Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

4TH WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet)

Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12
O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

1^st Reading: Jer 11:18-20

Yahweh made it known to me and so I know! And you let me see their scheming: “Take care, even your kinsfolk and your own family are false with you, and behind your back they freely criticize you. Do not trust them when they approach you in a friendly way.”

But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.”

Yahweh, God of Hosts, you who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Gospel: Jn 7:40-53

Many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? Doesn’t Scripture say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?” The crowd was divided over him. Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers of the temple went back to the chief priests, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man.” The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the law!”

Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, “Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

And they all went home.

REFLECTION:

The men and women of God are always an enigma to others. Their credentials after all are not accessible to scrutiny of the senses. It is something that happens in the inner recesses of the person that compels him or her to do God’s work. They cannot keep it or ignore it. As Jeremiah said “But his word in my heart becomes like a fire burning deep within my bones…” (Jer. 20,19) Hence the religious authorities of Jesus’ time cannot place Him. He does not fit into their categories that would qualify Him as a man of God. But those who have sensitivity to the hidden workings of God could feel this calling. Nicodemus could not understand why he is defending Jesus. He felt that there is something more than meets the eye about Him. He could not resort to physical evidences such as Scriptures and lineage to base his belief in Jesus. It would take time before all becomes clear to him. He stands in front of a mystery so big that he needs time to comprehend a part of it.

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
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Web: www.claretianph.com

4TH WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet)

Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 & 23
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

1^st Reading: Wis 2:1a, 12-22

Led by mistaken reasons they think, “Life is short and sad and there is no cure for death. It was never heard that anyone came back from the netherworld.

Let us set a trap for the righteous, for he annoys us and opposes our way of life; he reproaches us for our breaches of the law and accuses us of being false to our upbringing.

He claims knowledge of God and calls himself son of the Lord. He has become a reproach to our way of thinking; even to meet him is burdensome to us. He does not live like others and behaves strangely.

According to him we have low standards, so he keeps aloof from us as if we were unclean. He emphasizes the happy end of the righteous and boasts of having God as father.

Let us see the truth of what he says and find out what his end will be. If the righteous is a son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from his adversaries.

 Let us humble and torture him to prove his self-control and test his patience. When we have condemned him to a shameful death, we may test his words.“

This is the way they reason, but they are mistaken, blinded by their malice. They do not know the mysteries of God nor do they hope for the reward of a holy life; they do not believe that the blameless will be recompensed.

Gospel: Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

After this, Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.

But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in secret.

Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they want to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to him? Can it be, that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.“

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the temple court where he was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’t know him. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.“

 They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come.

REFLECTION:

The Feast of Tents

There were 4 important festivals the Jews celebrated in Jerusalem: (1) Passover to commemorate the liberation from Egypt, (2) Pentecost to commemorate the giving of the Torah, (3) the Day of Atonement to confess sins and beg for forgiveness , and (4) Tabernacles to celebrate in anticipation the triumph of Israel over their enemies. The episode in the Gospel today is set on the 4^th festival.

Jesus’ disciples seem to have gone ahead for the festival. Jesus follows some days later. The Festival of Tents was, at the time of Jesus, a time when the Jews would be praying for the victory of Israel over their enemies. It was a time when the Jews would have been praying and expecting the Messiah who would restore the kingdom of Israel. Thus, we could understand the curiosity of the people of Jerusalem. Will this Jesus, whom some already call the “Messiah,“ enter Jerusalem and declare his “messiahship?“

This would have been perfect timing. Political timing, that is! But he would fulfill the Father’s plan at the proper time. As Jesus had said to his Mother in the miracle of Cana, “my time has not yet come“ so John the Evangelist tells us “his time had not yet come.“ In life we often have to abide by God’s timing, not our own. We have to pray “In his time, he makes all things beautiful, in his time.“

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com

4TH WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet)

Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23
Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

1^st Reading: Ex 32:7-14

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said: ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.’“ And Yahweh said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff necked people. Now just leave me that my anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.“

But Moses calmed the anger of Yahweh, his God, and said, “Why, O Yahweh, should your anger burst against your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians say: ‘Yahweh brought them out with evil intent, for he wanted to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from the heat of your anger and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise you yourself swore: I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.“ Yahweh then changed his mind and would not yet harm his people.

Gospel: Jn 5:31-47

Jesus said: “If I bore witness to myself, my testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to me, and I know that his testimony is true when he bears witness to me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

“John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John—the works which the Father entrusted to me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness: the Father has sent me. Thus he who bears witness to me is the Father who sent me. You have never heard his voice and have never seen his likeness; therefore, as long as you do not believe his messenger, his word is not in you.

“You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to me. But you refuse to come to me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I know that the love of God is not within you, for I have come in my Father’s name and you do not accept me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe?“

REFLECTION:

Yahweh changed his mind!

No sooner had Israel entered into a Covenant with Yahweh than they turned away from the terms and conditions of the Covenant! Yahweh complains that the Israelites were a stiff necked people. The story of Israel is a story of infidelity to their covenant with Yahweh! Yet every time they would confess their sins and repent the Lord would forgive them. Always the mercy of God takes precedence over his justice. Indeed, mercy is the justice of God!

But even as the Lord is merciful yet does he desire that man, the sinner begs for his mercy. Thus, Moses, intercedes for the Israelites. Moses sort of “reminds“ God of his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Yahweh “changed his mind“ in response to the prayer of Moses! What a God we have! We have a merciful God who listens to the intercession of the good for the sake of the evil!

How praiseworthy then is our prayer for sinners. So often sinners may not know the evil they do, or they may lack the strength to change. But if there are people like Moses who pray for sinners, God’s mercy is poured out on sinners. Such was the prayer and tears of St. Monica for her son, St. Augustine! Were it not for the prayers of St. Monica we would not have a St. Augustine. I am sure we have people in mind who need to be converted. We could pray, “Lord be merciful to __________. Amen.“

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com

4TH WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 4 / (Violet)

Ps 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
The Lord is gracious and merciful.

1^st Reading: Is 49:8-15

This is what Yahweh says: “At a favorable time I have answered you, on the day of salvation I have been your help; I have formed you and made you to be my Covenant with the people.

You will restore the land, and allot its abandoned farms. You will say to the captives: Come out; and to those in darkness: Show yourselves.

They will feed along the road; they will find pasture on barren hills. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching wind or the sun beat upon them; for he who has mercy on them will guide them and lead them to springs of water.

I will turn all my mountains into roads and raise up my highways. See, they come from afar, some from the north and west, others from the land of Sinim.“ Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth; break forth into song, O mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people and taken pity on those who are afflicted. But Zion said: “Yahweh has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.“

Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb? Yet though she forget, I will never forget you.

Gospel: Jn 5:17-30

Jesus replied, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling God his own Father.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.

Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life.

Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself, and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. And he has empowered him as well to carry out Judgment, for he is Son of Man.

Do not be surprised at this: the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. I can do nothing of myself. As I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.“

REFLECTION:

Homecoming

One of the most painful moments in the history of Israel was their exile to Babylon. At that time they felt that Yahweh had abandoned them. The prophets, especially Isaiah, was sent to remind them that it was because they had been unfaithful to the Covenant that the Lord God had punished them. But only for a while. The anger of God is but a while. Deutero Isaiah then tells the Israelites that they will be restored to their homeland. They will have a “homecoming!“

In a beautiful hymn Isaiah sings: “Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb?“ Yes, indeed, the Lord does punish us for our sins, but in the end His mercy endures. “Hindi kita malilimutan, hindi kita pababayaan, nakaukit magpakailanman ang iyong pangalan sa aking palad“ goes our beautiful rendition of this hymn of Isaiah!

Lent is the time when we are reminded of our sins and at the same time it is a time to remember that our God invites us back to return to Him. Lent is a time of “pagbabalik loob sa Diyos na maawain magpakailanman!“ Lent is the “favorable time“ for the return of “prodigal sons and daughters“ to the Father’s house. It is time for a “homecoming!“

Daily Reflection

Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.

CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.

Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57^th 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

 

DAILY GOSPEL ® 2017
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com