Friday March 26

FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

 

Sign of Contradiction

 

Introduction

Jesus, the Son of God, showed in his life and actions that he was no ordinary human being, even in the face of contradiction. Christians, sons and daughters of God without a capital s or d, who take their faith seriously will also meet contradiction. They cannot compromise if this would be tantamount to betrayal or dishonesty with themselves, with their faith, or with others. But they know that they are in God’s hands. And their deeds will speak for themselves. With Jesus, God’s Son, may we do the work the Father has entrusted to us.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
you are a loyal God,
ever faithful to your promises.
Strengthen our faith,
that with Jesus we may always keep trusting in you
in spite of prejudices, ridicule or contradiction.
Give us the firm conviction
that you are irrevocably committed to us
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

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

(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.

 

Verse before the Gospel: Jn 6:63C, 68C

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.

 

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.”
And many there began to believe in him.

 

Intercessions

• For men and women who are persecuted because of their faith and feel abandoned, that they may find strength in prayer, we pray:
• For all who feel deserted by God and people, that they may learn again through good people that they are in the hands of God, we pray:
• For people who have seriously sinned, that these days of Lent they may repent and return to the Lord, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord God,
the sign of your loyalty to us is
that your Son comes among us.
Keep us also loyal to you
when we have to face contradiction
because of our faith.
Give us the Holy Spirit of strength
who inspired your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Prayer after Communion

Our God and Father,
Jesus faced opposition
because he claimed to be your Son,
the Son of God.
May we, who claim to be
your sons and daughters,
lovingly do what you want us to do,
that people may believe in you and your Son
not so much because of what we say
but because of what we are and do
for the sake of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.

 

Blessing

May our faith in the Lord Jesus be unshakable. We know how much he has done for us, how he was contradicted, suffered and died for us. He, Son of God, has made us sons and daughters of God. May God continue blessing you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

This was the second occasion that Jesus faced an imminent stoning. Why the violence? Jesus challenged their sense of God, re-defining the face of God. He did not ask them to deny their God, but to probe further the truth of that God. To accept Jesus as revealing the face of God, they would have to discover a whole other basis for their religious practices and existence. Rather than meet the challenge that Jesus raised, they thought if they would eliminate him, they could be left in peace.
Jesus stood his ground, and challenged them on the basis of the evidence of his deeds, the signs he performed. Earlier, After his healing the crippled man, Jesus had similarly nominated the Father as the source of his works: The works that the Father gave me to carry out, these works that I do, they witness about me that the Father has sent me [5:36].
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Word God carried numerous applications. Accordingly, Jesus quotes the scripture referring to the Judges of the Old Testament: “I said, you are gods”. The Judges of Israel had the responsibility to pass judgement – something which belong only to God. Hence the scripture said, any “children of the Most High” (son of God) could be called a gods without being accused of blasphemy. If people inspired by the word from God could be called ‘gods’ can Jesus whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blaspheme because he says, “I am the Son of God”?
In referring to himself as the one sanctified by the Father, Jesus used the word that described the festival they were celebrating – the sanctification (consecration) of the temple. Jesus was the new Temple where God would be especially present and accessible to all. Though they would soon desecrate this “temple” by crucifying him, the Father would re-consecrate (sanctify) him by raising him to new life.
Unsettled by his arguments, the Jews stepped back from the decision to stone Jesus. Nevertheless, they wished to silence him, so they still attempted to arrest him. John the evangelist also makes the point of the futility of their attempt to arrest Jesus, in order to emphasise his control of the situation. “His time had not yet come”– but it was ominously drawing closer. When the time would come, Jesus would return to Jerusalem to face his destiny.
The remark that many there began to believe in him provided a positive conclusion to Jesus’ long and tortuous debate with the Jewish leadership and crowds.