5TH WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
O Lord, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
1st Reading: Num 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”
Yahweh then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against Yahweh and against you. Plead with Yahweh to take the serpents away.”
Moses pleaded for the people and Yahweh said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.”
So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.
Gospel: Jn 8:21-30
Again, Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?” But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.”
They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.”
They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself, but I say just what the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.”
As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.
Reflections
I ALWAYS DO WHAT PLEASES HIM
When we have time to reflect, we could ask ourselves, what guides me in my decisions and in my actions? And if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that most of the time it is our EGO that dictates our decisions — what can flatter the ego, what can inflate the ego, what can make the ego be noticed, etc.. In contrast Jesus can truthfully say that all his decisions and actions are dictated consistently by just one thing: THE WILL OF HIS FATHER. And the will of the Father is always for the good of all humankind. This is not always easy to do because it may mean undergoing pain and suffering or humiliation. This single-mindedness characterizes Jesus. We, on the other hand, are distracted by so many things — by fear, by the desire to please, to be approved of, or simply by our love of comfort and convenience. Or we can even deceive ourselves that the action that pleases us is what pleases the Father. Loving God, give me the grace to do everything because it pleases you. Amen.
Daily Reflection 2018
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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
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