Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 247
Lectionary: 247
The LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
The LORD said to Moses,
“I see how stiff-necked this people is.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a great nation.”
“Go down at once to your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
The LORD said to Moses,
“I see how stiff-necked this people is.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD, his
God, saying,
“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and with so strong a hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
‘With evil intent he brought them out,
that he might kill them in the mountains
and exterminate them from the face of the earth’?
Let your blazing wrath die down;
relent in punishing your people.
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,
‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“
So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people.
“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and with so strong a hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
‘With evil intent he brought them out,
that he might kill them in the mountains
and exterminate them from the face of the earth’?
Let your blazing wrath die down;
relent in punishing your people.
Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,
‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“
So the LORD relented in the punishment
he had threatened to inflict on his people.
Responsorial
Psalm106:19-20, 21-22, 23
(4a) Remember us, O Lord,
as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Verse Before
The GospelJN 3:16
God so loved the world that he
gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
GospelJN 5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews:
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John’s.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human testimony,
but I say this so that you may be saved.
He was a burning and shining lamp,
and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater than John’s.
The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word remaining in you,
because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them;
even they testify on my behalf.
But you do not want to come to me to have life.
“I do not accept human praise;
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?”
moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
I came in the name of my Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you is Moses,
in whom you have placed your hope.
For if you had believed Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his writings,
how will you believe my words?”
Meditation: The Father's witness to Jesus
Do you know the joy of the Gospel - the good news of
Jesus Christ - and a life freely submitted to the wisdom and knowledge of God's
word? Jesus' opponents refused to accept his authority to speak and act in the
name of God. And they refused to believe that he was sent from the Father in
heaven. They demanded evidence for his claim to be equal with God. Jesus
answers their charges with the supporting evidence of witnesses. The law of
Moses had laid down the principle that the unsupported evidence of one person
shall not prevail against a man for any crime or wrong in connection with any
offence he committed (see Deuteronomy 17:6). At least two or three witnesses
were needed.
Witnesses to Jesus' true identity
Jesus begins his defense by citing John the Baptist as a witness, since John publicly pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and had repeatedly borne witness to him (see John 1:19, 20, 26, 29, 35, 36). Jesus also asserts that a greater witness to his identity and equality with God the Father are the signs and miracles he performed. He cites his works, not to point to himself but to point to the power of God the Father working in and through him. He cites God the Father as his supreme witness.
Jesus begins his defense by citing John the Baptist as a witness, since John publicly pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and had repeatedly borne witness to him (see John 1:19, 20, 26, 29, 35, 36). Jesus also asserts that a greater witness to his identity and equality with God the Father are the signs and miracles he performed. He cites his works, not to point to himself but to point to the power of God the Father working in and through him. He cites God the Father as his supreme witness.
Jesus asserts that the Scriptures themselves, including the
first five books of Moses, point to him as the Messiah, the promised Savior.
The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was that they did not believe what
Moses had written. They desired the praise of their own people and since they
were so focused on themselves, they became blind-sighted to God. They were so
preoccupied with their own position as authorities and interpreters of the law
that they became hardened and unable to understand the word of God. Their pride
made them deaf to God's voice.
God reveals himself to the lowly of heart
Scripture tells us that God reveals himself to the lowly, to those who trust not in themselves but in God alone. The lowly of heart listen to God's word with an eagerness to learn and to obey. The Lord Jesus reveals to us the very mind and heart of God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit he opens our ears so that we may hear his voice and he fills our hearts and minds with the love and knowledge of God. Do you believe that God's word has power to set you free from sin and ignorance and to transform you to be like him?
Scripture tells us that God reveals himself to the lowly, to those who trust not in themselves but in God alone. The lowly of heart listen to God's word with an eagerness to learn and to obey. The Lord Jesus reveals to us the very mind and heart of God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit he opens our ears so that we may hear his voice and he fills our hearts and minds with the love and knowledge of God. Do you believe that God's word has power to set you free from sin and ignorance and to transform you to be like him?
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) wrote:
"As Christians, our task is to make daily progress toward
God. Our pilgrimage on earth is a school in which God is the only teacher, and
it demands good students, not ones who play truant. In this school we learn
something every day. We learn something from commandments, something from
examples, and something from sacraments. These things are remedies for our
wounds and materials for study."
Are you an eager student of God's word and do you listen to it
with faith and obedience?
"Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may
listen to your word attentively and obey it joyfully."
A Daily Quote for Lent: Christ is our Master who
teaches us, by Augustine of Hippo, 354- 430 A.D.
"There is a Master within Who teaches us. Christ is our
Master, and his inspiration and his anointing teaches us. Where his inspiration
and his anointing are lacking, it is in vain that words resound in our ears. As
Paul the Apostle said: 'I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made
it grow.' Therefore, whether we plant or whether we water by our words, we are
nothing. It is God Who gives the increase; His anointing teaches you all
things." (excerpt from Sermon on 1 John 3,13)
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, JOHN 5:31-47
Lenten Weekday
(Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 106)
KEY VERSE: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified" (v.31).
TO KNOW: Jewish law prohibited persons from testifying on their own behalf. Two or three witnesses were needed to give evidence regarding any offense that might have been committed (Deut 19:15). Jesus presented four valid witnesses for the truth of his words. First, John the Baptist was a "lamp" who gave witness to the "light" that Jesus came to reveal (Jn 1:7). Second, the works that Jesus accomplished testified that God had sent him. Third, God's Word gave witness to Jesus. Nevertheless, people searched the scriptures to find life, and refused to come to Jesus who was God's life-giving word (Jn 1:1). Finally, God the Father gave the conclusive testimony. No one had ever seen the invisible God, nor heard God's voice, yet God was fully revealed in Jesus Christ, God's Son.
TO KNOW: Do I give testimony to Jesus by what I say and do?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to recognize you in your word and in all your works around me.
Lenten Weekday
(Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 106)
KEY VERSE: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified" (v.31).
TO KNOW: Jewish law prohibited persons from testifying on their own behalf. Two or three witnesses were needed to give evidence regarding any offense that might have been committed (Deut 19:15). Jesus presented four valid witnesses for the truth of his words. First, John the Baptist was a "lamp" who gave witness to the "light" that Jesus came to reveal (Jn 1:7). Second, the works that Jesus accomplished testified that God had sent him. Third, God's Word gave witness to Jesus. Nevertheless, people searched the scriptures to find life, and refused to come to Jesus who was God's life-giving word (Jn 1:1). Finally, God the Father gave the conclusive testimony. No one had ever seen the invisible God, nor heard God's voice, yet God was fully revealed in Jesus Christ, God's Son.
TO KNOW: Do I give testimony to Jesus by what I say and do?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to recognize you in your word and in all your works around me.
Thursday 26 March 2020
Exodus 32:7-14. Lord, remember us, for the love you bear
your people – Psalm 105(106):19-23. John 5:31-47.
‘You refuse to come to me to have life.’
These are challenging words from Jesus today. He names all our
ways of evading his impact on our way of life. To the people listening he offers
a blistering wakeup call: ‘You do not believe in him whom [the Father] has
sent’; ‘you do not have the love of God in you’; ‘you do not accept me’; ‘you
refuse to come to me to have life’. We who read this Gospel can recoil with
anger or confusion. But in praying over these statements of Jesus to those
gathered, we can search our own hearts. Am I living my faith with integrity? Do
I really believe in Jesus when it matters? Am I living in the love of God? Do I
ask Jesus to bring me life to the full? Let’s return to him in prayer and ask
for the grace of openness, healing and strength.
Saint Catherine of Genoa
Saint of the Day for March 26
(1447 – September 15, 1510)
Saint Catherine of Genoa’s story
Going to confession one day was the turning point of Catherine’s
life.
When Catherine was born, many Italian nobles were supporting
Renaissance artists and writers. The needs of the poor and the sick were often
overshadowed by a hunger for luxury and self-indulgence. Catherine’s parents
were members of the nobility in Genoa. At 13, she attempted to become a nun but
failed because of her age. At 16, she married Julian, a nobleman who turned out
to be selfish and unfaithful. For a while she tried to numb her disappointment
by a life of selfish pleasure.
One day in confession she had a new sense of her own sins and
how much God loved her. She reformed her life and gave good example to Julian,
who soon turned from his self-centered life of distraction. Julian’s spending,
however, had ruined them financially. He and Catherine decided to live in the
Pammatone, a large hospital in Genoa, and to dedicate themselves to works of
charity there. After Julian’s death in 1497, Catherine took over management of
the hospital.
She wrote about purgatory which, she said, begins on earth for
souls open to God. Life with God in heaven is a continuation and perfection of
the life with God begun on earth.
Exhausted by her life of self-sacrifice, Catherine died
September 15, 1510, and was canonized in 1737.
Reflection
Regular confession and frequent Communion can help us see the
direction–or drift–of our life with God. People who have a realistic sense of
their own sinfulness and of the greatness of God are often the ones who are
most ready to meet the needs of their neighbors. Saint Catherine began her
hospital work with enthusiasm and was faithful to it through difficult times
because she was inspired by the love of God, a love which was renewed in her by
the Scriptures and the sacraments.
Lectio Divina: John 5:31-47
Lectio Divina
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Season of Lent
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God, we know,
perhaps more in theory than in practice,
that You are with us,
that You are our God and we Your people. Forgive us, Lord, when we fashion
our own gods made in our own image -
honor, power, prestige,
things to which we are attached and enslaved.
Remind us again and again
that You are our loyal God,
who made us in Your own indelible image
and who shows us Your perfect likeness
in Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord.
perhaps more in theory than in practice,
that You are with us,
that You are our God and we Your people. Forgive us, Lord, when we fashion
our own gods made in our own image -
honor, power, prestige,
things to which we are attached and enslaved.
Remind us again and again
that You are our loyal God,
who made us in Your own indelible image
and who shows us Your perfect likeness
in Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews: "If I testify on my own behalf, my
testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I
know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to
John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say
this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a
while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater
than John's. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that
I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the
Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his
voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because
you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my
behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life. "I do not accept
human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I
came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes
in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept
praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only
God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will
accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not
believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
3) Reflection
• John, interpreter of Jesus. John is a good interpreter of the
words of Jesus. A good interpreter must have two-fold fidelity: fidelity to the
words of the one who speaks, and fidelity to the language of the one who
listens. In John’s Gospel, the words of Jesus are not transmitted materially or
literally; rather they are translated and transferred to the language of the
people of the Christian communities of the first century in Asia Minor. For
this reason, the reflections in the Gospel of John are not always easy to
understand, because in them are mixed the words of God and the words of the
Evangelist himself, who mirrors the language of faith of the communities of
Asia Minor. The scholarly or scientific study of Jesus is not sufficient for
this. It is also necessary that we have the lived experience of faith in the
community. Today’s Gospel is a typical example of the spiritual and mystical
depth of the Gospel of the Beloved Disciple.
• Reciprocal enlightenment between life and faith. Here it is
well to repeat what John Cassian says regarding the discovery of the full and
profound sense of the psalms: “Instructed by that which we ourselves feel, let
us not consider the text as something which we have only heard, but rather like
something which we have experienced and which we touch with our hands; not like
a strange and unheard of story, but rather like something that we bring out to
light from the deepest part of our heart, as if these were sentiments which
form part of our being. Let us repeat them; it is not the reading (the study)
what makes us penetrate into the sense or meaning of the words, but rather our
own experience which has previously been acquired in the life of every day.”
(Collationes X, 11). Life enlightens the text; the text enlightens life. If, at
times, the text says nothing, it is not because of lack of study or because of
lack of prayer, but simply because of lack of depth in one’s own life.
• John 31-32: The value of the witness of Jesus. The witness of
Jesus is true because He does not promote or exalt Himself. “There is another
witness who speaks on My behalf,” that is, the Father. And His witness is
true and deserves to be believed.
• John 5:33-36: The value of the witness of John the Baptist and
of the works of Jesus. John the Baptist also gave witness to Jesus and presents
Him to the people as the One sent by God who has to come to this world (cf. Jn
1:29, 33-34; 3:28-34). For this reason, even if the witness of John the Baptist
is very important, Jesus does not depend on him. He has a witness in His favor
who is greater than the witness of John, that is, the works which the Father
carries out through Him (Jn 14:10-11).
• John 5:37-38: The Father bears witness to Jesus. Previously,
Jesus had said, “Whoever is from God listens to the words of God” (Jn 8:47).
The Jews who accused Jesus did not have a mind open to God. And for this
reason, they do not perceive the witness of the Father which reaches them
through Jesus.
• John 5:39-41: Scripture itself gives testimony of Jesus. The
Jews say that they have faith in the Scriptures, but, in reality, they do not
understand Scripture, because the Scripture speaks of Jesus (cf. Jn 5:46;
12:16,41; 20:9).
• John 5:42-47: The Father does not judge but entrusts His
judgment to the Son. The Jews say that they are faithful to the Scripture of
Moses and, because of this, they condemn Jesus. In reality, Moses and the
Scripture speak about Jesus and ask us to believe in Him.
4) Personal questions
• Life enlightens the text; the text enlightens life. How does
one use this to gain an authentic understanding of each?
• The Jews of the time were following their hardened beliefs and not open to Jesus’ teaching. What is the proper balance between keeping old beliefs and accepting new ones? How does one discern what to keep and what to adopt, and how does this apply to Church doctrine and ritual?
• The Jews of the time were following their hardened beliefs and not open to Jesus’ teaching. What is the proper balance between keeping old beliefs and accepting new ones? How does one discern what to keep and what to adopt, and how does this apply to Church doctrine and ritual?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, Your kingship is a kingship forever;
Your reign lasts from age to age.
Yahweh is trustworthy in all His words,
and upright in all His deeds.
Yahweh supports all who stumble,
lifts up those who are bowed down. (Ps 145:13-14)
Your reign lasts from age to age.
Yahweh is trustworthy in all His words,
and upright in all His deeds.
Yahweh supports all who stumble,
lifts up those who are bowed down. (Ps 145:13-14)
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