God's Word for weekdays of 4th week of Lent

Monday 11 March 2013

First reading

Isaiah 65:17-21

Thus says the Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’ I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her; in her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

“Now I create a new heaven and a new earth”. It is not only a new heaven and earth, but God is able to create a new life for us. When we come back to him, he can give us back our first innocence so that each day can be the first of our life. Our past may be a miserable failure due to sin, weakness and folly, but God who loves us infinitely can make us new. We have to enter into his presence and be there in his love in a prayer beyond words.

Psalm

Psalm 29:2,4-6,11-13

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me

and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,

restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,

give thanks to his holy name.

His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.

At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

The Lord listened and had pity.

The Lord came to my help.

For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:

O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

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Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ps129:5,7

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word,

because with the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Or

cf.Amos5:14

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,

and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

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Gospel

John 4:43-54

Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. He himself had declared that there is no respect for a prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.

He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and, hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ‘Sir,’ answered the official ‘come down before my child dies.’ ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household believed.

This was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to Galilee.

Everything for the Believer

Jesus came to give us life and life in abundance (John 10:10). This is God’s life through rebirth by the Holy Spirit. We are to become like God: now in faith, later in vision. The key to all God’s gifts is to believe in Jesus. To believe is to trust him despite appearances to the contrary. The man’s son is at the point of death. Nothing can save him. Miracles may cause enthusiasm and wonder but not necessarily faith in Jesus. Realising our nothingness, we must learn to trust in the love of Jesus under all circumstances. Jesus criticises our poor faith and tests us to make us grow. The official believed the Word of Jesus and went back home. Jesus’ Word is true and his son lived. Then the man and his whole household came to full commitment to Jesus: they believed in him. Can you believe without seeing?

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Readings at Mass

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First reading

Ezekiel 47:1-9,12

The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. The man went to the east holding his measuring line and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the water reached my ankles. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across again; the water reached my waist. He measured off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross. He then said, ‘Do you see, son of man?’ He took me further, then brought me back to the bank of the river. When I got back, there were many trees on each bank of the river. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’

The prophet wrote about the presence of Yahweh, the Almighty God. However, we can see how this Word is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. He is God living among us a human being. He lives on in his community and in each individual who welcomes him. Jesus is the Temple as John explains (chapter 2) and the water which flows from the Temple are all the blessings that Jesus gives. His greatest blessing is of course the love he has for us. This cannot be measured St. Paul tells in the letter to the Ephesians.(3:17-19). If we welcome Jesus into our lives and live with him always then this Word, figuratively spoken by Ezekiel will be fulfilled in reality in our lives.

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Psalm

Psalm 45:2-3,5-6,8-9

The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

God is for us a refuge and strength,

a helper close at hand, in time of distress,

so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,

though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.

The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within, it cannot be shaken;

God will help it at the dawning of the day.

The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The Lord of hosts is with us:

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come, consider the works of the Lord,

the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

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Gospel Acclamation

Ps50:12,14

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

A pure heart create for me, O God,

and give me again the joy of your help.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

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Gospel

John 5:1-3,5-16

There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move; One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.

Now that day happened to be the sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.

Get up and walk

The man had been lying by the pool for thirty-eight years. He has given up all hope of a cure and has resigned himself to his fate. Jesus is concerned. The man explains his condition and the many years of waiting. He is the human race. There is no hope. Things only deteriorate. We hope for better times but nothing changes. Jesus speaks a Word, “Get up, take your bed and walk”. With alacrity, he gets up and walks. Jesus Word is powerful. It alone gives life. Nothing else can. We cannot change the world but we are responsible for our own life. What is your paralysis? ‘Do you want to be healed?’ Then allow Jesus to speak his Word and transform your life. Meet Jesus and by his grace give up your sin.  Lent is the time to encounter Jesus. Do you encounter him each day?

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Readings at Mass

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First reading

Isaiah 49:8-15

Thus says the Lord:

At the favourable time I will answer you,

on the day of salvation I will help you.

(I have formed you and have appointed you

as covenant of the people.)

I will restore the land

and assign you the estates that lie waste.

I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,

to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

On every roadway they will graze,

and each bare height shall be their pasture.

They will never hunger or thirst,

scorching wind and sun shall never plague them;

for he who pities them will lead them

and guide them to springs of water.

I will make a highway of all the mountains,

and the high roads shall be banked up.

Some are on their way from afar,

others from the north and the west,

others from the land of Sinim.

Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth!

You mountains, break into happy cries!

For the Lord consoles his people

and takes pity on those who are afflicted.

For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the Lord has forgotten me.’

Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,

or fail to cherish the son of her womb?

Yet even if these forget,

I will never forget you.

Although the prophet wrote in his time and for his people, we can see how this Word of God is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus lived a life just like ours. It was a life of faith and in which he met many obstacles and opposition until he died on the Cross. But his Father did not abandon him. He gave him the eternal glory of the Resurrection. The Word also applies to us who are brothers of Jesus through being born again by the Holy Spirit. We are to live our lives through, in and with Jesus.

Psalm

Psalm 144:8-9,13-14,17-18

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

compassionate to all his creatures.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is faithful in all his words

and loving in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who fall

and raises all who are bowed down.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is just in all his ways

and loving in all his deeds.

He is close to all who call him,

who call on him from their hearts.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

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Gospel Acclamation

Jn3:16

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:

everyone who believes in him has eternal life.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Or

Jn11:25, 26

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will never die.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

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Gospel

John 5:17-30

Jesus said to the Jews, ‘My Father goes on working, and so do I.’ But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the sabbath, he spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal.

To this accusation Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

the Son can do nothing by himself;

he can do only what he sees the Father doing:

and whatever the Father does the Son does too.

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him everything he does himself,

and he will show him even greater things than these,

works that will astonish you.

Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,

so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses;

for the Father judges no one;

he has entrusted all judgement to the Son,

so that all may honour the Son

as they honour the Father.

Whoever refuses honour to the Son

refuses honour to the Father who sent him.

I tell you most solemnly,

whoever listens to my words,

and believes in the one who sent me,

has eternal life;

without being brought to judgement

he has passed from death to life.

I tell you most solemnly,

the hour will come – in fact it is here already –

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,

and all who hear it will live.

For the Father, who is the source of life,

has made the Son the source of life;

and, because he is the Son of Man,

has appointed him supreme judge.

Do not be surprised at this,

for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves

at the sound of his voice:

those who did good will rise again to life;

and those who did evil, to condemnation.

I can do nothing by myself;

I can only judge as I am told to judge,

and my judging is just,

because my aim is to do not my own will,

but the will of him who sent me.’

O Christian, realise what you are

Jesus knew he was God’s Son, equal with his Father but who had emptied himself to be among us as a man. He didn’t make himself anything. He revealed himself. The Jews could not understand this. For them he was a blasphemer – there was only one God. How then could he also be God? This will be the underlying cause of his crucifixion. Jesus will persist in the truth and they will persist in their misunderstanding. He is one with his Father and he only does his Father’s will. Do you know who you are? By faith and Baptism, you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. He is to be everything for you. You are to be his disciple, his friend and his spouse. You have eternal life in him. You are already a divine being, living by God’s life. Is your life in accordance with what you are?

Thursday 14 March 2013

Readings at Mass

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First reading

Exodus 32:7-14

The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’

But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it was in treachery that he brought them out, to do them to death in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth”? Leave your burning wrath; relent and do not bring this disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.’

So the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

God is always willing to give us a second chance to change and return to him. However when we reject Jesus what chance is left? Jesus is the final and complete Word of God. We are to open ourselves to him and listen. The Jews refused to do this. Lent is the time to return.

Psalm

Psalm 105:19-23

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

They fashioned a calf at Horeb

and worshipped an image of metal,

exchanging the God who was their glory

for the image of a bull that eats grass.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

They forgot the God who was their saviour,

who had done such great things in Egypt,

such portents in the land of Ham,

such marvels at the Red Sea.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

For this he said he would destroy them,

but Moses, the man he had chosen,

stood in the breach before him,

to turn back his anger from destruction.

O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

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Gospel Acclamation

cf.Jn6:63,68

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;

you have the message of eternal life.

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Or

Jn3:16

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:

everyone who believes in him has eternal life.

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

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Gospel

John 5:31-47

Jesus said to the Jews:

‘Were I to testify on my own behalf,

my testimony would not be valid;

but there is another witness who can speak on my behalf,

and I know that his testimony is valid.

You sent messengers to John,

and he gave his testimony to the truth:

not that I depend on human testimony;

no, it is for your salvation that I speak of this.

John was a lamp alight and shining

and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave.

But my testimony is greater than John’s:

the works my Father has given me to carry out,

these same works of mine testify

that the Father has sent me.

Besides, the Father who sent me

bears witness to me himself.

You have never heard his voice,

you have never seen his shape,

and his word finds no home in you

because you do not believe in the one he has sent.

‘You study the scriptures,

believing that in them you have eternal life;

now these same scriptures testify to me,

and yet you refuse to come to me for life!

As for human approval, this means nothing to me.

Besides, I know you too well: you have no love of God in you.

I have come in the name of my Father

and you refuse to accept me;

if someone else comes in his own name

you will accept him.

How can you believe,

since you look to one another for approval

and are not concerned

with the approval that comes from the one God?

Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father:

you place your hopes on Moses,

and Moses will be your accuser.

If you really believed him

you would believe me too,

since it was I that he was writing about;

but if you refuse to believe what he wrote,

how can you believe what I say?’

Jesus on trial

The Jews refuse to accept Jesus. They are unwilling to change their way of thinking. They have their traditions. They are unwilling to accept the witness of Jesus that he comes from God. John had borne witness but they refused it. The life and works of Jesus bear him witness. This too they will not accept. If they do then they must change their whole way of living and they must submit themselves to him. This they are unwilling to do and so they refuse to accept his witness. To accept Jesus demands that we change our way of thinking, our set of values because he speaks the truth. Do you love the truth about life or your own illusions? Are you willing to surrender your own way of doing things, your traditions, and your values and govern your life according to the mind of Jesus?

Friday 15 March 2013

Readings at Mass

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First reading

Wisdom 2:1,12-22

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:

‘Our life is short and dreary,

nor is there any relief when man’s end comes,

nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.

Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us

and opposes our way of life,

reproaches us for our breaches of the law

and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.

He claims to have knowledge of God,

and calls himself a son of the Lord.

Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,

the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;

his way of life is not like other men’s,

the paths he treads are unfamiliar.

In his opinion we are counterfeit;

he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;

he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy

and boasts of having God for his father.

Let us see if what he says is true,

let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.

If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part

and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.

Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,

and thus explore this gentleness of his

and put his endurance to the proof.

Let us condemn him to a shameful death

since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’

This is the way they reason, but they are misled,

their malice makes them blind.

They do not know the hidden things of God,

they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,

they can see no reward for blameless souls.

If we have no faith in God, then we must see this life as all we have. Death is the end of the only kind of life that we know. We have no idea of what happens after death. We only know that of ourselves we are incapable of doing anything. We are at the mercy of fate. Death will swallow us, others will put us in a coffin, and we will just disintegrate. After some time, there will be no trace of us. Faith gives us another view on this mystery of life. We can react to this is in different ways. Jesus lived with full faith in his Father. God his Father does rescue him and will rescue us, but not in this life. Here we need to have the same faith as Jesus had.

Psalm

Psalm 33:16,18,19-21,23

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

They call and the Lord hears

and rescues them in all their distress.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Many are the trials of the just man

but from them all the Lord will rescue him.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

He will keep guard over all his bones,

not one of his bones shall be broken.

The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.

Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

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Gospel Acclamation

Joel2:12-13

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –

come back to me with all your heart,

for I am all tenderness and compassion.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Or

Mt4:4

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

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Gospel

John 7:1-2,10,25-30

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.

As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.

Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me

and you know where I came from.

Yet I have not come of myself:

no, there is one who sent me

and I really come from him,

and you do not know him,

but I know him because I have come from him

and it was he who sent me.’

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

God our Strength

As Lent progresses and our reading of John, we see the growing hostility of the Jews for Jesus. The Jews think they know where he comes from because he is from Nazareth. However, they are blind to the fact that he has come from God and is the Son of God. Jesus insists that he is from God and knows God because He sent him. The Jews want to arrest him but Jesus is master of the situation. His hour has not come and the Jews cannot do anything. Jesus is an unflinching witness to his Father. From where does he get his strength? In the world today, we are to continue the witness of Jesus. We must live according to our faith in him. It will be as hard for us as it was for Jesus, in a world that does not believe. Where do you get your strength?