Thursday April 7, 2022

Thursday of 5th Week in Lent

 

1. JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, Priest

           

Introduction

Though a canon of Reims and very learned, “Monsieur” John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719) was a humble and simple man who tried to lead an evangelical life. He was struck by the lack of chances in the lives of poor, uneducated children. To remedy this, he first gathered some companions to help him, then founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools, whose contribution to education is greatly admired. Under the pressure of calumnies he discreetly withdrew from the institution he had founded.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
through Jesus we know
that you care for children and the young.
As we celebrate today John Baptist de la Salle,
a great educator especially of the poor among them,
we pray you that the Christian community
may be greatly concerned
about giving a worthwhile future to them.
May they learn to live
according to the values of the gospel.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Reading: Gn 17:3-9

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”

God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”

 

Responsorial Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

(8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R.  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R.  The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

 

Verse before the Gospel: Ps 95:8

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

 

Gospel: Jn 8:51-59

Jesus said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

 

Intercessions

Jesus, you who are, we pray for those who cannot believe in you. Let them be people who follow their conscience, we pray:

Jesus, you who are, gave us the grace to believe in your word and also to keep it in our daily living, we pray:

Jesus, you who are, we pray that the Jewish people may come closer to us through their fidelity to the covenant you made with Abraham, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we are preparing bread and wine
to sit at table with Jesus
and to listen to his words of wisdom.
Let Jesus remind us again of the basic truths of life,
about suffering and death, about life and love.
Let him teach us to become fully human
and fully your faithful sons and daughters,
who love you in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
with Jesus in our midst we thank you
in particular for children,
their simplicity and receptive mind,
their transparency and authenticity,
their playfulness and joy.
Help us to treasure them and love them
and to help them grow
in wisdom, age and favor with you and people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

May we keep the Lord’s word not only in our minds but also in our deeds, that we may enjoy eternal life, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Jesus as “I am”

The conflict now reaches the flashpoint and boils over when Jesus claims ontological priority and eternal existence before Abraham, by appropriating the name of God to himself: “Before Abraham was, I am.” At the Feast of the Tabernacles where God’s Name was invoked, it was easier for people to associate Jesus’ self-referential, present tense use of “I am” with the “I am” in Exodus (3:14) and Isaiah (43:13). Ironically, the very same crowd that denied knowledge of anyone wanting to kill Jesus (cf. Jn 7:20), now takes up stones to kill him by the prescribed penalty for blasphemy (cf. Lev. 24: 16, 23). In doing so, they prove Jesus right: that they were descendants of Abraham only in flesh, but not in spirit. For, in the First Reading, we find Abraham prostrating before Yahweh acknowledging Him as his God, whereas his descendants take up stones to kill the same God.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF