My Saturday Daily Blessings
Be still, quiet your heart and mind, the Lord is here loving you, talking to you.................
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent (Catholic Observance)
First Reading: Jer 11:18-20
I knew their plot because the LORD informed me; 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.”
“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!
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause!
"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.”
Then each went to his own house.
**Reflection:
“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.”
Then each went to his own house.
**Reflection:
Who is Jesus for you? And are you ready to give him your full allegiance? No one could be indifferent for long when confronted with Jesus and his message. It 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 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.
There will often come a time when we have to take a stand for Christ and for the gospel. To stand for Jesus may provoke mockery or unpopularity. It may even entail hardship, sacrifice, and suffering. There are fundamentally two choices we must choose between: to have our lives fueled by God’s selfless love for others or by our own self-centered love and selfish desires, to be loyal to God’s wise rule and kingdom laws or to the standards of a worldly kingdom opposed to God, to be servants of Jesus our Master or slaves of sin and Satan. Are you ready to stand for Jesus and to show him honor and loyalty whatever it may cost you? **Prayer:
"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 in eternity". AMEN.
Sources:
The readings on this page are from the Jerusalem Bible, which is used at Mass in most of the English-speaking world.
*Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
**Don Schwager
Author and Writer for The Word Among Us
Member, Servants of the Word (c) 2006
Word Life Community
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