A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 23, n. 19)
Lent Week 5: April 6-12, 2025
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: March 30 – April 5, 2025, 2025 please go to ARCHIVES Series 23 and click on Lent Week 4.”
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: April 6-11, 2025.)
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April 6, 2025: FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR C
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Ultimately Accused”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 43:16-21 // Phil 3:8-14 // Jn 8:1-11
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 8:1-11): “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
The movie, “The Accused”, for which Jodie Foster won an Academy Award for her performance as Sarah Tobias, a rape victim, is based on actual events that took place in Massachusetts, U.S.A. Sarah Tobias, a working-class waitress who lived with a man outside of marriage, sought to unwind in a bar after a fight with him. Three young men raped her while the patrons of the bar looked on and did nothing to help her. Kathryn Murphy, the assistant district attorney appointed to prosecute the case against the men, seemed at first committed to winning the case against them. But, when faced with the fact that Sarah would not make a sympathetic case because of her behavior the night of the assault when she drank, smoked pot, and dressed and acted provocatively, Kathryn let the rapists plea to a lesser charge. Sarah felt betrayed because she was not given a chance to tell her story in court. She was deeply pained and humiliated. Though not impeccable in her behavior, she was truly a victim of sexual violence. She practically became “the accused”. Sarah Tobias is like the woman presented in today’s Gospel reading, a woman in need of justice and mercy, a woman in need of redemption.
Today’s Gospel reading (Jn 8:1-11) continues to underline the radical nature of God’s compassion and forgiving love. The scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees point their fingers at the adulterous woman as “the accused”, but their real intent is to build a case against Jesus, the one they wish to accuse. The sinful woman is being used as the main element in their ploy to trap Jesus in a very difficult case, in which any solution he would give will work to his disadvantage. Indeed, a decision to stone her would be an indictment against Jesus’ stance of mercy and compassion; a resolution to release her would convict him of a lack of justice and righteousness. The malice of the scribes and Pharisees is viciously directed, not at the adulterous woman, but at the greater “accused”, Jesus Christ. From the perspective of salvation history, the one ultimately “accused” and condemned is Jesus, in whom the mercy and justice of God have embraced. Falsely accused and punished for carrying humanity’s sins, he would die for us on the cross, becoming the font of justice, mercy, and healing for all.
The response of Jesus to the quandary was a symbolic action. According to the Gospel writer: “Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger” (Jn 8:6). This parabolic act is probably an allusion to Jer 17:3: “Those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” If so, Jesus’ writing on the ground is an indirect reminder of the “guilt” of those who were condemning the adulterous woman. When the scribes and Pharisees continue to ask him about his judgment concerning the woman’s fate, Jesus straightens up and says: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). Jesus bends down again and writes on the ground, in a symbolic action made more powerful and meaningful by the words he has just spoken. In response to Jesus’ symbolic action and words, the accusers go away one by one, beginning with the elders. Jesus’ writing on the ground and his astonishing challenge to cast the first stone confront the accusers’ culpability and frailty. His incisive wisdom in this death- dealing situation bluntly exposes the accusers’ falsehood and their own need for justice, mercy, and healing.
The last scene of today’s Gospel episode portrays with exquisite beauty the poignant encounter between the adulterous woman and Jesus, the source of forgiveness and grace. The accusers have left. Jesus straightens up and asks her two questions that would gently underline her experience of salvation: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” (Jn 8:10). When the redeemed woman answers that there is no one, Jesus gives a compassionate admonition that would radically set her on the road of conversion and restoration: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (Jn 8:11).
B. Old Testament Reading (Is 43:16-21): “See, I am doing something new and I give my people drink.”
I read a story in an inspirational magazine about a lady who had terribly wronged her best friend, a classmate in college. She had a crush on a handsome football player who eventually became her best friend’s husband. One summer the couple invited her to their beach house for a week’s vacation. Her secret feelings for the blond and good-looking athlete never changed and were not attenuated by the passing of years. One afternoon, her friend went down town for an errand and she was left alone with the secret love of her life in that cozy beach house. The “inevitable” happened. Without really willing or planning it, she spent an adulterous moment with her best friend’s husband. When it was all over, she was overwhelmed with remorse and unbearable guilt. She terminated her vacation prematurely and avoided further contact with the couple. When her friend’s husband died, she felt an irresistible urge to attend the funeral. Her friend had a heart-to-heart talk with her. She revealed that she knew what happened. Since she continued to love her husband and to treasure the friendship with her erring friend, she had forgiven each of them from the heart. The forgiven adulterous woman felt renewed and became whole again. The refreshing balm of forgiveness made her a “new creation”.
Actualized and offered to us in Christ Jesus, the grace of merciful forgiveness with its healing, renewing and recreating quality springs forth like living water from the loving heart of God. The new way of forgiveness can be seen against the backdrop of the benevolent plan of God who wills to create something new. The Old Testament reading (Is 43:16-21) is a fantastic background of the renewing action of God in salvation history. God, the creator of the universe, expresses his magnanimous saving power in the marvels of Exodus, wherein he creates a new nation – Israel, his covenant people. The marvels of the Exodus event in Egypt when God opens “a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters” would be replicated in a new Exodus when God would lead his suffering people out of the Babylonian captivity. The prophet Isaiah proclaims a new Exodus of the people in exile, a return to the promised land under God’s power. The prophet resounds the word of Yahweh: “Thus says the Lord, I am about to do a new thing … I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert … I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.”
C. Second Reading (Phil 3:8-14): “Because of Christ, I consider everything as a loss, being conformed to his death.”
In today’s Second Reading (Phil 38-14), Paul asserts the absolute supremacy of the divine grace. He declares that the supreme good of knowing Christ surpasses all the values he ever considered in the past as gain. Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus and his conversion completely changed his scale of values. Paul’s salvation is not gained by any merits or works of his own, but through God’s saving initiative in his beloved Son Jesus Christ. Paul realizes the absolute necessity of sharing in Christ’s suffering and death in order to participate in the power of the Lord’s resurrection. Moreover, Paul’s response to the saving grace is a dynamic, ongoing pursuit of total communion with God in Christ Jesus.
The following testimony of a Major League baseball player Josh Hamilton delineates the arduous path of his healing and belabored response to God’s renewing love (cf. Guideposts, July 2009, p. 38-43). Devastated by substance addiction and alcohol abuse, he finally realized that only by living for God would he be made whole again. The totally renewed Josh hit a record of 28 homers in the first round of the 2008 All-Star Home Run Derby.
Baseball had been my life. Now cocaine was. What consumed me every day was getting high. I tried to quit using – sometimes I’d even stay clean for a few months – but nothing got through to me enough to stick. Not the seven treatment centers I went to after the Betty Ford Clinic. Not the one-year suspension for violating major-league-baseball’s drug policy yet again in March 2004. Not my parents or their anger, sadness and heartbreak. Not even my grandmother. I tried praying, but that didn’t help either.
The only bright spot was the five-month stretch I managed to stay clean, when I started dating Katie Chadwick. Katie and I went to the same high school, but we weren’t really friends back then. She wasn’t into baseball. She’d never seen me play and had no idea how good I’d been. What she loved about me was how good I was to her and her daughter, Julia. I fell for both of them. They made me so happy that I fought extra hard to stay away from drugs and drink. When we were married in 2004, Katie thought I’d beaten my demons. Man, was she wrong.
What was the lowest I sank? The day I pawned Katie’s wedding ring to buy coke? The day we returned from the hospital with our newborn daughter, Siera, and Katie asked me to pick up some things for her at the drugstore? I walked into a bar instead. Or was it the day Katie finally kicked me out and got a restraining order to keep me away? By then I’d graduated to smoking crack. I burned through almost all my bonus money. My binges got worse. I didn’t eat or sleep. I didn’t care about anything except scoring crack. The Natural? No one would call me that now.
One October night in 2005 I blacked out. I woke up in a filthy trailer with a bunch of strangers. Who could I turn to now? My parents cut me off. So had Katie. Granny. Mary Holt, the grandmother I used to kiss before every baseball game. I staggered to my truck, drove to her house and knocked on her door … at 2:00 A.M. “Do you think I can stay here for a while?” I asked, practically begging. She must have been shocked at the sight of me – I’d lost 50 pounds, my clothes were in tatters – but my grandmother took me in. For three days she fed me, hovered over me, woke me, put me to bed. She didn’t lecture me, didn’t judge me. For some reason, she believed in me. “You can get better, Josh”, she said. “You can get all the way better and get back to playing ball.”
Baseball? I’d written that off. And vice versa. But I couldn’t bring myself to dispute her. Maybe part of me was still hoping I could be what I was once was. My addiction turned out to be way more powerful than my grandmother. The fourth day at her house, I bought crack, holed up in the room she’d given me and got high. When I emerged, Granny was waiting in the hall. There was deep sorrow in her eyes, but also anger. “I can’t take this anymore, Josh”, she said. “I can’t sit here and watch you kill yourself, and hurt all the people who love you.” She turned and walked away.
Granny was one of the few people who still believed in me, and I was letting her down. For years I’d wondered when I would hit bottom. Now I knew. You hit bottom when you’ve hurt every last person who loves you. I went back into my room, and the cold, hard reality of what I’d done hit me. I’d chosen cocaine over everything that gave my life meaning. I chose it over baseball, the sport I was born to play. I chose it over my wife and children, my parents and now my grandmother.
I even chose it over God. I dropped to my knees. Lord, I don’t care if I never play baseball again. Help me get right with my family, and with you, most of all. It was my first real prayer in a long while. This time I wasn’t trying to make a deal with God. This was me surrendering, throwing myself at his mercy. “Do with me what you want, Lord”, I said. My eyes fell on the Bible Granny had put in my room. I picked it up and flipped through it. One verse, James 4:7, practically jumped off the page at me: “Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” I read those lines over and over till they were burned into my memory. Every time I was tempted by cocaine – and the first week going cold turkey was vicious – I repeated that verse: “Humble yourself before God …”
My grandmother’s country cooking helped me regain my physical strength. Emotionally and spiritually, I was healing too, now that I understood what I needed to do. I used to live for baseball. Then I lived for crack. Only by living for God, having a personal intimate relationship with Christ, could I be whole again.
Piece by piece, my life was restored. I earned back my grandmother’s trust, my parents’ and Katie’s. I held my girls again. I started exercising. I learned to face down temptation with prayer. I read the Bible and opened myself up to how God was leading me … to a psychiatrist I trusted … to a baseball program where I worked and rediscovered my love for the game … all the way to the big leagues.
The Cincinnati Reds took a chance on me in 2007 and invited me to spring training. The way my body bounced back after the abuse I’d put it through – that had to be a God thing. I made the team as a reserve outfielder. Opening Day I didn’t expect to play. I was just thrilled to be in the dugout. Late in the game the manager sent me up to pinch hit. I walked to the batter’s box, my heart hammering. Everyone in the ballpark was standing and cheering. I’d never heard that sound like that before. I took a few practice swings and stood for a moment, in awe. This was about so much more than me, so much more than baseball, even. This was about the kind of miracles the Lord can work when we turn our lives over to him. That kind of healing could only be super Natural.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Did we ever falsely condemn anyone and “cast the first stone”? How can we make amends? Do we acknowledge our own personal participation in the condemnation and punishment of the ultimately “accused”, Jesus Christ, our redeemer? In what way are we like the adulterous woman, the object of Christ’s forgiving and redeeming love and set on the road of renewal and restoration?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
your beloved Son Jesus, our redeeming Lord,
was falsely accused.
He suffered the pain of injustice on the Cross.
Forgive us for, like the adulterous woman,
we have turned away from your love.
We were unfaithful to the quiet callings of your Spirit.
Forgive us for our hypocrisies.
We have ignored the afflictions
of those yearning for your redeeming love.
Forgive us for crucifying Jesus on the Cross by our cruelties.
We have failed to love the wounded of this world.
Forgive us for our indifference.
We have not protected
the dignity of the poor and the falsely accused.
Forgive us for not showing Christ’s mercy to the condemned.
May we allow ourselves to be renewed
and restored by the healing power
of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.
May we imitate his life-giving ministry
to the poor, the outcast, and the accused.
We thank you and bless you, gracious God,
for giving us Jesus Christ, our font of love and justice,
now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (Jn 8:11)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Today, offer special prayers for women who have experienced, and are experiencing, any form of violence and exploitation. In any way you can, participate in the Christian task of liberating the victims of false accusations and injustice.
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April 7, 2025: MONDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (5); SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, Priest
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Light of the World and the Rescuer of the Accused”
BIBLE READINGS
Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 // Jn 8:12-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 8:12-20): “I am the light of the world.”
In today’s episode (Jn 8:12-20) which takes place in the temple area, Jesus asserts that he is “the light of the world”. His assertion can be understood better against the backdrop of the preceding scene in which Jesus extends his mercy to the woman caught in adultery that she may turn from her sin. By forgiving the woman instead of judging or condemning her, Jesus substantiates his claim: “I am the light of the world”. Light gives life and not death. Jesus, as “the light of life”, overcomes the darkness of sin that seeks to destroy the unfortunate woman. He is the means of salvation for sinners who are in the shadow of death.
As the “light of the world”, Jesus is also the principle of true knowledge of God. To know God as revealed by Jesus is eternal life. To reject Jesus and his divine revelation is to remain in the dark. In the ensuing debate that takes place, the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and their spiritual blindness are evident. They have failed to recognize Jesus as the “light of the world” and the Savior sent by the Father. They have refused to be touched by his life-giving words and have rejected his offer of divine grace. The death and resurrection of Jesus will serve as the definitive proof of his assertion that he is indeed the true light – “the light of the world. The radiance of the Easter glory will manifest that the contentious Pharisees are wrong in their judgment.
The story of Mike McGarvin, the founder of Poverello House, is an example of how Jesus Christ continues to be at work in us for our saving. In his book, Papa Mike, he writes about some significant moments of his conversion process, cf. p. 51-52. One of them was when he was trying to quit drugs and the bad company he was keeping. He narrates:
There was one important and unusual experience that helped me more fully embrace the faith. On weekends, I was going to a Franciscan retreat near Danville. I wanted this new life that was being offered me, but at the same time, my old ways were beckoning. It was a struggle between light and darkness. My past was hateful to me, but the drugs, sex, and violence still wielded the power to attract and corrupt me. I’d go to the retreat house to find some peace, to pray, and to try to achieve some clarity. One of those weekends, I was up there praying, when suddenly the room seemed to be filled with bright light. I experienced a feeling of peace and comfort that was overwhelming. It probably lasted only a few minutes, but I really don’t know how long, because time seemed to stand still … Soon after this, I was baptized into the Catholic Church.”
B. First Reading (Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62): “Here I am about to die though I have done none of the things charged against me.”
The Old Testament reading (Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) presents the gripping story of the chaste Susanna, a very beautiful and God-fearing Jewish woman residing in Babylon, falsely accused of adultery. Two very wicked old judges try to blackmail Susanna (her Hebrew name means “lily”, symbol of purity) to give in to their passion. She resists, preferring to be condemned to death rather than to sin before the Lord. She entrusts her fate to God and her prayer is heard. God stirs up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel who confounds the false accusers with his wisdom. The two lecherous elders are punished with the fate they meant for their innocent victim. Susanna’s moral integrity makes her a sterling example of a heroic love for God and complete trust in him. Susanna’s youthful savior, Daniel, is a powerful figure of Jesus Savior, the Son of God.
The saving intervention of Daniel on behalf of the innocent Susanna and the liberation that Jesus has wrought on behalf of a culpable adulterous woman continue to be replicated in today’s world. The following testimony tells about a woman’s “spiritual rescue” (cf. Maryanne Gogniat Eidemiller, Our Sunday Visitor, January 13, 2012, p. 12).
Tammy Pagels was 17 when she became pregnant from a rape and her mother forced her to have an abortion. (…) She told her future husband Darrell about it early in their dating, and he supported her journey of healing. “He is the one who taught me that God is the one who will be there for you”, she said. “Everything is possible as long as God is the center of your life.” The couple has now six children, seven months to 13, and Darrell, 40, was ordained a deacon four years ago. They are both coordinators of the Culture of Life in the Diocese of Pueblo, Colo., and are promoting the abortion healing ministry of Project Rachel. (…) Pagels came to a “different place” in her life through confession and Eucharistic adoration, and was able to forgive the man who raped her, her mother, and herself.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Did we ever falsely condemn anyone and “cast the first stone”? How can we make amends? Do we acknowledge our own personal participation in the condemnation and punishment of the ultimately “accused”, Jesus Christ, our redeemer? In what way are we like the adulterous woman, the object of Christ’s forgiving and redeeming love and set on the road of renewal and restoration?
2. Like the Old Testament heroine Susanna, are we willing to suffer adversity and a cruel fate rather than sin against the Lord and disobey him?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
your beloved Son Jesus is our redeeming Lord
and the light of the world.
He suffered the pain of injustice on the Cross.
May we allow ourselves to be renewed
and restored by the healing power of his sacrifice.
May we imitate his life-giving ministry
to the poor, the outcast, and the accused.
May we see the radiance of his glory.
We thank you and bless you, gracious God,
for giving us Jesus Christ,
our font of light and love. Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“I am the light of the world.” (Jn 8:12) // “Thus was innocent blood spared that day.” (Dn 13:62)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In your daily life, try to resist coercive forces and evil influences, especially through the misuse of the mass media, and imitate Susanna’s moral integrity and her complete surrender to God. In any way you can, participate in the Christian task of shedding light upon the darkness of this world.
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April 8, 2025: TUESDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Saves Us by Being Lifted Up
on the Cross”
BIBLE READINGS
Nm 21:4-9 // Jn 8:21-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 8:21-30): “When you have lifted up the Son of Man then you will know that I am he.”
In rescuing and forgiving the adulterous woman, Jesus proves himself as “the light of the world” for light is a principle of life and not of death. But only those who believe in him knows this truth. The spiritual blindness of the self-righteous Pharisees is a serious bondage that prevents them from being “freed”. If only would they turn to Jesus to save them before it is too late! Ironically, it is only when they have crucified Jesus and “lifted up the Son of Man” that the truth about Jesus Savior would be radically revealed. His crucifixion and glorification would serve as a definitive proof of his claim to be the light of the world. Oh, if only would they believe!
Cathy Bloom gives us an example of what it means to believe and to welcome Jesus as Savior (cf. “I Am Here for You” in 101 Inspirational Stories of Reconciliation by Sister Patricia Proctor, OSC, Spokane, Franciscan Missionary of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 210-211).
Nauseous from feelings of fear, depression, loneliness, and betrayal, I sat alone in the church 300 miles from where I used to call home. How did I reach this point at the age of fifty-five? I was now divorced for the second time and I had moved to be near my daughter, leaving behind my family and long-time friends. I felt so alone. I had been betrayed, and that left a pit in my stomach and a pain in my heart. I wondered if I would ever be free of ache. I was early for Mass, sitting in a back pew seeing nothing but darkness and shadows. Slowly the lights illuminated the church as time for Mass was approaching. The church was now bright and I looked up, my eyes going straight to the image of the risen Christ on the cross behind the altar. Suddenly, I felt Jesus say to me, “Let me hold you in my arms, I am here for you, it will be okay.” His outstretched, welcoming arms beckoned me; He was there for me, and I was not alone. My heart stopped aching, but I was still unsure of what to do next with my life and not sure what could be salvaged … My answer came during the Our Father. As I prayed, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, I heard the words deep in my soul. I knew I needed to go to confession and that I needed the sacrament of reconciliation to renew my life. As I left the Mass, I felt this was something I could actually do to help the way I was feeling and to get back on the right track of life. (…) There are no words to describe the internal feeling that comes over me when I think of that special moment of spiritual rebirth.
B. First Reading (Nm 21:4-9): “Whoever looks at the bronze serpent shall live.”
The lifting up of the bronze serpent that we hear in today’s Old Testament reading (Nm 21:4b-9) is fascinating and illumines the mystery of the cross that we venerate as Christians. The bronze serpent on the pole that brings healing to those bitten by venomous seraph snakes is a symbol of God’s benevolent saving will. Jesus, like the serpent, is lifted up on the pole of the cross, and whoever looks to him in faith will be saved. This is the triumph of the cross. Indeed, in the light of the joyful Easter event of Christ’s resurrection, the cross becomes a throne of glory.
The following story illustrates the participation of Christian disciples in the mystery and triumph of the cross (cf. Full Sail with the Wind of Grace: Peter Kibe and 187 Martyrs, written and edited by “Martyres” Editorial Committee, Tokyo: Don Bosco Sha, 2008, p. 44-46).
Genka’s daughter Maria was married to the son of Kondo Kisan, the commissioner of Tachiura (Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture). Kondo was a devout Buddhist. He tried to convert his daughter-in-law and make her give up her faith. Maria always responded with the same words: “I was baptized by my father and have always walked the way of God that was taught to me. I cannot give up my faith.” “If you do not renounce your faith, we cannot keep you in our household. Think well and choose either my son or your faith.” Kondo oppressed Maria with these harsh words. After two years of struggling with the situation, Maria told her husband of her decision, and returned to her father Genka.
“It must be Genka who encouraged her to leave. He must pay for this!” Kondo discussed the matter with his friend, a Buddhist monk in Hirado, and appealed to Shigenobu to punish Genka. Shigenobu was furious with Genka who not only disobeyed his orders and continued to practice his faith, but also worked as a Christian leader. Shigenobu ordered the execution of Genka together with his wife Ursula and their eldest son John Mataichi.
Genka was handed over to the commissioner of Yamada (Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture), Inoue Umanojo to be executed on 14 of November 1609. To Umanojo, Genka was a friend for whom he had a great respect. Genka told him of his only wish. “Lord Inoue, could you do me a favor and perform my execution at the Kurusu (cruz = cross) Trail? “Why the Kurusu Trail?” “Once a cross stood there, and my parents and friends are buried there, too.”
Umanojo nodded and they started to walk toward the Kurusu Trail. When they arrived at the spot, Genka said to Umanojo, “Lord Inoue, it was my heart’s desire to offer my life here. None of this is your fault. Please be at peace.” Genka knelt down, raised his tied hands toward heaven and silently bowed his head. Umanojo, choking down his tears, performed the execution with one stroke of his sword so that Genka would not suffer too much.
Genka’s wife Ursula and their son John Mataichi were also beheaded about the same time at a place nearby. Gaspar Nishi Genka and his wife Ursula were both 54 years old. Their oldest son John Mataichi was 24 years old. Their remains were buried at the Kurusu Trail. The Christians secretly planted a pine tree on the spot.
In 1992, the Christians of Ikitsuki built a large cross on the Kurusu Trail. It is to remind them of the importance of faith strengthened in the family, a precious heritage of Gaspar Nishi Genka.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. In this Lenten journey, do we fix our gaze on Jesus to really see “who” and “what” he is? How does his self-oblation on the cross affect us personally?
2. Are we eager to fix our gaze on Jesus Christ crucified and seek healing from him?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
the mounted bronze serpent
that saved the ancient Israelites from sure death
prefigures your crucifixion and redeeming death at Mount Calvary.
Thank you for your obedient sacrifice.
Above all, we render praise and thanksgiving to God the Father
who loved us so much that he sent you, his Servant-Son,
to be lifted up on the cross.
Now in faith we look upon the cross of your sacrifice
and see in it the source of healing and the font of eternal life.
Through your cross, O loving Jesus,
our hope is strengthened
that we will not die from the snares of sin, but live.
We adore you.
We worship you, Lord.
We venerate your cross.
Through your cross you brought joy to the world
and for this, we revere you, now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent and he lived.” (Nm 21:9) // “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.” (Jn 8:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your compassion and charity, allow them to experience the healing and saving love of Christ on the cross.
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April 9, 2025: WEDNESDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Truth that Sets Us Free”
BIBLE READINGS
Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 // Jn 8:31-42
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 8:31-42): “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus addresses himself “to those Jews who believed in him”, inviting them to grow as his disciples. Indeed, some were initially impressed by his words and persuaded by his argument, though superficially. Jesus invites: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know truth and the truth will set you free.” Merely to be receptive to his word is not enough. The true disciple of Jesus should imbibe his word and act on it constantly. To be his disciple is to possess the truth that sets free. But the persistent contentious spirit of the superficial “believers” is a block to true Christian discipleship. Jesus’ insinuation that they have yet to acquire truth and freedom provokes in them a defensive stance. They claim they are of Abraham’s stock and that they have never been slaves to anyone. Jesus rejoins that physical descent alone from Abraham cannot lead to true freedom. In their obduracy and evil intent to kill him, the contentious Jews belie their identity as children of God. Jesus, however, continues to appeal to them to receive his liberating word because he is from God. He declares, “I did not come on my own, but he sent me.” Indeed, only in the Son of God, sent by God, can we be truly “free”.
The following testimony shared by Patricia McClurg (cf. “Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Vision” in Signs and Wonders, Danbury: Guideposts 2023, p. 205-209) gives insight on what it means to abide by the Word and to be truly “free” to make options for what is honorable and true:
He sat in his cramped basement office, head in his hands, shoulders hunched. (…) “I can’t keep doing this anymore, Petty. I give my word to merchants, and the company keeps adding hidden fees to the bills. My word and testimony for Christ are constantly jeopardized. (…) I’d never seen him so beaten down, defeated and weary as he hunched over his desk … “If you could do anything in the world, what would you choose?” (…) “Sell a God-honoring product that changed people’s lives”, Lynn responded quickly. (…) Immediately, I recalled having tea with a friend from church. She was lamenting her cash flow challenges after her husband invested large sums of money creating a product they couldn’t sell … Intrigued, Lynn went to see Ron, returned, and told me Ron had created a God-honoring product that changed lives – an Internet accountability program that would help men and women break free from bondage. I saw new light in Lynn’s eyes. He’d found more than a product – he’d found a vision and a mission. (…)
Based upon his agreement with Ron, Lynn let his credit card business go dormant, sold his credit card portfolio, and was not paid by Ron’s business for two and a half years. Lynn grew sales for Covenant Eyes Inc. from 174 customers to 600 customers in six months and 3,000 customers in one year. Today, Covenant Eyes is a $30-million-a year employee-owned company, with sales in countries all over the world. It offers a God-honoring product that changes people’s lives because one man – my husband – was willing to believe and trust God for extraordinary results.
B. First Reading (Dn 3:14-20, 91-92.95): “The Lord has sent his angel to deliver his servants.”
Today’s Old Testament reading (Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95) is about the rescue of the Jewish young men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. They willed to suffer martyrdom rather than give in to idolatry. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a gold statute made, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and issued an order that as soon as the music starts, everyone is to bow down and worship the gold statue. Some Babylonians took this opportunity to denounce the Jews. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were the King’s officials in the province of Babylon, were confronted. The Jewish young men did not try to defend themselves. They trusted in the God of Israel whom they serve and who could rescue them from the blazing furnace if he wills it. Even if he doesn’t, they will not worship nor bow down to the gold statue that the king has set up. Thrown into the fiery furnace, the three faithful ones were rescued by the angel of salvation sent by God. The fourth man in the blazing fire who looks like “a son of God” prefigures Jesus Christ, our deliverer.
The fidelity of the Jewish young men to God, and their refusal to bow to an idol, had a great impact on a nurse in an American hospital who accidentally killed her patient, terminally ill with cancer. During a night shift, instead of sodium chloride solution she injected potassium chloride solution which was fatal for the patient. Following the normal procedure, she had administered the solution that was prepared on the table, which was the wrong solution. That potassium chloride solution was not meant to be there in the first place. She wanted to hide the truth for fear of losing her job. She tried to rationalize that the cancer patient was terminally ill and was just waiting to die. But in her meditation on today’s Old Testament reading, she was struck by the courage and fidelity to God of the three young men who would not bow to false idols. She turned herself in and was suspended right there and then by the supervisor. As a single parent, she and her daughter had to survive on peanut butter sandwiches. They were also forced to use hand soap to shampoo their hair. Her case was investigated. She was reinstated in her job eight month later. Her story was published. She was awed by the outpouring of letters from doctors and nurses who have accidentally killed their patients, but did not dare reveal the truth. One medical doctor commended her: “The truth has set you free.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe that Christ’s truth will set us free? Are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for his life-giving truth?
2. Are there instances in your life when you dared to be faithful to God, and the truth about God, and suffered the consequences for it? Are there instances in your life when you were not faithful to the truth?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you are the Truth that sets us free.
Free us from the bondage of sin
and the darkness of falsehood.
Teach us to walk in true freedom.
Give us the strength to embrace suffering and death
for the sake of your truth.
Let us abide in you and be your faithful disciples.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“The truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Correct yourself as soon as you discover that you are not telling the truth or that you are falsifying the truth.
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April 10, 2025: THURSDAY - LENTEN WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Ratifies the New Covenant by His Blood”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 17:3-9 // Jn 8:51-59
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 8:51-59): “Your father Abraham rejoiced because he saw my day.”
Jesus’ heroic effort to share the liberating and life-giving truth with the incredulous Jews continues. Refuting the ridiculous charge that he is in league with the devil, through whom death entered the world, Jesus solemnly affirms that whoever keeps his word will never see death. The Jews protest the possibility of Jesus to give eternal life. They challenge him: is he greater than Abraham and the prophets, all of them are dead? Jesus responds to their cynical reaction with an astounding revelation. He solemnly declares that Abraham “rejoiced” (cf. Gen 17:17) at the prospect of seeing “his day”. Indeed, in the birth of Isaac, the son who was born from Sarah when she was 90 years old and when Abraham was 100 years old, the messianic day had its first beginning. Jesus is greater than Abraham for the grace-filled joy the patriarch experienced as the father of Isaac, is pointing to the messianic blessedness to come in the Son of God. Isaac, “the son of promise” and “the pledge of the covenant”, is a figure of Jesus, the fulfillment of the New Covenant. Unfazed by the relentless obduracy of the unbelieving Jews, Jesus makes the climactic declaration that he is of divine nature: “Before Abraham came to be, I AM”. The reaction is insidious. Appalled by this “blasphemy” punishable by death, the angered Jews pick up stones to throw at him.
In contrast to the pathetic obduracy of the Jews in today’s Gospel story, the young man, Joshua Glicklich exhibits a heart sensitive to grace (cf. Shalom Tidings, May/June 2023, p. 25-27).
My upbringing was very typical like that of any northern lad here in the United Kingdom … I was taught the Catholic faith and we went to Church very often. By the time I got to the age of 16, I had to choose my education, and I chose to do my levels, not at a Catholic sixth form, but at a secular school. That is when I started to lose my faith. (…) I made some really big mistakes like going out drinking until God knows what time in the morning and living a life that didn’t make any sense. That January, when students had to return from their first semester break, I returned a bit earlier than everyone else. That unforgettable day in my life, I woke up at about half past six in the morning. It was pitch black and freezing cold … I perceived an inaudible voice within me. It wasn’t a nudge or a push that was uncomfortable for me. It felt like a quiet whisper of God saying, “Joshua, I love you. You are my son … come back to me.” I could have easily walked away from that and totally ignored it. Yet I remembered that God does not abandon His children, no matter how far we have strayed. Though it was raining hailstones, I walked to Church that morning. (…) I remember receiving the Holy Eucharist ad thinking, “Where have I been, and what has all of this been about if not for him?” (…) From then on I began to attend student Mass regularly. (…) A few years later, I became the president of the Catholic society. I had the privilege of leading a group of students in their faith development. During this time, my faith grew.
B. First Reading (Gn 17:3-9): “You will be the father of a multitude of nations.”
In today’s Old Testament reading (Gn 17:3-9), God makes an everlasting covenant with Abraham, who is ninety-nine years old. The patriarch “Abram”, called by God from the land of Ur when he was seventy-five, receives the new name “Abraham” to indicate that he would be the ancestor of many nations. The change in the patriarch’s name signifies his new relationship with God and the new life granted by the covenant. The Lord God says to him: “I will be your God and the God of your descendants.” The covenant treaty that God initiates with him includes the promise of the land of Canaan for Abraham’s descendants. On the part of Abraham, he and his future descendants must agree to keep the covenant throughout the ages. Circumcision of Abraham and his male descendants represents a sign of commitment to the covenant. Jesus Christ is the most illustrious descendant of Abraham’s covenant relationship with God. In Christ Jesus, the new Covenant in the Spirit is sealed.
The concept of a covenant treaty continues to be experienced in the here and now - particularly in the life of the Pauline Family, founded by Blessed James Alberione. The meaning of his “pact with the Lord” can be gleaned from the following words written on January 7, 1919, by Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, the first priest in the Pauline Family (cf. Luigi Rolfo, James Alberione: Apostle for Our Times, trans. Salvatore Paglieri, New York: Alba House, 1987, p. 121).
Last night our dear father invited all of us to make a pact with the Lord, the pact that he himself had made: to study for one and learn for four. This morning in the meditation he repeated to us the importance, the basis, the condition and the invitation. His words were full of fire, full of conviction and very persuasive. The basis is: faith in God who has promised to grant wisdom to those who ask Him for it … The pleasure of God that we confide in Him. The will of God that this House exist and that it prosper: and the impossibility we find ourselves in to study as much as would ordinarily be necessary in order to learn … Faith is the first means for learning: with it we, who study only one-fourth of the time, can even challenge all the other students and seminarians.
The importance of the pact: it has to be done seriously, otherwise it loses its value, like using gold to make nails to mend one’s shoes. It will give our studies a lift which has now fallen so low; with it progress will be made and miracles performed. It’s true: God does not disappoint. It’s true: practice proves it. We believe that it is so.
The conditions: (1) Faith in God and good use of time. He who has enough faith to believe that he will do four with one should make the pact. If not, he should not make it. But then neither should he study in the House. (2) Make good use of the time set aside for study. Promise this and do it, otherwise the pact is null and void. (3) Promise to make use of whatever is learned solely for the Good Press and the glory of God. This promise is a serious one to be kept even at the cost of sacrifice and little gain. Without these conditions being taken seriously, the pact would be worthless and should not be made.
He invited everyone to enter into this pact which he himself had made with God, but he left us absolutely free. God would be faithful. On our part, we must not fail, no matter what.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we make a serious effort to delve into the Christ mystery and his profound self-revelation?
2. Do we take our baptismal covenant with the Lord God seriously? How does the covenant relationship between God and Abraham, our father in faith, inspire you?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you are holy and immortal.
You are true God and dwell in the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity.
Abraham rejoiced at your coming.
Grant that your profound revelation as one being with God
may touch us to the core.
You are the true Master of our life.
You are the Lord of history and creation.
May we love and serve you, now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Abraham rejoiced to see my day.” (Jn 8:56) //“You must keep my covenant throughout the ages.” (Gn 17:9)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your daily choices show to the world that Jesus is the Divine Master and the omnipotent Lord of history and creation.
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April 11, 2025: FRIDAY - LENTEN WEEKDAY (5); SAINT STANISLAUS, Bishop, Martyr
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Takes Refuge in the Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Jer 20:10-13 // Jn 10:31-42
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 10:31-42): “They wanted to arrest Jesus, but he eluded him.”
Today’s Gospel reading is about another rejection and polemic experienced by Jesus. It is winter and the Festival of Dedication of the Temple is being celebrated in Jerusalem when the people gather around him and demand: “Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?” Jesus answers: “I have already told you, but you would not believe me … My sheep listen to my voice … No one can snatch them away from the Father’s care. The Father and I are one.” Jesus’ declaration that he and the Father are one provokes outrage and violent reaction from the people who pick up rocks to stone him. As in previous episodes people want to punish him for blasphemy – for making himself equal to God. Jesus appeals to Scriptures and their common sense to show how unjust is their accusation of blasphemy. But the unbelieving Jews remain obdurate as ever and seek his downfall as before. Once more they try to seize Jesus but he slips out of their hand. The “hour” for the “little grain of wheat” has not yet come. Jesus withdraws across the Jordan River where John had given a witness to him. In contrast to the angry Jews in Jerusalem temple who tried to stone him, in that “pagan” territory across the Jordan River many people believe in him on the double evidence of the “signs” given by Jesus himself and the witness professed by John the Baptist.
In all the trials and difficulties of his public ministry, Jesus unfailingly trusts in God. We too are called to take refuge in the Lord God in our adversities. Zacharias Anthony’s story is very inspiring (cf. “A Christmas Miracle” in Shalom Tidings, November/December 2023, p. 27-28)
For every expatriate working in Saudi Arabia, the annual vacation is the highlight of the year. I too was looking forward to my trip back to India …Two days before my return trip, I started to start packing my bag. The first item on the list was my passport, and I could not locate it anywhere! Then came a numbing realization: I had taken it to the travel agent that morning to confirm my flight, and it was still in the pocket of the jeans I had worn. However, I had earlier thrown these jeans in the laundry basket without checking the pockets! I ran to the washing machine to open the lid. (…) A feeling of dread spread over me as I pulled out the wet passport. The official seals on most of the inside pages were damaged. Some of the stamps were displaced and, most distressingly, the ink on the Saudi entry visa was smudged too. (…) My job was on the line. I laid the passport open on my bed and turned on the ceiling fan, hoping to dry it out. I told the rest of my family what had happened. As usual, we joined together in prayer, entrusted the situation to Jesus, and asked for guidance. (…) At the Mumbai airport where I changed flights, I joined the line for the immigration clearance at the international terminal. Feeling a bit anxious, I waited with my passport open. Thankfully, the officer barely glanced down before absent-mindedly stamping the page and sending me off! Filled with divine grace, I felt at peace. After the flight landed in Saudi Arabia, I continued to pray as I collected my baggage and joined one of the long lines at the immigration checkpoint. The line moved slowly as the officer carefully examined each passport before stamping it with an entry visa. Finally, it was my turn. With my passport opened to the proper page, I walked toward him. At that very moment, another officer walked up and started a conversation with him. As he was immersed in the discussion, the immigration officer stamped my passport with an entry visa, barely even glancing down at the pages I was back in Riyadh. (…) Jesus underlined yet another lesson for me: I am being led by a living God who foresees every puddle in my path.
B. First Reading (Jer 20:10-13): “The Lord God is with me, a mighty hero.”
Suffering seems to be an integral element of a God-given mission. Some suffering is inevitable for those called by God for a special ministry. The pathos and intense pain of the prophet Jeremiah illustrate this reality. Today’s Old Testament reading (Jer 20:10-13) depicts the drama of a persecuted prophet and illustrates the triumph of faith in the divine presence and intervention. Jeremiah lamented to God that his enemies were closing in on him, for he had obeyed God’s promptings and had prophesied that Judah, on account of its infidelity and social injustice, would be destroyed and its people led away in captivity.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 4, comment: “But after this profoundly human cry of distress, faith prevails, stronger and more tenacious than the fear that would submerge the prophet: But the Lord is with me: like a mighty champion; my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph … Thanks to this surge of trust, Jeremiah foresees that he will conquer overwhelmingly … It is to God that Jeremiah entrusts his cause, and it is upon him that he places the too heavy burden which overwhelms him. This cry toward God is prolonged by a thanksgiving in which we all are invited to share, each of us, personally and as a church. Jeremiah is really the father of this spiritual posterity of the poor, those dependents of God who in their material and spiritual distress place their cause in God’s hands.”
The Kingdom message that we – Christian disciples – are called to proclaim is “good news”, but at the same time confrontational and explosive, for it impeaches a world based on false values. Conflicts are thus unavoidable. Indeed, a Gospel proclamation that is innocuous - bothers no one - and questions nothing is no longer a Gospel. The Church is experiencing intense trial as it fights social injustice and testifies to the Gospel values.
The passion of Christ continues to be the passion of the Church and of every Christian disciple. The martyrdom of Fr. Thomas Pandippall, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate priest from India, is an example. He was brutally murdered on August 16, 2008, on his way from a mission in Burgida, Andhra Pradish, by a group of Hindu extremists who broke his hands and legs, tore out his eyes, beat him with sticks and stabbed him repeatedly (cf. “Catholic Martyrs a Daily Reality” in L’Osservatore Romano, September 3, 2008, p. 5-6). Archbishop Joji Marampudi, Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Andhra Pradesh, gave the following statements in an interview granted to L’Osservatore Romano journalist, Roberto Sgaramella:
They killed Fr. Thomas for three reasons: because he was a religious, because he was a Christian and because he was charitable to the poor. His attackers were waiting for him on his way home from one of our missions in Burgida. He was probably waylaid at about 10:00 o’clock in the evening, not far from the village of Bellampally, an area unfortunately known for acts of violence perpetrated there by groups of Hindu fanatics. They stopped him while he was returning on his motorcycle and clubbed him with sticks. They then ferociously slashed his body with knives. I myself went there the following morning and saw his blood mingled with the dust. I saw the mess they had made of his body.
He was killed because Catholic missionaries take the side of the poor in this region where, in fact, a rigid form of slavery still exists, linked to farming the land. The landowners do not recognize that the peasants have any rights and use bands of Hindu fanatics to thwart anyone who attempts to improve the standard of living of the rural population. (…)
To be a Christian and, in particular, a Catholic, is a very courageous choice, but a choice that puts one’s own life and that of one’s relatives at risk … I would like to call the authorities’ attention to our men and women missionaries. Various groups of Sisters work constantly for the needy in relatively isolated localities where there are absolutely no policemen. They work at a serious risk to themselves. They work for children and the elderly. They help mothers and the sick. They organize classes for illiterate youth. They work trusting in God’s protection alone. They do their utmost to help their neighbor and thereby bear witness to the Gospel. I am thinking of these absolutely heroic missionary Sisters. I am thinking of the missionary priests who never fail to go to the help of the lowly as, precisely Fr. Thomas. I am thinking of our little Church of Hyderabad. It is a small Church because of the number of the faithful but certainly large from the point of view of their heroism – heroism because of their constant witness to faith in God and in the Gospel.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe in Jesus’ works and do we acknowledge that his compassionate acts of love and mercy testify that he is the Son of God?
2. What were the conflicts and sufferings that the prophet Jeremiah was experiencing? How did the reality of the Lord’s protective presence strengthen him in moments of distress and trials? Do we experience in our own life the convergence of mission and suffering?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for Jeremiah,
your faithful persecuted prophet.
You are his “mighty champion” and protector.
In his painful experience as prophet of truth,
Jeremiah had recourse to you.
Most of all, dear Father,
we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ,
the ultimate suffering prophet and the incarnate word of truth.
Jesus taught us to trust in you.
In our mission of proclaiming the Kingdom value
in today’s society,
help us not to be overcome by fear.
Let your beloved Son-Servant
give us the courage to speak your prophetic word
and to confront social injustice
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We give you glory and praise, now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“He escaped from their power.” (Jn 10:39) // “But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion” (Jer 20:11a).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In any way you can, support the missionary endeavors of the Church, especially where there is violent conflict and persecution.
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April 12, 2025: SATURDAY - LENTEN WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Will Gather the Scattered Children of God”
BIBLE READINGS
Ez 37:21-28 // Jn 11:45-56
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 11:45-56): “To gather together in unity the scattered children of God.”
Today’s Gospel text follows the evangelist John’s narrative of Lazarus being raised to life by Jesus. Many of the people who had come to visit Lazarus’ sister Mary in Bethany and saw the “miracle” believe in Jesus. But others remain impervious to the “sign”. Instead, they report to the Pharisees who convoke the Sanhedrin or Council. Embarrassed by Jesus’ miraculous works and implacably opposed to his public ministry, they made a decision to put him to death. It is a great irony that Jesus’ raising of Jesus from death to life becomes the decisive cause of his own death. In the Sanhedrin, the high priest Caiaphas utters the pronouncement that it is better to have one man to die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed. But Jesus will not die to prevent the Jewish nation from being destroyed by the Romans as happened in 70 A.D., but to destroy all forces that divide and destroy God’s children (Jews and Gentile). Indeed, the central message of the New Testament is the gathering into one of all God’s children. The biblical scholar Teresa Okure remarks: “Today in a world torn by racisms, ethnic strife, and various kinds of divisions in families, Church and state, the challenge of this central message of the gospel becomes even more imperative for us who believe in Christ. Each believer assumes a personal responsibility to identify the different forms in which these divisions operate in his or her heart and community and makes a personal commitment to cooperate with Jesus in gathering together God’s children scattered by all these divisive forces.”
In view of the task and challenge to promote the gathering of God’s children, the following article by Carla Hendricks (cf. Daily Guideposts 2022, p. 164) is very meaningful.
As African Americans, our children are often the only people of color in their classrooms, sports teams, and small group Bible studies. They don’t complain, but I complain plenty … I wonder if they feel unseen. I pray they learn to navigate being themselves and fitting in with the majority culture. These concerns follow me daily. Yet one day, I studied a photo I had posted to social media. It included my daughter Jada’s ten closest friends. These girls join us for a Bible club we recently formed – a monthly gathering for tween girls to play silly games, share their joys and struggles, and engage in a fifteen-minute Bible study that I teach. This Bible club has deepened friendships for my daughter and brought us both lots of joy.
Examining the photo revealed something to me: the girls in this group represent diverse backgrounds. They come from African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Caucasian cultures. Their parents were born in places all over the world – including Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. I smiled with this new revelation. The diversity I have wanted for my children is not only possible but is already a reality – in our home every month at Bible club!
B. First Reading (Ez 37:21-28): “I will make them into one nation.”
The Old Testament reading (Ez 37:21-28) presents Ezekiel’s prophecy about when God will bring the scattered tribes of Israel from foreign lands and make them “one nation upon the land”. Ezekiel hopes not only for the restoration of the Judean exiles in Babylon, but also for the reassembly of the exiles of Israel who were deported by the Assyrian invasion in 721 B.C. The restored people will be cared for: “there shall be one shepherd for them all”. God promises to dwell among his people and he will make an everlasting “covenant of peace” with them. The Lord God will be their God and they shall be his people.
In the morning of March 13, 2013, our community in Fresno was summoned to go to the television with the big news that “We have a Pope!” We saw the impressive image of thousands and thousands of people converging into Saint Peter’s Square. People from all nations … from all races and cultures … full of energy and excitedly rejoicing! It was a young and energetic crowd rejoicing for the gift of the Pope-Shepherd in the person of Pope Francis. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, continues his pastoral ministry in the person of the newly elected Pope Francis. The Ezekiel prophecy becomes a reality once again.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we commit acts of injustice because we rationalize that it is better for one man to die rather than allow a bigger group to perish?
2. How does the Ezekiel prophecy “There shall be one shepherd for them all” affect you? What is your response to God’s gift in the person of Pope Francis?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(From the Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions: For the Pope)
God our Father, shepherd and guide,
look with love on Pope Francis, your servant,
the pastor of your Church.
May his word and example inspire and guide the Church,
and may he, and all those entrusted to his care,
come to the joy of everlasting life.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“And there shall be one shepherd for them all.” (Ex 37:24) // “He prophesied that Jesus was going to gather into one the dispersed children of God.” (Jn 11:52)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Offer special prayers and sacrifices for our Pope and continue Christ’s pastoral mission by extending the Good Shepherd’s peace and compassion to the people around you.
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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US