Friday - March 23, 2018
There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by which, as by the oil in our lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive.
-- St. Francis de Sales
March 23, 2018
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 255
Reading 1JER 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!
"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 PsalmPS 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.
you have the words of everlasting life.
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 GospelSEE JN 6:63C, 68C
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;you have the words of everlasting life.
GospelJN 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.
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.
******************************
Have your good works been misunderstood?
Holy Week is about to begin -- the most awesome eight days of the liturgical year, beginning with Passion Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday. These Reflections are now going to take us deeper into the journey of uniting ourselves with Jesus, connecting our sufferings to his sufferings, our passion to his passion, our need for the glory of resurrection to his glorious resurrection.
Using today's Gospel passage as a meditation, we can unite ourselves to Jesus in the pain of rejection. Recall how you have done good works -- the Lord's work -- and you've been misunderstood or discredited.
Perhaps you have loved a troublesome relative or coworker or neighbor with the forgiving, unconditional love of Jesus, while others turned away in disgust. And because you did not join them in rejecting this person, they concluded that you have unhealthy or immoral feelings toward him/her.
Perhaps someone has tried to take advantage of you at work or in ministry or financially, and you obeyed Jesus' command to go the extra mile and to give away the extra shirt, and those who saw this told you to fight back and demand fair treatment. Then, because you didn't follow their advice, they condemned you as a fool.
Who is saying "let us denounce him!" about you, like we see in today's first reading? Who is watching for your misstep? Who is trying to trap you in order to prove that you are not the good Christian that you claim to be? Who is seeking vengeance against you because of the holy stand you're taking on some issue that makes them feel uncomfortable?
If you are truly serving the Lord, you have earned the disapproval of people who don't understand what you're doing and why. Gloriously, you now know how Jesus felt when it happened to him. And he knows how you feel. He's helping you endure your sufferings. He is giving you his strength and endurance and determination to do the Father's work.
When it wears you down -- when the persecution and disapproval and condemnation seem like too much -- remember to take time to rest and mentally connect yourself to the Passion of Christ. Pray and ask the Father to tell you what he thinks of you. Meditate on his opinion of you -- he approves of you! He appreciates what you're doing! He delights in you!
God is revealing his love to the world through you, and he thanks you. You are his beloved child and he is very pleased with you.
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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