, complete with a new way of life and a new way of worshipping God. The sacrifice of animals would be replaced by a new and perfect sacrifice, the sacrifice of the Lord Himself, the Lamb of God. The temple fashioned by men for the glory of God would be replaced by a new Temple with the stone rejected by the builders serving as the cornerstone, Jesus’ dramatic actions at the Temple in Jerusalem serve as his boldest public declaration thus far of the truth that would be uttered at Calvary by the Roman soldier, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
3rd Week of Lent
►1st Reading: 2 K 5:1–15b
Naaman was the army com- mander 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. On his arrival, he delivered the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I present my servant Naaman to you that you may heal him of his leprosy.”
When the king had read the letter, he tore his clothes to show his indignation, “I am not God to give life or death. And the king of Aram sends me this man to be healed! You see he is just looking for an excuse for war.”
Elisha, the man of God, came to know that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, so he sent this message to him: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let the man come to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
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
“No prophet is honored in his own country.” This happened to Jesus when he passed Nazareth. The people even threatened to throw Jesus down the cliff. There are two possible reasons why the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, considering that He even grew up there: First, the people are overcome by their pride. Just imagine how could a son of a carpenter can teach and preach these words to them. Second, they are so self-centered and their selfishness does not agree that God’s blessings and gifts should share with others. So Jesus reminded them that God’s benefits are for everyone to share and to receive.
Thus Jesus summons us to overcome our pride and not our pride to overcome us. If we are humble enough to welcome His words in our hearts, it will be easy for us to let Jesus enter our lives. At the same time if we have Jesus in our lives, we become generous to share Him to others who are most in need of His love.
3rd Week of Lent
Patrick
►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.
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
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, ‘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. Then the lord summoned his official and said, ‘Wicked servant, I forgave you all that you owed when you begged me to do so. Weren’t you bound to have pity on your companion as I had pity on you?’ 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.”
REFLECTION
Although we live wholly on mercy and forgiveness, we can be backward in forgiving the offences of our fellows. This parable shows how much provocation God gets from his family on earth, and how selfish we often are. Just look at the three components of the parable: the master's wonderful clemency, the servant's unreasonableness toward his fellow-servant, notwithstanding his master's clemency toward him, and the master’s resulting punishment of his servant's cruelty.
The parable shows the false conclusions that some people draw about their sins being pardoned, even though their unforgiving conduct towards others shows that they never entered into the proper spirit of forgiveness. We don’t really forgive our offending brother, if we don’t forgive from our heart. Yet this is not enough; we must seek the welfare of those who offend us. God is affronted by those who, even when they profess to be Christians, persist in treating their fellows unmercifully. The humbled sinner relies on God’s free, abounding forgiveness. We all seek, more and more, the renewing grace of God; so let’s allow Him to teach us to forgive others, as we know He forgives us.
3rd Week of Lent
Cyril of Jerusalem
►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
Jesus didn’t intend that there be a contrast between what the Law of Moses said with anything he said or taught. He fulfilled the Law by being the ultimate sacrifice. He took no issue with the Law of Moses; but, he did take issue with those falsehoods that the people were hearing from the religious teachers of the day. The scribes and Pharisees were quoting from the Law of Moses, but not following it in their doctrine or practices. Jesus swept all human invention aside and gave his people the words and works of his compassion.
Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law does not give us license to sin or to ignore the Old Testament. Our spirit naturally wants to follow God’s law, but our flesh is still weak and open to temptation. The Old Testament Law leads us to Christ and helps us discern the truth. It means that we ought to be certain that the basis of our spiritual practice is the actual word of God and not just someone's interpretation of it. We should reflect upon the word of God for ourselves and refuse to let any secular group dictate what we are to believe, teach or practice.
March 19
Thursday
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
Of all the men in the world throughout history, a simple village carpenter named Joseph was the one chosen to help raise Jesus to adulthood. Into his faithful, loving care was entrusted the childhood and youth of the Savior of the world. Not much more is actually known about the life of Joseph. But, we are sure that he must have been a good and honorable man to be so favored by God. After Mary, no one has ever been so blessed with spiritual gifts as was Joseph. In purity of heart, in chastity of life, in humility, patience, fortitude, gentleness and manliness of character, he is the perfect model of the true Christian.
A model for fathers, Saint Joseph is invoked as a protector of the family. A carpenter by trade, he has been declared the patron saint of all working people, of craftsmen and of the poor. His is the model of a perfect Christian. His patronage also extends over the Christian family, the Christian school, and all individuals who, in their need, appeal to Christ’s charity and powerful intercession, especially at the hour of death. In the Catholic tradition, Joseph is the patron saint of workers.
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
One of the teachers of the Law came up to Jesus 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
Jesus told the scribe that the great commandment, which indeed includes everybody, is that of loving God with all our heart. Loving God with all our heart leads us to do everything else He has instructed us to do: particularly, loving our neighbor as ourselves! Is our neighbor more than the guy next door? Could he or she be someone in our community or almost anyone we meet? Could our enemies also be our neighbors? Jesus says that that is exactly what he meant.
But how can we love someone who actually hates us? When we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we grow to recognize that everyone is part of His creation. For us, that is where faith comes in. It is not for us to decide who is following Christ and who is not. We are called to be witnesses to Him and, in order to fulfill that calling, we must love others enough to want their salvation, just as much as Christ does. But, here's some good news for those who find this teaching difficult: nowhere does it say that we actually have to like our neighbor!
3rd Week of Lent
►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
As in so many stories of Jesus, this parable culminates in a reversal: the respectable believer…..competent and accomplished…..was rejected, whereas the sinner…..disreputable, inadequate, and incompetent…..went home justified before God. Contempt for others lurks in the human heart, bubbling up all too easily and frequently. We imagine that in dumping on others we validate ourselves. The flip side of condescension toward others is self-justification. In thanking God that he was "not like other people", the Pharisee’s religious narcissism was a form of spiritual self-justification.
There are so many ways for us to try and justify ourselves before God, before others, and even ourselves. To live without self-justification might make us feel vulnerable and naked; but, it is also extraordinarily liberating. As soon as we accept that we're accepted by God, we never need to prove ourselves to anyone, for any reason. To get to that place, Jesus says we need only seven words, those mumbled by the tax collector as he stood at a distance and stared at the ground: "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner." The moment we breathe those words and cast our unadorned selves upon God, we experience His love without conditions or limits.
4th Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: 2 Chr 36:14–16, 19–23
All the heads of the priesthood, and the people, too, were exceedingly unfaithful, following the disgusting example of the nations around them, and so they defiled the house which Yahweh himself had made holy. Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, continued to send prophets to warn his people, since he had compassion on them and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, ignored his words, and laughed at his prophets, until at last the anger of Yahweh rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy.
They burned down the house of God, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his descendants as slaves until the kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the work of Yahweh was fulfilled that he spoke through Jeremiah, “The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for its Sabbath rests that have not been observed.”
And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom: “Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judah. Now, all of you who belong to his people, go there and may Yahweh your God be with you.”
►2nd Reading: Eph 2:4–10
God, who is rich in mercy, revealed his immense love. As we were dead through our sins, he gave us life with Christ. By grace you have been saved! And he raised us to life with Christ, giving us a place with him in heaven.
In showing us such kindness in Christ Jesus, God willed to reveal and unfold in the coming ages the extraordinary riches of his grace. By the grace of God you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you: it is God’s gift. This was not the result of your works, so you are not to feel proud. What we are is God’s work. He has created us in Christ Jesus for the good works he has prepared that we should devote ourselves to them.
►Gospel: Jn 3:14–21
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.
“This is how the Judgment is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light and doesn’t come to the light for fear that his deeds will be shown as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.”
REFLECTION
The season of Lent is a time to recall our identity as sons and daughters of God, made “bearers of the light” by our baptism into Christ Jesus. The candle given to the newly baptized is a rich symbol of the mission of every Christian: to bring the light of Christ into a world that knows far too much darkness.
The baptized Christian shares in the mission of Jesus Christ to bring light where there is darkness, hope where there is despair, truth where there is confusion, love where there is hate. St. John begins his Gospel by speaking of the light so powerful that the darkness could not overcome it. This is the light that we are privileged to bear, the light that our world longs to see. May we be faithful to our baptismal promises and be good stewards of the light that has been entrusted to us.
4th Week of Lent
Toribio de Mogrovejo
►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
Seeing as the basis for believing is the way we humans function, the way we operate. We have a difficult time believing in something when we don’t see or experience it for ourselves. The Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, wrote very poignantly about this kind of unbelief when he watched a child hanged and the child wouldn’t die, because he was too light. Wiesel wrote: For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red; his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: “Where is God now?” And I heard a voice within me answer him: “Where is He? Here He is…He is hanging here on these gallows.”
Faith is that blessing we have when, despite everything the world throws at us, our faith persists; when we believe in Christ’s resurrection, without having ever seen His risen body. To have hope in what seems like a hopeless world and to believe it, this is a blessing in itself.
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 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. “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 trees, 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
There was a feast of the Jews and Je¬sus went up to Jerusalem. There is a pool (called Beth¬zatha 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 dis¬turbed; 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 per¬formed healings like that on the Sabbath.
REFLECTION
Many of us become impatient, whenever we fall sick, even though we know that soon we shall recover, if we simply attend to our medical condition properly. This man, lying by the pool, had lost the use of his limbs thirty-eight years before. Christ singled this man out from the rest. Those, who have been ill or disabled for a long time long, may be comforted by the fact that God does, indeed, keep account of just how long they have suffered.
This man at the pool speaks of the unkindness of those about him, without any peevish reflections. Jesus cured him, even though he neither asked for it nor thought of it. Take up your mat and walk! God's command to us is similar: turn over a new leaf and get a life! The proof of our spiritual cure is our ability to rise above our afflictions and walk along the path, as shown to us by God. When God heals our spiritual diseases, we should take up whatever He lays upon us and walk before Him. And just as we should be thankful, so we should be patient!
Annunciation
►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
The annunciation story is a story of singular beauty and wonder. Mary was a poor peasant girl, in a no-place village, she would have been illiterate, her knowledge of the scriptures limited to what she had heard in the synagogue and committed to memory in her home. But, Mary was the only woman out of all the billions ever to live on our planet who was chosen to carry and nurse God's son. For that reason alone, we call her blessed!
This is a truly remarkable picture. Young and inexperienced as she was, Mary was reflective and meditative. She knew the spiritual power of contemplation. She stood atop the mount of grace and meditated upon what this meant for her, and what it would require from her. In our frenetic, non-contemplative age, Mary's example has special relevance:
only those who take the time to contemplate upon the word of God will experience the birth of Christ in their lives. We must, therefore, all agree that Mary is the most blessed of women, and that "Blessed Virgin Mary" is a fitting designation for her in the life of our Church.
4th Week of Lent
►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. 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 in¬¬stead 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
The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their scriptures. Jesus urged them to search those scriptures with more diligence and attention. They did, indeed, search the scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possible for people to be very studious in the letter of the scriptures, yet to be strangers to their spirit.
Jesus was only ever saddened by unbelief and wickedness, neglect of him and his doctrine. Those, who slighted and undervalued him, did so because they admired and overvalued themselves. Jesus reproved their lack of love for God. But for us poor souls, there is life in the love of God. Many, who make a great profession of religion, show that they are lacking in love for God by their neglect and contempt of His commandments. How can anyone say they believe in God, when they make the praise and applause of the world their idol? It is only when we display pure love and compassion that we are worthy of being called Christians. It is our love for God, that living, active love in our hearts, which is our life.
4th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Wis 2:1a, 12–22
Led by mistaken reasons they think, “Life is short and sad and there is no cure for death. It was never heard that anyone came back from the netherworld.
Let us set a trap for the righteous, for he annoys us and opposes our way of life; he reproaches us for our breaches of the Law and accuses us of being false to our upbringing.
He claims knowledge of God and calls himself son of the Lord. He has become a reproach to our way of thinking; even to meet him is burdensome to us. He does not live like others and behaves strangely.
According to him we have low standards, so he keeps aloof from us as if we were unclean. He emphasizes the happy end of the righteous and boasts of having God as father.
Let us see the truth of what he says and find out what his end will be. If the righteous is a son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from his adversaries.
Let us humble and torture him to prove his self-control and test his patience. When we have condemned him to a shameful death, we may test his words.”
This is the way they reason, but they are mistaken, blinded by their malice. They do not know the mysteries of God nor do they hope for the reward of a holy life; they do not believe that the blameless will be recompensed.
►Gospel: Jn 7:1–2, 10, 25–30
Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.
But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in
secret.
Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they want to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”
So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where he was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’t know him. I know him for I come from him and he sent me.”
They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come.
REFLECTION
The leaders of the temple were disgusted when they found there was no prospect of worldly advantages to come from Jesus. Jesus proclaimed aloud that they were in error in their thoughts about his origin. He was sent by God; and his declaration that they did not know God, plus his claim to peculiar knowledge, infuriated them. The ordinary people differed about his doctrine and miracles, while those who favored him dared not speak out openly in admiration of him. Jesus told them to decide on his conduct according to the spiritual message of divine law.
While ungodly people sometimes undertake to counsel those, employed in the work of God, they only ever advise what appears likely to promote advantages for them. Those, who hate the truth, will be given up to errors that are fatal. Amidst the disputes which disturb the world, if any persons seek to do the will of God, they shall know whether the doctrine is of God, or whether it is evil. We simply must not judge others by their outward appearance, but by their worth and by the gifts and graces of God's Spirit in them.
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
Why did the Pharisees claim that no prophet ever came from Galilee, when they knew that the prophet Jonah came from there? Galilee received little respect from the rest of Palestine. It was the farthest province from Jerusalem and the most culturally backward. Galileans were portrayed as bumpkins, fodder for ethnic jokes. Galileans pronounced Hebrew so crudely that they were not called on to read the Torah in other synagogues. Jesus spoke Aramaic in the Galilean dialect, no doubt encouraging scepticism about him: "Would the Christ come from Galilee?"
So, does it mean anything for us that Jesus came from a small, rural village in Galilee? Having spent his early life there, Jesus understood rejection, poverty, even the pain of oppression. At the time of Jesus, Galilee was treated with contempt; in Galilee, there was anguish and gloom. But, God changed Galilee into a place of glory, a place of honor, the place of Christ’s birth. So, no matter what our past or where we come from, God will bestow upon us the same miracle He bestowed upon Galilee…but only if we turn from sin and turn to Him!
5th Sunday of Lent
►1st Reading: Jer 31:31–34
The time is coming—it is Yahweh who speaks—when I will forge a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. For they broke my covenant although I was their Lord.
This is the covenant I shall make with Israel after that time: I will put my Law within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be my people.
And they will not have to teach each other, neighbor or brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the greatest to the lowliest, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and no longer remember their sin.
2nd Reading: Heb 5:7–9
Christ, in the days of his mortal life, offered his sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to him who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his humble submission. Although he was Son, he learned through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey him.
►Gospel: Jn 12:20–33
There were some Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem to worship during the feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went to Andrew and the two of them told Jesus.
Then Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
“Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life.
“Whoever wants to serve me, let him follow me and wherever I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
“Now my soul is in distress. Shall I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But, I have come to this hour to face all this. Father, glorify your Name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”
People standing there heard something and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel was speaking to him.” Then Jesus declared, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours; now sentence is being passed on this world; now the ruler of this world is to be cast down. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself.” With these words Jesus referred to the kind of death he was to die.
REFLECTION
The Lenten scripture readings in last two weeks of the season draw us closer to the cross of Jesus. Today the Lord foretells not only the kind of death He was to die, but gives us great insight into the meaning of His life, death and resurrection. Like the buried seed, His death would hold the promise of resurrection and new life. By submitting to a most cruel and humiliating death, Jesus would take upon His own shoulders the weight of our sins and transgressions and open to us the gates of heaven. Never has the world known such unmerited, unconditional love. And when we draw near to the cross of Jesus through the holy sacrifice of the Mass we are embraced and renewed in that love.
We could do no better than to spend these last two weeks of Lent meditating upon the image of our crucified Lord, praying always that we might follow Him wherever He leads, being willing to serve and honor Him by our faithful stewardship of His abundant love.
5th Week of Lent
►1st Reading: Dn 13:1–9, 15–17, 19–30, 33–62 (or Dn 13:41c–62)
There lived in Babylon a man named Joakim, married to a very beautiful God-fearing woman, Susanna. A very rich man and greatly respected by all the Jews, Joakim was frequently visited, in his house adjoining a garden.
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. Their lust grew all the more.
One day, Susanna entered the garden, with two maids. She decided to bathe. Nobody else was there except the two elders 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. 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. The household servants rushed in.
The next day a meeting was held at Joakim’s house. They ordered, “Send for Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter and Joakim’s wife.”
The elders started making their accusation.” 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. Would you let me die, though I am not guilty?”
The Lord heard her. 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?”
►Gospel: Jn 8:1–11 (or Jn 8:12–20)
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 of adultery. “Master,” they said, “this woman has been caught of adultery. Now the Law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but, what do you say?” They said this to test Jesus to have some charge against him. He said to them, “Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
As a result, they went away 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
Jesus refused to condemn the woman, not because he condoned her sin, but because those, who had brought the woman to him, were hypocrites. And Jesus wasn't the only one who was set up that day. While they used the woman caught in adultery as a means to entrap him, the man that she was taken in adultery with was never produced. Whoever he was, he was just as guilty and just as subject to be put to death as the woman.
Jesus was saying some very profound things: the law applies to both parties, so where is the man? Taking a human life is a greater sin than enjoying illicit sexual pleasure. Capital punishment is an indefensible human invention, incompatible with the mercy and love of God. There are many of us, who are, for a time, restrained and who speak highly of the word of God, but then lose their conviction and continue to sin, when they choose to judge the sins of others as greater than theirs. We are all sinners. And we all need to be saved from the arrogance of thinking that someone else’s sin is worse than ours.
5th Week of Lent
►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
The Pharisees seemed to be forever asking who Jesus was. Jesus answered their questions in such a way as to honor God. His words were so powerful that many were convinced and professed to believe in him. He encouraged them to listen to his teaching, rely on his promises and obey his commands, notwithstanding all temptations to evil. In so doing, they would truly be his disciples; and by following him, they would learn where
their hope and strength lay.
Christ spoke of spiritual liberty! But materialistic hearts feel no pain, other than that, which injures their body or upsets their worldly affairs. Talk to them of their liberty and property, tell them of waste committed upon their lands, or damage done to their houses, and they understand very well. But speak of the bondage of sin, of captivity to greed, tell them of the damage they are doing to their precious souls, and you will be saying strange things to their ears. Christ reminds us that those who practise sin are slaves to that sin. Christ offers us freedom; and those whom Christ makes free are really free. Free again! Thank God we’re free again,
