5th WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
1st Reading: Ezk 37:21-28
You will then say to them: Thus says Yahweh: I am about to withdraw the Israelites from where they were among the nations. I shall gather them from all around and bring them back to their land. I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel; and one king is to be king of them all. They will no longer form two nations or be two separate kingdoms, nor will they defile themselves again with their idols, their detestable practices and their sins. I shall free them from the guilt of their treachery; I shall cleanse them; and they will be for me a people, and I shall be God for them. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all. They will live according to my laws and follow and practice my decrees. They will settle in the land I gave to my servant Jacob where their ancestors lived. There, they will live forever, their children and their children’s children. David, my servant, will be their prince forever.
I shall establish a Covenant of peace with them, an everlasting Covenant. I shall settle them; and they will increase; and I shall put my Sanctuary in their midst forever. I shall make my home at their side; I shall be their God and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh who makes Israel holy, having my Sanctuary among them forever.”
Gospel: Jn 11:45-56
Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did; but some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called together the Council.
They said, “What are we to do? For this man keeps on performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, all the people will believe in him and, as a result of this, the Romans will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation.”
Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed.”
In saying this Caiaphas did not speak for himself, but being High Priest that year, he foretold like a prophet that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also would die in order to gather into one the scattered children of God. So, from that day on, they were determined to kill him.
Because of this, Jesus no longer moved about freely among the Jews. He withdrew instead to the country near the wilderness, and stayed with his disciples in a town called Ephraim.
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and people from everywhere were coming to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. They looked for Jesus and, as they stood in the temple, they talked with one another, “What do you think? Will he come to the festival?”
REFLECTION:
To be in a position of power and authority is not only to enjoy its perks and privileges. One has to wrestle too with many considerations to preserve peace, to preserve one’s status, to uphold the rights of persons and the likes. It is a delicate balancing act of service, of self-preservation and respect of the individual. Sometimes, the stakes are so high that one or the other must be sacrificed. Thus we can sympathize with the Jewish Council called by the chief priests and Pharisees to deal with the Jesus movement that is now gaining traction. They must make a decision whether they will allow Him to amass such followings that would merit Rome’s attention and intervention. For them, the survival of their faith and nation is at stake. They did not however articulate that the survival of their own institutions is also in peril. Thus condemning Jesus to death for the seemingly greater good would be easy.
How many times do leaders select reasons for their actions that seem legitimate and holy in that particular situation while conveniently sweeping aside their self-serving interest? They would like to think that people owe them a great debt for doing so when in reality it is they who gained the most. This self-deception may totally convince them but those who can see through their motives will not allow truth to be diluted.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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