March
27, 2026
Friday of the Fifth Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 255
Reading
1
Jeremiah 20:10-13
I hear the
whisperings of many:
“Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!”
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
“Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.”
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7
R.
(see 7) In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard
my voice.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my
voice.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my
voice.
The breakers of death surged round about me,
the destroying floods overwhelmed me;
The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,
the snares of death overtook me.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my
voice.
In my distress I called upon the LORD
and cried out to my God;
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my
voice.
Verse
Before the Gospel
John 6:63c, 68c
Your words, Lord,
are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
Gospel
John 10:31-42
The Jews picked up
rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?”
The Jews answered him,
“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God.”
Jesus answered them,
“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.
He went back
across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.
Many came to him and said,
“John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true.”
And many there began to believe in him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032726.cfm
Commentary on
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Jeremiah the prophet, God’s spokesman, is attacked and
denounced on all sides by his own people.
“Terror on every side!” is the mocking call of Jeremiah’s
critics, satirising his constantly gloomy predictions. “Let us denounce
him!”—in the way that he constantly denounces the behaviour of others.
Even his friends abandon him.
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
They are waiting for him to make some fatal mistake:
Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him
and take our revenge on him.
Jesus was treated in exactly the same way by Pharisees and
scribes constantly trying to catch him out in violation of the Law. They
‘plant’ a disabled man in a synagogue on a Sabbath day to see if he will heal
him. They ask him if it is right or not to give taxes to Caesar—where either a
‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer would be equally incriminating.
But Jeremiah has confidence in his God and his attackers
will not prevail:
But the Lord is with me…my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
For his God is a God of justice and truth, a God who is on
the side of the needy:
Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.
The needy one, ebion, or the poor, anaw,
is used in a religious sense: ill-treated by people, but confident in God,
looking to Yahweh for support. By Jeremiah’s time, the term ‘poor’ and ‘needy’
had become virtually synonymous with ‘righteous’, someone whose total trust and
dependence is on God.
Ultimately, Jeremiah knows, truth and justice will prevail
no matter what some people try to do. It is a belief that we need to remember
ourselves. It is a belief we see realised in Jesus. They could kill his body,
but not his Spirit.
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Commentary on John
10:31-42
Once again Jesus’ enemies want to stone him because they
continue to accuse him of blasphemy:
…you, though only a human, are making yourself God.
It is clear they have no doubt about the meaning of his
words. Jesus points to the Scriptures, which has God saying of some people,
“You are gods”. Jesus is here referring to the people called ‘judges’ in
Israel. Since they were judges of their people, taking on themselves something
which belongs only to God, they were called “gods” (see Deut 1:17; Exod 21:6;
Ps 82:6).
If people inspired by the word from God could be called
‘gods’, can Jesus whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blaspheme because he says:
I am God’s Son?
And, if they will not accept a verbal claim, Jesus appeals
to what he has been doing:
…even though you do not believe me, believe the works…
To anyone with an open mind, it is clear that God is working
in Jesus:
…you may know and understand that the Father is in me and
I am in the Father.
Again, they tried to seize him, but he escaped from their
power. His time had not yet come, and that time would not be decided by them.
On the other hand, while Jesus was being attacked by the
leaders of the Jews, many of the ordinary people continued to seek him out.
Jesus had gone back across the Jordan (a safer place) to the spot where John
the Baptist had baptised and given such strong testimony about Jesus. Many
people came looking for him there.
The people could see, as the Pharisees could not, a clear
distinction between Jesus and John:
John performed no sign, but everything that John said
about this man was true. And many believed in him there.
There are many who reject Christ and his message today, but
let us pray that we may have open minds to believe the many signs by which God
reveals his love to us each day.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1056g/
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
You are a loyal God, ever faithful
to Your promises. Strengthen our faith, that with Jesus we may always keep
trusting in You in spite of prejudices, ridicule or contradiction.
Give us the firm conviction that You are irrevocably committed
to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - John 10: 31-42
The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them,
"I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are
you trying to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning
you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself
God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said,
'You are gods"'? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and
Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has
consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of
God'? If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me; but if I
perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may
realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went
back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he
remained. Many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but
everything John said about this man was true." And many there began to
believe in him.
Reflection
We are close to
Holy Week, during which we commemorate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of
Jesus. Beginning with the fourth week of Lent, the texts of the Gospel of every
day are texts taken almost exclusively from the Gospel of John, two chapters
which stress the dramatic tension between the progressive revelation, on the
one side, which Jesus makes of the mystery of the Father which fills Him
completely, and on the other side, the progressive closing up of the Jews who
always become more impenetrable to the message of Jesus. The tragic aspect of
this closing up is that they claim it is in fidelity to God. They refuse Jesus
in the name of God.
This way in which John presents the conflict
between Jesus and the religious authority is not only something which has taken
place in the far past. It is also a mirror which reflects what happens today.
In the name of God, some persons transform themselves into bombs and kill other
persons. In the name of God, we, members of the three religions of the God of
Abraham, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, have fought among ourselves throughout
history. Ecumenism is difficult and at the same time, necessary. In the name of
God, many horrible things have been committed and as a world, we continue to
commit them every day. Lent is an important period of time to stop and to ask
ourselves: What is the image of God that I have within me?
•
John 10: 31-33: The Jews want to stone Jesus.
The Jews prepare stone to kill Jesus and Jesus asks: “I have shown you many
good works from My Father, for which of these are you stoning me?” The answer:
“We are stoning you, not for doing a good work, but for blasphemy; though you
are only man, you claim to be God.” They want to kill Jesus because He
blasphemes. The law ordered that such persons should be stoned.
•
John 10: 34-36: The Bible calls all sons of God.
They want to kill Jesus because He says He is God. Jesus responds in the name
of the law of God itself. “Is it not perhaps written in your Law: I said you
are gods? Now, if the Law has called gods those to whom the Word of God was
addressed (and Scripture cannot be set aside), to those whom the Father has
consecrated and sent into the world, and you say: You blaspheme, because I have
said: I am the Son of God?” Strangely, Jesus says “your law.” He could have
said: “our Law.” Why does He speak in this way? The Jews understood the Law as
applying the term “gods” to those who were the recipients of God’s Word. There
are three ways it could be phrased:
1) the Law, 2)
our Law, or 3) your Law.
The rabbinic interpretation precludes number 1, as it would
only be applied to true Israelites. The second way would indicate a common
theological understanding of the Law. His entire ministry had shown their
misunderstanding of the Law, so this would not be consistent. So, in option 3,
we see He not only is using the Law to explain, but also to emphasize “their”
interpretations of the Law versus what He has taught. In other words it could
be said: “according to the Law as you have made it out to be.”
•
John 10: 37-38: At least believe in the works.
Jesus again speaks of the works that He does and which are the revelation of
the Father. If I do not do the works of the Father, there is no need to believe
in me. But if I do them, even if you do not believe in me, at least believe in
the works I do, so that you will believe that the Father is in me and I am in
the Father. These are the same words that He said at the Last Supper (Jn 14:
10-11).
•
John 10: 39-42: Once again they want to kill
Him, but He flees from their clutches. There was no sign of conversion. They
continue to say that Jesus blasphemes and insist on killing Him. There is no
future for Jesus. His death has been decided, but as yet His hour has not
arrived. Jesus goes out and crosses the Jordan going toward the place where
John had baptized. In this way He indicates the continuity of His mission with
the mission of John. He helped people to become aware of how God acts in
history. The people recognize in Jesus the one whom John had announced.
Personal Questions
•
The Jews condemn Jesus in the name of God, in
the name of the image that they have of God. Have I ever condemned someone in
the name of God?
•
Do you reveal the presence of Jesus within you
by the works that you do?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is my rock and my fortress,
my deliverer is my God.
I take refuge in Him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength,
my stronghold, my place of refuge. (Ps 18: 2)
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