Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thursday 4th week of Lent
March 30, 2006
Thursday 4th week of Lent - Yr II
EXODUS 32:7-14
The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once to your people whom you
brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They
have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for
themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and
crying out, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt!' The LORD said to Moses, "I see how stiff-necked this
people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them
to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation." But Moses
implored the LORD, his God, saying, "Why, O LORD, should your wrath
blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of
Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the
Egyptians say, 'With evil intent he brought them out, that he might
kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the
earth'? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your
people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you
swore to them by your own self, saying, 'I will make your descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised,
I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'" So the LORD
relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
JOHN 5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is
not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know
that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries
to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human
testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning
and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his
light. But I have testimony greater than John's. The works that the
Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my
behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me
has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen
his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do
not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify
on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life. "I do not
accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of
God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you
believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the
praise that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse
you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom
you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would
have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe
his writings, how will you believe my words?"
REFLECTION
In today's Gospel Jesus is disturbed because the leaders of the Jewish
people refuse to believe that he comes from God. He chides them because
they could not see God at work in his miracles and teaching.
Unfortunately they could not read the signs of the times.
What does this mean, "to read the signs of the times? " It means to
look at a secular event, a happening in our world, and through faith to
see in it the meaning God puts into it. For instance, the crucifixion
of Jesus was a secular event. It happened on a hill outside of
Jerusalem. It was decreed by the civil authority, carried out by the
police force of the state. But we look at this secular event and our
faith sees there the meaning that God put into it, the Son of God
suffering and dying to bring about our eternal redemption.
Why did the leaders of Israel not see in Jesus' miracles and preaching
the meaning God put in them? Because they knew that if they did, they
would have to give up their positions of power and wealth and live by
Jesus' values. So they refused to read the signs of the times, to see
God at work in the life of Jesus.
It is this same mentality that blocks us from finding God's meaning in
the events of our lives. We do not want to give up what we cling to.
Therefore we blind ourselves so as not to learn what it is he wants of
us. Let us pray for openness to the Lord and to finding his will for us
in the events of our lives.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray -
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for the special intentions of Mike Torres.
- for the personal intentions of Charles and Cheryl C
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- In Memoriam (+): Trinidad Lee Sun
-safe travel of Edwin & Elyza Lopez
-for the personal intention of Elyza Lopez
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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� 2006 Daily-Homily
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