Friday - April 01, 2022
TODAY'S READINGS
FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT
Lectionary: 248
Wis 2:1a, 12-22
The wicked said among themselves,
thinking not aright:
“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God
and styles himself a child of the LORD.
To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.
He judges us debased;
he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.
He calls blest the destiny of the just
and boasts that God is his Father.
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put him to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”
These were their thoughts, but they erred;
for their wickedness blinded them,
and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;
neither did they count on a recompense of holiness
nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.
Responsorial Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23
R. (19a) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He watches over all his bones
not one of them shall be broken.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
Verse Before the Gospel Mt 4:4b
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Gospel Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
Jesus moved about within Galilee;
he did not wish to travel in Judea,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near.
But when his brothers had gone up to the feast,
he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.
Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said,
“Is he not the one they are trying to kill?
And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.
Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ?
But we know where he is from.
When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said,
“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
So they tried to arrest him,
but no one laid a hand upon him,
because his hour had not yet come.
**********************************
RECOGNIZING JESUS ON THE ROAD TO CALVARY
There are many ways in which Jesus presents himself to us. Most of them are unexpected, sometimes so much so that we don't even recognize it's him! The people in today's Gospel story failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah because of the expectations they had.
Expectations can sure be misleading! Yes, we can expect God to love us and do good for us, but when we have expectations about how and through whom he should love us and do good for us, we usually end up disappointed. Maybe we even feel abandoned.
The Lenten journey is a daily walk with Jesus on the road to Calvary for the sake of an eventual resurrection. Our sufferings have eternal value if we unite them to the Passion of Christ.
Jesus is present when we suffer, but if we expect him to remove our pain quickly to prove that he cares about us, we fail to recognize a more loving plan. We want short-cuts to healing and short-cuts to happiness, but God knows the harm in this. Despite what our expectations insist should happen, God implements the long-term plan, and someday we'll be very grateful.
Sometimes Jesus wants to unite himself to us in the people we don't like, but since we don't expect him to show up there, we reject him. It takes effort to find Jesus in these people, but he is there -- teaching us to love the unlovable.
Jesus becomes present to us in many illogical ways. We expect that everything God does and asks us to do will make sense. But it didn't make any sense to Mary that she could become the mother of the Messiah while still a virgin. It didn't make sense to Joseph, either. And it's not logical that God would use a sinner like me to bring you these Good News Reflections. And neither is it logical that you are the right person to do the tasks that God has set before you. But if we say "no" to God's plan, we are saying "no" to an awesome union with Christ.
Jesus is presenting himself to you in unexpected ways today. Can you find him?
Here's how: Make a list all those areas of your life where it seems like God has left the room and closed the door and forgotten about you. Wherever he seems to be failing you, abandoning you, or dismissing your needs, this is where Jesus is presenting himself to you in unexpected ways.
He is not standing where you're looking. Turn around and look in a different direction. You might need to turn toward a direction that you don't like. Where you expect disaster and more misery, unexpectedly, he is there, turning the bad into good, for your sake and for the benefit of everyone else who's involved.
Today's Prayer
Lord, Give me wisdom, courage and perseverance to recognize You in every path of my life and to be willing to follow You beyond the difficulties I find. Amen.
------------------------------
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
No comments:
Post a Comment