Thursday - April 11, 2019
"Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?"
-Ven. Fulton Sheen
"Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?"
-Ven. Fulton Sheen
April 11 2019
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 254
Reading 1GN 17:3-9
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
"My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God."
God also said to Abraham:
"On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages."
"My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God."
God also said to Abraham:
"On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages."
Responsorial PsalmPS 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Verse Before The GospelPS 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
harden not your hearts.
GospelJN 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death."
So the Jews said to him,
"Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad."
So the Jews said to him,
"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death."
So the Jews said to him,
"Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad."
So the Jews said to him,
"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
******************************
Embraced by Your Father's Approval
"Who do you think you are?" Has anyone ever said that to you? In today's Gospel passage, Jesus was confronted with this same implied accusation of being arrogant and false. It was asked by people who did not want to accept that the long-awaited Messiah had finally arrived as a non-military "love-your-enemy" preacher from a small hick town in Galilee -- especially because he challenged them on so many issues.
"Who do you think you are?" is the cry of those who don't want to believe that you are more qualified than they are to do a service for God or company or community. It's the complaint of those who feel inadequate. It's the challenge of those who feel challenged by what you're doing as they desperately try to make their lives easier by getting rid of your influence.
When my daughter worked for a bookstore to earn money for college, she risked her job by secretly trashing the Satanic Bible into the garbage so she wouldn't have to sell it. If the manager had caught her, he might have said: "Who do you think you are to throw away store property just because you don't like the book's content?"
What risks do you take for Christ?
My husband, Ralph, once got into trouble for teaching a Confirmation class with the textbook closed. Because the prescribed method of teaching the lesson wasn't reaching the kids' hearts, he closed the book and began sharing from his personal faith life and real world experiences. Afterward, he was reprimanded for not following normal procedure; the message was: "Who do you think you are to over-ride the director's authority?" Yet his class -- every student -- was the only class to come back for more after Confirmation.
And there was the time when a friend and I got into trouble by praying the Rosary daily for the end of abuses at a parish. The priest who was at the center of the problems, as well as those who didn't want to believe that a priest might actually be abusive to his staff, told us to stop praying. Of course we did not, and when a newspaper ran an article about it, with a photo of us praying, I wondered what it would do to my reputation as director of Good News Ministries.
Nothing happened to my reputation. God protected me. And the parish experienced healing under a new priest.
Whenever we earn the "who do you think you are" question, if we're motivated by love and a concern for others and a desire to do God's will, we are being like Jesus: Our authority comes from the Father. But be careful! As Jesus pointed out, if we glorify ourselves by defending ourselves, such glory comes to nothing. The one who glorifies us is the Father, and that's what really counts.
The people who listen to God will know that he approves of us. Those who don't, well, they cannot be convinced by any means.
God your Father wants to embrace you with his approval.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, I ask You for the grace of not despising the gifts you have given me to serve You nor the precious gift of life with which you have blessed me. Amen.
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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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