April 3, 2020 Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

2020년 4월 3일 사순 제5주간 금요일 

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

예레미야서. 20,10-13
10 군중이 수군대는 소리가 들립니다.
“저기 마고르 미싸빕이 지나간다! 그를 고발하여라. 우리도 그를 고발하겠다.”
가까운 친구들마저 모두 제가 쓰러지기만 기다리고 있습니다.
“그가 속아 넘어가고 우리가 그보다 우세하여
그에게 복수할 수 있을지도 모른다.”
11 그러나 주님께서 힘센 용사처럼 제 곁에 계시니
저를 박해하는 자들이 비틀거리고 우세하지 못하리이다.
그들은 성공하지 못하여 크게 부끄러운 일을 당하고
그들의 수치는 영원히 잊히지 않으리이다.
12 의로운 이를 시험하시고 마음과 속을 꿰뚫어 보시는 만군의 주님
당신께 제 송사를 맡겨 드렸으니
당신께서 저들에게 복수하시는 것을 보게 해 주소서.
13 주님께 노래 불러라! 주님을 찬양하여라!
그분께서 가난한 이들의 목숨을 악인들의 손에서 건지셨다.

복음

요한. 10,31-42
그때에 31 유다인들이 돌을 집어 예수님께 던지려고 하였다.
32 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다.
“나는 아버지의 분부에 따라 너희에게 좋은 일을 많이 보여 주었다.
그 가운데에서 어떤 일로 나에게 돌을 던지려고 하느냐?”
33 유다인들이 예수님께, “좋은 일을 하였기 때문이 아니라
하느님을 모독하였기 때문에 당신에게 돌을 던지려는 것이오.
당신은 사람이면서 하느님으로 자처하고 있소.” 하고 대답하자,
34 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다.
“너희 율법에 ‘내가 이르건대 너희는 신이다.’라고 기록되어 있지 않으냐?
35 폐기될 수 없는 성경에서, 하느님의 말씀을 받은 이들을 신이라고 하였는데,
36 아버지께서 거룩하게 하시어
이 세상에 보내신 내가 ‘나는 하느님의 아들이다.’ 하였다 해서,
‘당신은 하느님을 모독하고 있소.’ 하고 말할 수 있느냐?
37 내가 내 아버지의 일들을 하고 있지 않다면 나를 믿지 않아도 좋다.
38 그러나 내가 그 일들을 하고 있다면, 나를 믿지 않더라도 그 일들은 믿어라.
그러면 아버지께서 내 안에 계시고
내가 아버지 안에 있다는 것을 너희가 깨달아 알게 될 것이다.”
39 그러자 유다인들이 다시 예수님을 잡으려고 하였지만,
예수님께서는 그들의 손을 벗어나셨다.
40 예수님께서는 다시 요르단 강 건너편,
요한이 전에 세례를 주던 곳으로 물러가시어 그곳에 머무르셨다.
41 그러자 많은 사람이 그분께 몰려와 서로 말하였다.
“요한은 표징을 하나도 일으키지 않았지만,
그가 저분에 관하여 한 말은 모두 사실이었다.”
42 그곳에서 많은 사람이 예수님을 믿었다.

April 3, 2020

 Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent 

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

Jer 20:10-13

I hear the whisperings of many:
"Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!"
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
"Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him."
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked! 

Responsorial Psalm 
Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

R. (see 7) In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
The breakers of death surged round about me,
the destroying floods overwhelmed me;
The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,
the snares of death overtook me.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
In my distress I called upon the LORD
and cried out to my God;
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice. 

 

Gospel

Jn 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?"
The Jews answered him,
"We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God."
Jesus answered them,
"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods?'"
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God?'
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.
Many came to him and said,
"John performed no sign,

but everything John said about this man was true."

http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow

 «For which of these [good works] do you stone me?»

Fr. Carles ELÍAS i Cao
(Barcelona, Spain)

Today, Friday, when there is only one week to go to commemorate our Lord's death, the Gospel presents us with the motives of his condemnation. Jesus tries to show the truth to the Jews, but they consider him to be a blasphemer and want to stone him. Jesus tells them about the works He is doing, the works of his Father that bestow credit to him, about why He can use the title of the “Son of God”... Nevertheless, He speaks from a level which is difficult to assimilate by his adversaries: “to be with the truth”, “to listen to his voice”... He speaks to them from the submission and commitment to his Person that make Jesus to be known and loved —«Rabbi, where are you staying?» (Jn 1:38)—, his disciples asked him at the beginning of his ministery. But, it all seems pointless: what Jesus is trying to say is so big they cannot fully understand it; only the small and humble ones will understand him, for the Kingdom is hidden from the wise and the learned.

Jesus struggles to present arguments that may be acceptable for the Jews, but to no avail. In fact, He will die because He is saying the truth about Himself, because He is faithful to Himself, to his identity and to his mission. As a prophet, He will present a claim for conversion and will be rejected, a new face of God and will be spitted at, a new fraternity and He will be forsaken.

once more, our Lord's Cross emerges with all its strength as a true banner, as the one and only unquestionably reason: «O admirable virtue of the Holy Cross! O ineffable glory of the Father! We can see in it our Lord's Tribunal, the judgment of this World and the power of Christ Crucified. O, yes, my Lord: you have drawn towards you all things when, all day long you have held out your hands to an obstinate and rebellious people (cf. Is 65:2), the whole Universe will realize it had to pay tribute to your majesty!» (Saint Leo the Great). Jesus had to escape to the other side of the Jordan and those that truly believe in him went to him quite willing to follow him and listen to Him.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

This reflection will be coming soon. Until then, here is a reflection by Eileen Burke-Sullivan for this day in 2018.

In the current culture few people reach the ripe old age of 21 years without experiencing some of the anxiety and terror that the first reading expresses today.  Everywhere I look someone seems to have it in for me – is prepared to make my life miserable.  Where can I turn when even friends don’t seem safe?  The prophet’s response, of course, is God.  But what if our image of God causes us to fear his wrath?  What if God also has it in for me?  OR where do I find hope if there is no God?  What if the notion of God is just a figment of human imagination to cope with this very kind of human situation? 

These are the questions that name some of the anxiety that lives within so many of us.  To whom or what can we turn to find hope and have confidence that Goodness will prevail?  If I look at the political landscape, global climate change, the financial instability of our time, the chronic oppression of the weak, violence with sex and guns – every news report screams the dangers of merely being alive in our world.  Where is hope?

Jesus, in today’s Gospel passage from John, confronts the dilemma of personal violence aimed at him. Because of his witness (by signs and deeds) of hope in a God who is loving and merciful, he is threatening to the political power of his religious culture.  They want to murder him because they are so afraid of hope.

The Gospel of John uses the term “the Jews” when he means what Matthew, Mark and Luke mean by the Pharisees, Sadducees and other leaders of the religious establishment.  Those leaders have an interpretation of God’s word that keeps them in power by causing a deep fear of God in the people. They promote an image of God that is harsh and judgmental (or even indifferent to suffering) so that they can wield the power of judgment upon their fellow believers.  When even the religious establishment has been co-opted by violence, oppression and the self-aggrandizement of those who are supposed to be servants, not overlords, where do those who want to believe, who want to find joy in life turn for hope?

During these last days in Lent, we who are Christians must turn to the Cross for hope.  It is there that we see the image of our God who will suffer for and with us.  An image of a God who does not shore up the hegemony of violence but brings mercy for all by placing his own life on the line.  If your image of God gives you no hope in this world it is important to pray to know the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jesus.  Don’t let cultural stereotypes of bolts of lightning striking you down.  Don’t let images of a God who condemns stand in your way of coming to the Cross and seeing the truth of “Love Alone” stretched between heaven and earth.  Jesus is offering the passage, through his own body, into the heart of mercy, where we are loved, protected and filled with Joy.  That is our rightful inheritance and we must learn to trust in Jesus and the Father so as to claim this gift of life and HOPE.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life. (Jn 6. 63)

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JESUS?

They "again reached for rocks to stone Him." �John 10:31

Wednesday in the daily Scripture readings we heard Jesus say: "You are trying to kill Me" (Jn 8:37). Yesterday we heard: "They picked up rocks to throw at Jesus, but He hid Himself and slipped out of the temple precincts" (Jn 8:59). Today we hear: "The Jews again reached for rocks to stone Him" (Jn 10:31) and "They again tried to arrest Him" (Jn 10:39). Tomorrow we hear from Caiaphas, the high priest, " 'You have no understanding whatever! Can you not see that it is better for you to have one Man die [for the people] than to have the whole nation destroyed?' (He did not say this on his own. It was rather as high priest for that year that he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation)" (Jn 11:49-51). on Passion (Palm) Sunday, we will hear of Jesus' death on the cross. Obviously, many people had a persistent desire to hurt and kill Jesus. This continues to the present day. Those who sin against the Lord "are crucifying the Son of God for themselves and holding Him up to contempt" (Heb 6:6). We can either be part of the eternal worship of Jesus enthroned in heaven (see Rv 5:12ff) or of the continuing rejection of Jesus through our sins. When we hear the Passion read on Sunday or on Good Friday, we will be hearing about ourselves. We will face our similarity with someone. Will we resemble the betraying Judas, the denying Peter, or the unfaithful fearful apostles? Or we will see our similarity with Nicodemus in his repentance, Mary in her supreme love, or the centurion in his profession of faith? Jesus is alive and loving us personally. We are responding to His love � whether we admit it or not. We are rejecting Jesus' love or loving Him in return. Love Jesus always and forever.

Prayer: Father, I repent of any ways in which I have physically or emotionally abused Jesus.

Promise: "He has rescued the life of the poor." —Jer 20:13

Praise: John repented of denying Jesus by his silence.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 "I am the Son of God"

Why were the religious leaders so upset with Jesus that they wanted to kill him? They charged him with blasphemy because he claimed to be the Son of God and he made himself equal with God. The law of Moses laid down the death penalty for such a crime: "He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him" (Leviticus 24:16).  As they were picking up stones to hurl at Jesus, he met their attack with three arguments. The many good works that he did, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding the hungry, demonstrated that his power and marvelous deeds obviously came from God.

I am the Son of God
Jesus then defended his right to call himself the Son of God with a quote from Psalm 82:6 ("I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you"). Jesus argued that if Scripture can speak like that of humans, why should he not speak of himself like that? Jesus then made two claims: He was consecrated by the Father for a special task and he was sent into the world to carry out his Father's mission (John 10:36). The scriptural understanding of consecration is to make holy for God - to be given over as a free-will offering and sacrifice for God.

Consecrated and sent to do the Father's works
Jesus made himself a sin-offering for us, to ransom us from condemnation and slavery to sin. He spoke of his Father consecrating him for this mission of salvation (John 10:36). Jesus challenged his opponents to accept his works if they could not accept his words. one can argue with words, but deeds are beyond argument. Jesus is the perfect teacher in that he does not base his claims on what he says but on what he does. The word of God is life and power for those who believe and accept it as God's word for us. Jesus shows us the way to walk the path of truth and holiness. And he anoints us with his power to live the Gospel with joy and to be his witnesses in the world.  Are you a doer of God's word, or a forgetful hearer only?

"Write upon my heart, O Lord, the lessons of your holy word, and grant that I may be a doer of your word, and not a forgetful hearer only."

Psalm 18:2-6

2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

A Daily Quote for Lent: The sacrifice of Christ, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Even though the man Christ Jesus, in the form of God together with the Father with whom He is one God, accepts our sacrifice, nonetheless He has chosen in the form of a servant to be the sacrifice rather than to accept it. Therefore, He is the priest Himself Who presents the offering, and He Himself is what is offered." (excerpt from City of God, 10,20)

  

More Homilies

March 23, 2018 Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent