March 28, 2020 Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
2020년 3월 28일 사순 제4주간 토요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
예레미야서. 11,18-20
18 주님께서 저에게 알려 주시어 제가 알아차리게 되었습니다.
당신께서 저에게 그들의 악행을 보여 주셨습니다.
19 그런데도 저는 도살장으로 끌려가는 순한 어린양 같았습니다.
저는 그들이 저를 없애려고 음모를 꾸미는 줄 알아차리지 못했습니다.
“저 나무를 열매째 베어 버리자. 그를 산 이들의 땅에서 없애 버려
아무도 그의 이름을 다시는 기억하지 못하게 하자.”
20 그러나 정의롭게 판단하시고 마음과 속을 떠보시는 만군의 주님
당신께 제 송사를 맡겨 드렸으니
당신께서 저들에게 복수하시는 것을 보게 해 주소서.
복음
요한. 7,40-53
그때에 예수님의 40 말씀을 들은 군중 가운데 어떤 이들은,
“저분은 참으로 그 예언자시다.” 하고,
41 어떤 이들은 “저분은 메시아시다.” 하였다.
그러나 이렇게 말하는 이들도 있었다.
“메시아가 갈릴래아에서 나올 리가 없지 않은가?
42 성경에 메시아는 다윗의 후손 가운데에서,
그리고 다윗이 살았던 베들레헴에서 나온다고 하지 않았는가?”
43 이렇게 군중 가운데에서 예수님 때문에 논란이 일어났다.
44 그들 가운데 몇몇은 예수님을 잡으려고 하였지만,
그분께 손을 대는 자는 아무도 없었다.
45 성전 경비병들이 돌아오자 수석 사제들과 바리사이들이,
“왜 그 사람을 끌고 오지 않았느냐?” 하고 그들에게 물었다.
46 “그분처럼 말하는 사람은 지금까지 하나도 없었습니다.” 하고
성전 경비병들이 대답하자,
47 바리사이들이 그들에게 말하였다.
“너희도 속은 것이 아니냐?
48 최고 의회 의원들이나 바리사이들 가운데에서 누가 그를 믿더냐?
49 율법을 모르는 저 군중은 저주받은 자들이다.”
50 그들 가운데 한 사람으로
전에 예수님을 찾아왔던 니코데모가 그들에게 말하였다.
51 “우리 율법에는 먼저 본인의 말을 들어 보고
또 그가 하는 일을 알아보고 난 뒤에야,
그 사람을 심판하게 되어 있지 않습니까?”
52 그러자 그들이 니코데모에게 대답하였다.
“당신도 갈릴래아 출신이라는 말이오?
성경을 연구해 보시오. 갈릴래아에서는 예언자가 나지 않소.”
53 그들은 저마다 집으로 돌아갔다.
March 28, 2020
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Jer 11:18-20
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
"Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more."
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion's prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R.O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Gospel
Jn 7:40-53
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
"This is truly the Prophet."
Others said, "This is the Christ."
But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?"
The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man."
So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed."
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
"Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?"
They answered and said to him,
"You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee."
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
«No one ever spoke like this man»
Fr. Fernand ARÉVALO
(Bruxelles, Belgium)
Today, the Gospel presents the different reactions which the words of our Lord produced. John's text does not offer us any word from the Master, but it does mention the consequences of what He said. Some thought He was a prophet; others said «This is the Christ» (Jn 7:41).
Jesus Christ is truly a “sign that will be contradicted” as Simon had told Mary (cf. Lk 2:34). Those who listened to Jesus' words did not remain indifferent to them, to the point that, on this occasion, as in many others, «the crowd was divided over Him» (Jn 7:43). The reply of the officers who wanted to arrest the Lord centers the question and shows us the power of Christ's words: «No one ever spoke like this man» (Jn 7:46). It is like saying: His words are different; they are not empty boastful words, full of arrogance and falseness. He is “the Truth” and his way of speaking reflects this reality.
And if this happened amid his audience, his deeds provoked even more amazement and admiration; but also, criticism, gossip, hate... Jesus Christ spoke “the language of charity”: his deeds and his words showed the deep love He felt towards all men, especially those more in need of assistance.
Today as then, we Christians are —must be— “a sign of contradiction”, because we do not speak and behave like others do. By imitating and following Jesus Christ, we likewise must use “the language of charity and love”, a necessary language that, in fact, we can all understand. As the Holy Father, our Pope Benedict XVI, wrote in his encyclical Deus caritas est, «Love —caritas— will always prove necessary, even in the most just society (...). Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such».
«No one ever spoke like this man»
Fr. Antoni CAROL i Hostench
(Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain)
Today, we can feel how, a few days before His Passion in Jerusalem, the atmosphere around our Lord becomes “strained”. Because of him a kind of controversial argument begins. It could not be otherwise: «Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division» (Lk 12:51).
And it does not mean our Redeemer likes controversy and division, but rather that, before God, “half-baked ideas” are no good: «He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters» (Lk 11:23). It is inevitable! Before him one cannot take a neutral stand: either He exists or He does not exist; either He is my Lord, or He is not my Lord. «No one can serve two masters» (Mt 6:24).
John Paul II considered that before God one must choose. The simple faith our good God requests from us implies an option. We have to choose because He does not want to impose upon us: He came to Earth in a discreet manner; He died stunned, without making any ostentation of his divinity (Phil 2:6). This is what so wonderfully expresses Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Adoro Te devote: «On the cross was veiled Thy Godhead's splendor; but here (in the Eucharist) Thy manhood lies hidden too».
We have go to choose! God does not impose upon us; He offers himself to us. And it is up to us to decide for him or not. It is a personal matter each one —with the help of the Holy Spirit— has to solve by himself. Miracles are useless, if man's dispositions are not humility and simplicity. We can see the Jews divided before the same facts. And, this is because in love matters it is not possible to give a half-hearted, half way reply: Christian vocation implies radical response, so radical as the testimony of submission and obedience Christ gave in the Cross.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today's readings are both about recognizing God and responding appropriately to God. In the preceding passages in Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah to remind the people that they have ignored God's covenant and rules. They ignore God and they ignore God's messenger and worship false gods. In today's reading they want to eliminate Jeremiah who was reminder to them of their evil ways. But God "who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind" punishes the evil doers. In John's gospel there is debate over whether Jesus is the Christ. The concern is in the letter of the prophecy. The prophecy said that the Christ was to come from Bethlehem, but the Pharisees thought Jesus was from Galilee-so he couldn't be the Christ. He didn't fulfill the criterion. But of course he did. Jeremiah also dealt with the letter of the law. The Lord God had said in verse 4, "Obey my voice and to them, according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." And God fulfilled his part of the bargain, but the people burned incense to Baal. The people in Jeremiah reverted to old gods and old ways. They had God's covenant, but they didn't fulfill their end of the deal. The Pharisees couldn't recognize God when he was among because they were too caught up in details and didn't know the whole story. In both cases God was in their midst and the people could have had the benefits of God, but they chose not to obey God and didn't recognize the whole situation.
How many times do we react to things without understanding the whole situation? Would the Pharisees have believed in Jesus if they'd realized he was born in Bethlehem? Or should his words have been enough, should faith have been enough? Two weeks ago in the Sunday gospel Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He was the Christ, and she believed him. And without questioning his birthplace. We don't know the big picture. We don't know all the details, or what God has in store for us. Sometimes we react without realizing what God knows, what is truly for the best. And often like the Pharisees we don't recognize God when He is in our midst, and we don't have faith enough. Doesn't God tell us every day that ultimately, everything will be all right? And don't we everyday not have faith and disbelieve that.
I've taken to keeping a gratitude journal. Every day I find something to thank God for. Every day I remind myself that I find God in my midst. And every day when I am tempted to react to a perceived negative situation, I remind myself that I do not know the big picture. I remind myself that God is around us all the time and made a covenant to take care of those who put their faith in him. He's keeping his end of the bargain. I have to try to keep mine.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
"THE AVENGER OF BLOOD" (NM 35:12) | ||
| "Let me witness the vengeance You take on them." �Jeremiah 11:20 | ||
The people to whom Jeremiah prophesied were treacherously planning to kill him (Jer 11:19). Jeremiah risked his neck to serve God and wanted God to back him up by taking vengeance on these enemies. In addition, Jeremiah wanted to see it personally. We Christians have enemies also. Unlike Jeremiah, we do get to witness the vengeance God takes on them. We see:
God commands in His Word: "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves; leave that to [Me]...'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay' " (Rm 12:19). Yet we can have a role. God's Word tells us: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; by doing this you will heap burning coals upon his head" (Rm 12:20). God is perfectly just (1 Cor 1:30; Is 30:18). He is able to punish the wicked until they are forced to choose for Him or against Him (2 Pt 2:9). He can avenge by acting in justice or avenge through mercy. Let's do our part as God's agents so His enemies and ours receive the merciful kind of vengeance from God (Rm 12:20). | ||
| Prayer: Father, may the burning coals of kindness I pour on my enemies melt their hearts and lead them to You. | ||
| Promise: "No man ever spoke like that before." —Jn 7:46 | ||
| Praise: Theresa sponsors both Christian and Muslim children through the missions. |
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Reaction to Jesus' words
When resistance and opposition to God's word rears its head how do you respond? With fear and doubt? Or with faith and courage? The prophet Jeremiah was opposed by his own people because the words he spoke in God's name did not sit right with them. They plotted to silence him and to "cut him off from the land of the living" (Jeremiah 11:19). Jeremiah responded with meekness and prophetic insight "like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter" (Jeremiah 11:18).
Are you willing to take a stand for the Lord Jesus?
No one can be indifferent for long when confronted with Jesus and his claim to be the Messiah and Savior of the world. Jesus' message and the miraculous signs he performed caused division for many in Israel. Some believed he was a prophet, some the Messiah, and some believed he was neither. The reaction of the armed officers was bewildered amazement. They went to arrest him and returned empty-handed because they never heard anyone speak as he did. The reaction of the chief priests and Pharisees was contempt. The reaction of Nicodemus was timid. His heart told him to defend Jesus, but his head told him not to take the risk.
Who is Jesus for you? And are you ready to give him your full allegiance? There will often come a time when we have to take a stand for the Lord Jesus and for the truth of the Gospel - the good news of God's kingdom and the free gift of salvation which Jesus came to bring us. To stand for Jesus and his kingdom may provoke mockery and opposition. It may even entail suffering and hardship - such as the loss of job, reputation, or life.The Lord Jesus richly rewards those who suffer for his name's sake.
Costly grace versus cheap grace
There are fundamentally only two choices that determine the course of our lives and the final destiny that awaits us: the choice to live for God's kingdom of peace, joy, and righteousness or the pursuit of the world's kingdom which stands in opposition to God's authority and commandments. We can choose to obey God's word and believe in his promise of blessing or we can choose to follow the voice of those who promise success and happiness apart from God's truth and laws. The costly grace and freedom - which the Lord Jesus offers to those who embrace the cross for his sake - leads to joy and blessing in this life as well as the promise of eternal happiness with God. Cheap grace - which tries to bypass the cross for the sake of being my own master and the ruler of my own destiny - leads to emptiness and endless futility. Who do you choose to be the master and ruler of your life and destiny?
"Lord Jesus, your Gospel brings joy and freedom. May I be loyal to you always, even though it produce a cross on earth, that I may share in your crown of victory for all eternity".
Psalm 7:1-2, 8b-11
1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they rend me, dragging me away, with none to rescue.
8b judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who try the minds and hearts, righteous God.
10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
A Daily Quote for Lent: Not be walking but by loving, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We approach God not by walking but by loving. The purer our love for him toward whom we are striving, the more present to us will he be. To him, therefore, who is everywhere present and everywhere whole, we must proceed not by our feet but by our moral virtues - judged not by the object of our knowledge but by the object of our love." (excerpt from Letter 155,13)
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