April 3, 2025
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 247
Reading 1
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."
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.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (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.
Verse Before the Gospel
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel
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?"
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040325.cfm
Commentary on Exodus
32:7-14
While Moses was up on the mountain conversing with God and
receiving the law from him, the people below became impatient. “That Moses, the
man who brought us here from Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.”
Aaron, the brother of Moses, then collected all the gold that the women and
children wore and melted it down to make a ‘golden calf’.
The word ‘calf’ is somewhat derisive because it was in fact
the statue of a bull, a common symbol of divinity in the ancient East. It seems
that a group in competition with Moses’ followers (or perhaps a dissident
faction within Moses’ group) wished to have the figure of a bull symbolise the
presence of God. However, the God being worshipped was still Yahweh, who had
brought them out of Egypt. The dissidents would also likely have viewed the Ark
of the Covenant simply as a symbol of Yahweh, rather than recognize that
the actual presence of God resided in it. So, they would have
no problem substituting the familiar symbol of the golden bull for the Ark.
In paying worship to the bull, they saw the saviour who
brought them out of slavery in Egypt. But they were worshipping a god of their
own making—something people in all ages, including our own, tend to do.
God is portrayed as reacting very angrily to this and asks
Moses, who is still in his presence, not to stand in his way:
Now let me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against
them and I may consume them…
But Moses, while not denying their sin, pleads on behalf of
his people. Later, he will plead on behalf of his sister, Miriam, and
frequently on behalf of the people all during their journey through the desert.
His intercession foreshadows that of Christ, who on the Cross won forgiveness
for our sin.
Moses’ argument is that, if God destroys his people, he will
become a laughing stock among the pagans for rescuing his people and then
destroying them in the wilderness. In addition, Moses reminds God of the promises
he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of the great and unending future of their
descendants. So God, seen here in very human terms, relents and withdraws his
promise of vengeance.
Of course, this is not at all the kind of God the New
Testament asks us to believe in. We should be careful about speaking of our God
in such anthropomorphic terms. God does not get angry; he does not take
revenge. Our sinfulness brings its own punishment because every sin is a denial
of what we are meant to be and become.
As with most passages of Scripture, what we need to look at
here is not what is being said and done, but at the underlying
meaning of the passage. The emphasis here is on the thanklessness of God’s
people and on God’s readiness to forgive again and give them another chance.
We are constantly in the same situation. Let us be aware at
this time of the countless gifts God has given us and continues to shower on
us. At the same time, we know that, when we fail, his mercy and compassion are
there for us always. But let that compassion draw us closer to him and to
Jesus, and help us to leave behind every lack of love in our lives.
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Commentary on John
5:31-47
Today we continue with yesterday’s words of Jesus to the
Jewish religious leaders. In four ways, John’s Gospel reaffirms that God
himself is the witness to the truth of all that Jesus says:
- The
testimony of John the Baptist gives witness, although that was only human
testimony (vv 33-34).
- The
works of Jesus give clear testimony of the divine origin of all that Jesus
does:
The works that the Father has given me to complete, the
very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.
The leaders could not see this, but the crowds often
testified to it with enthusiasm (v36).
- The
Father himself has given testimony, although that has not been seen
directly by some of the Jews:
And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my
behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form…
Perhaps this is a reference to Jesus’ baptism or to the
Transfiguration (vv 37-38).
- A
careful reading of the Scriptures will show they give testimony to Jesus.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them
you have eternal life, and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse
to come to me to have life.
This is clearly shown later on by Jesus when explaining the
Scriptures to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (vv 39-40).
Although Jesus clearly comes in the name of his Father, he
is not accepted or believed in. Yet some other individual will come in his own
name, and they will accept him. Further, they keep looking to their own
traditions, rather than looking further to someone who clearly comes from God.
Jesus will not accuse them before his Father. Moses, in whom
they claim to believe, will be their accuser.
If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote
about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I
say?
By “Moses” is meant the first five books of the Bible, known
as the Pentateuch. Their authorship is attributed to Moses, although we know
now by the dating of the various parts that this could not be possible. It was
common in ancient times to attribute the authorship of a work to a well-known
personality.
How much of all this applies to us? Where do we ultimately
put our faith—in the Christ of the New Testament, or in a Jesus we have
tailored to our own wants? How familiar are we with the Word of God in the New
(and Old) Testament? Where do we clearly see the Risen Jesus bringing God into
our lives every single day?
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1045g/
Thursday,
April 3, 2025
Season of Lent
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.
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?"
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, 3334; 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.
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?
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)
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