DAILY- HOMILY

12 March 2016                       

Saturday, 4th Week of Lent

Violet.        

Jer 11:18 – 20 / Jn 7:40 – 53

From the 1st Reading: Jer 11:19 - 20

But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.  I did not know it was against me that they were plotting.  "Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again."

Yahweh, God of hosts, you who judge with justice and know everyone in his heart and in his intentions let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.

From the Gospel Reading: Jn 7:40 – 52

Many who had been listening to these words began to say, "This is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some wondered, "Would the Christ come from Galilee?  Doesn't Scripture say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?" The crowd was divided over him. Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers of the Temple went back to the chief priests who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him?" The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man." The Pharisees then said, "So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him?  Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the Law!"

Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, "Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?" They replied, "Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee."

Reflection

In the first reading, Jeremiah who was campaigning for the reform of the Jewish liturgical practices, was being plotted against by his own townsmen.  They were trying to bring him down, especially since some of them had vested interests that will be affected by the reform.  This is the world we live in - a world of intrigues, jealousies, plotting, violence, etc.  And often times evil triumphs over good.

The same thing happens in the gospel.  Jesus was so popular among the people that the chief priests and Pharisees wanted to find a reason to have him arrested.  Imagine that Jesus who was calling the people to understand the spirit of the Law and not focus on its rituals and regulations being plotted against by the religious authorities.  

The Bible says that all or most of the prophets were persecuted because they advocated reform.  How hard it is to be a prophet!  Yet we should also heed this same call to say the truth to others even if we may be ridiculed, rejected or simply ignored.  We should correct others out of love, out of the desire to help them change for the better.  Sometimes we must correct others to protect those who are maltreated by them.      

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     Luy Kim Guan

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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