Saturday
of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 249
Lectionary: 249
I
knew their plot because the LORD informed me;
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!
Responsorial
PsalmPS 7:2-3, 9BC-10, 11-12
R.
(2a) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Verse
Before The GospelSEE LK
8:15
Blessed
are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
GospelJN 7:40-53
Some
in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
Meditation: Reaction
to Jesus' words
When resistance and
opposition to God's word rears its head how do you respond? With fear and
doubt? Or with faith and courage? The prophet Jeremiah was opposed by his own
people because the words he spoke in God's name did not sit right with them.
They plotted to silence him and to "cut him off from the land of the
living" (Jeremiah 11:19). Jeremiah responded with meekness and
prophetic insight "like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter" (Jeremiah
11:18).
No one can be
indifferent for long when confronted with Jesus and his claim to be the Messiah
and Savior of the world. Jesus' message and the miraculous signs he performed
caused division for many in Israel. Some believed he was a prophet, some the
Messiah, and some believed he was neither. The reaction of the armed officers
was bewildered amazement. They went to arrest him and returned empty-handed
because they never heard anyone speak as he did. The reaction of the chief
priests and Pharisees was contempt. The reaction of Nicodemus was timid. His
heart told him to defend Jesus, but his head told him not to take the risk.
Who is Jesus for you?
And are you ready to give him your full allegiance? There will often come a
time when we have to take a stand for the Lord Jesus and for the truth of the
Gospel - the good news of God's kingdom and the free gift of salvation which
Jesus came to bring us. To stand for Jesus and his kingdom may provoke mockery
and opposition. It may even entail suffering and hardship - such as the loss of
job, reputation, or life.The Lord Jesus richly rewards those who suffer for his
name's sake.
There are fundamentally
only two choices that determine the course of our lives and the final destiny
that awaits us: the choice to live for God's kingdom of peace, joy, and
righteousness or the pursuit of the world's kingdom which stands in opposition
to God's authority and commandments. We can choose to obey God's word and
believe in his promise of blessing or we can choose to follow the voice of
those who promise success and happiness apart from God's truth and laws. The
costly grace and freedom - which the Lord Jesus offers to those who embrace the
cross for his sake - leads to joy and blessing in this life as well as the
promise of eternal happiness with God. Cheap grace - which tries to bypass the
cross for the sake of being my own master and the ruler of my own destiny -
leads to emptiness and endless futility. Who do you choose to be the master and
ruler of your life and destiny?
"Lord Jesus, your
Gospel brings joy and freedom. May I be loyal to you always, even though it
produce a cross on earth, that I may share in your crown of victory for all
eternity".
A Daily Quote for Lent: Not be walking
but by loving, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We approach God
not by walking but by loving. The purer our love for him toward whom we are
striving, the more present to us will he be. To him, therefore, who is
everywhere present and everywhere whole, we must proceed not by our feet but by
our moral virtues - judged not by the object of our knowledge but by the object
of our love." (excerpt from Letter 155,13)
SATURDAY, MARCH 12, JOHN 7:40-53
Lenten Weekday
(Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7)
Lenten Weekday
(Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7)
KEY VERSE: "So a division occurred in the crowd because of him" (v 43).
TO KNOW: The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew, Sukkot) was a commemoration of the people of God’s journey in the exodus. It was also a festival to thank God for the rain that brought forth the harvest. While Jesus was attending the feast, he proclaimed that he was the source of the "living water" of the Spirit (Jn 7:37-38; 1 Cor.10:4). The people were divided in their opinion of Jesus. It was believed that the Messiah would come from David's city of Bethlehem in Judea (Mi 5:1), whereas, Jesus was from Galilee, the region of the gentiles, which was belittled because of its large pagan population. However, the temple police were impressed by Jesus’ words and did not arrest him. The religious leaders contemptuously retorted that only the unlearned crowd believed in Jesus. Nicodemus, a doctor of the law who had a personal encounter with Jesus (Jn 3:1-21), defended him. The Pharisees sarcastically told Nicodemus to look in the Scriptures and find out the Messiah's origin for himself. Although they searched the scriptures to find eternal life, they did not realize that God's Word gave testimony to Jesus who was the resurrection and the life.
TO LOVE: Do I defend my faith when others demean it?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to know you in a personal way as Nicodemus did.
Saturday March 12 2016
at
12th. Jeremiah 11:18-20. Lord, my God, I take shelter in you—Ps 7:2-3, 9-12.
John 7:40-52.
Prophets
do not come out of Galilee.
It
is so easy to write people off. A lot of my ongoing education comes from talking
to taxi drivers. A recent driver was an older, weather-beaten man who commented
that he only drove cabs two days a week. His trade was that of a boiler-maker,
involving hard, manual work as well as skills in assessing the state of the
steel and the kind of pressure needed. Why the extra job? He had four children,
three at university and one completing secondary school. There would be an IT
specialist, a lawyer, a teacher and a dentist in the family when they all
graduated. He said proudly that they were good kids, respectful and
hard-working, except for his daughter, the youngest, who liked TV too much.
Jesus, help me value each person, as you did.
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
Thy Kingdom Come
|
Good and Gracious God, You know our human frailty, weakness, and
sin. At times, we can easily forget who we are and who you are: The God who has
been, is always, and will remain there for us. Forgive us for the times when we
have been quick to demand, slow to understand, and even slower to live in such
a way as to proclaim: thy kingdom come.
March
12
Blessed Angela Salawa
(1881-1922)
Blessed Angela Salawa
(1881-1922)
Angela served Christ and Christ’s little
ones with all her strength.
Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th
child of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her
older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and
instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped prisoners
of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The writings of Teresa
of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort to her.
Angela gave great service in caring for soldiers
wounded in World War I. After 1918 her health did not permit her to exercise
her customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her diary,
"I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed." In another
place, she wrote, "Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when you desire;
save me because you can."
At her 1991 beatification in Kraków, Pope John Paul II
said: "It is in this city that she worked, that she suffered and that her
holiness came to maturity. While connected to the spirituality of St. Francis,
she showed an extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy
Spirit" (L'Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991).
Comment:
Humility should never be mistaken for lack of conviction, insight or energy. Angela brought the Good News and material assistance to some of Christ’s "least ones." Her self-sacrifice inspired others to do the same.
Humility should never be mistaken for lack of conviction, insight or energy. Angela brought the Good News and material assistance to some of Christ’s "least ones." Her self-sacrifice inspired others to do the same.
Quote:
Henri de Lubac, S.J., wrote: "The best Christians and the most vital are by no means to be found either inevitably or even generally among the wise or the clever, the intelligentsia or the politically-minded, or those of social consequence. And consequently what they say does not make the headlines; what they do does not come to the public eye. Their lives are hidden from the eyes of the world, and if they do come to some degree of notoriety, that is usually late in the day, and exceptional, and always attended by the risk of distortion" (The Splendor of the Church, p. 187).
Henri de Lubac, S.J., wrote: "The best Christians and the most vital are by no means to be found either inevitably or even generally among the wise or the clever, the intelligentsia or the politically-minded, or those of social consequence. And consequently what they say does not make the headlines; what they do does not come to the public eye. Their lives are hidden from the eyes of the world, and if they do come to some degree of notoriety, that is usually late in the day, and exceptional, and always attended by the risk of distortion" (The Splendor of the Church, p. 187).
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 7,40-53
Lectio Divina:
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Lent Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Almighty God,
when people encountered your Son,
he became a source of division:
he affected their lives
one way or another.May we accept him fully
and empty ourselves to make room for him
in our everyday life, even when it hurts.
Help us, that with him
we may always seek and do your will.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
when people encountered your Son,
he became a source of division:
he affected their lives
one way or another.May we accept him fully
and empty ourselves to make room for him
in our everyday life, even when it hurts.
Help us, that with him
we may always seek and do your will.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN 7, 40-53
Some of the crowd who had been listening
Jesus said, 'He is indeed the prophet,' and some said, 'He is the Christ,' but
others said, 'Would the Christ come from Galilee? Does not scripture say that
the Christ must be descended from David and come from Bethlehem, the village
where David was?' So the people could not agree about him.
Some wanted to arrest him, but no one
actually laid a hand on him. The guards went back to the chief priests and
Pharisees who said to them, 'Why haven't you brought him?' The guards replied,
'No one has ever spoken like this man.' 'So,' the Pharisees answered, 'you,
too, have been led astray? Have any of the authorities come to believe in him?
Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law -- they are
damned.'
One of them, Nicodemus -- the same man
who had come to Jesus earlier -- said to them, 'But surely our Law does not
allow us to pass judgement on anyone without first giving him a hearing and
discovering what he is doing?' To this they answered, 'Are you a Galilean too?
Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not arise in Galilee.'
They all went home.
3) REFLECTION
• In chapter 7, John confirms that there
were diverse opinions and much confusion among the people regarding Jesus. The
relatives thought something (Jn 7, 2-5), people thought something different (Jn
7, 12). Some said: “He is a prophet!” (Jn 7, 40). Others said: “He leads the
people astray!” (Jn 7, 12). Some praised him: “He is a good man!” (Jn 7, 12).
Others criticized him: “He has not been educated, has not studied!” (Jn 7, 15).
Many opinions. Each one had his own arguments, taken from the Bible or from
Tradition. But nobody remembered the Messiah Servant, announced by Isaiah (Is
42, 1-9; 49, 1-6; 50, 4-9; 52, 13-53, 12; 61, 1-2). Today, also, there is much
discussion on religion, and all take their arguments from the Bible. As in the
past, the same thing today, it happens many times that little ones are deceived
by the discourses of the great ones and, some times, even by the discourses of
those who belong to the Church.
• John 7, 40-44: The confusion among the
people. The reaction of the people is very diverse. Some say: he is the
prophet. Others: he is the Messiah; the Christ. Others claim: He cannot be
because the Messiah will come from Bethlehem and he comes from Galilee! These
diverse ideas on the Messiah produce division and confrontation. There were
some who wanted to take him, to arrest him, but they did not do it. Perhaps
because they were afraid of the people (cf. Mt 14, 2).
• John 7, 45-49: The arguments of the
authority. Previously, before the reaction of the people who were in favour of
Jesus, the Pharisees had sent some guards to arrest him (Jn 7, 32). But the
guards returned without Jesus. They had been greatly impressed in hearing
people speak so well: “No one has ever spoken like this man!” The Pharisees
reacted: “Have you also been led astray?” According to the Pharisees who said:
“This rabble knows nothing about the Law” and allows itself to be deceived by
Jesus. It is as if they said: “No, we the chief priests know things better and
we do not allow ourselves to be led astray!” and they say that the people are
“damned”! The religious authority of that time treated people with great
contempt.
• John 7, 50-52: The defence of Jesus by
Nicodemus. Before this stupid argument, the honesty of Nicodemus revolts and he
raises his voice to defend Jesus: “But surely our Law does not allow us to pass
judgment on anyone without first giving him a hearing and discovering what he
is doing?” The reaction of the others is that Nicodemus is mocking them:
“Nicodemus are you also from Galilee? Look at the Bible and you will see for
yourself that prophets do not arise in Galilee!” They are sure! Holding the
book of the past, they defend themselves against the future which arrives and
disturbs them. Today, many people continue to do the same thing. They only
accept the novelty if it agrees with their own ideas which belong to the past.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Today, which are the diverse opinions
that people have about Jesus? And in your community, are there different
opinions which cause confusion? Which? Say them, describe them.
• There are persons who accept only the
novelty which agrees with their own ideas and which belongs to the past. And
you?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Have mercy on me, O God,
in your faithful love,
in your great tenderness wipe away my offences;
wash me clean from my guilt,
purify me from my sin. (Ps 51,1-2)
in your faithful love,
in your great tenderness wipe away my offences;
wash me clean from my guilt,
purify me from my sin. (Ps 51,1-2)
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