Reading 1 Jer 20:10-13
“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
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 See Jn 6:63c, 68c
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.
A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP
"The Jews again reached for rocks to stone Him." –John 10:31
How ironic that the Jews reached out for a rock to throw at Jesus! If they only knew Who was standing before them, they could have reached out for their Rock, Jesus (see 1 Cor 10:4).
These pious Jews were in the Temple area (see Jn 10:23). Presumably they were celebrating the Feast of the Dedication (Jn 10:22), a time of reconsecration and rededication. On this occasion, a faithful Jew would praise God, perhaps addressing Him as "my Rock and my Salvation" (Ps 62:3), my "Rock of refuge" (Ps 18:3).
They sang "soft-rock" praises, but had "hard-rock" hearts (see Ez 36:26). They "scorned their saving Rock" (Dt 32:15). They forgot the Rock Who made them (Dt 32:18) and spoke "haughtily against the Rock" (Ps 75:6), accusing Jesus of blasphemy and condemning Him to death (Jn 10:33).
As we approach Holy Week, let us bring our own rocky hearts before the Lord and ask Him to give us new hearts of love (Ex 36:26). Let us immerse ourselves in God's Word, which shatters our rock-hard hearts (Jer 23:29). Meditate on Jesus' death on the cross, which splits open rock-hard hearts (see Mt 27:52). Build your life on the Rock (Mt 7:24).
| PRAYER: | Father, "my Rock and my Redeemer" (Ps 19:15), pour out Your love in my heart through the Holy Spirit (Rm 5:5). You are "the Rock of my heart and my Portion forever" (Ps 73:26). |
| PROMISE: | "The Lord is with me, like a mighty Champion." –Jer 20:11 |
| PRAISE: | St. Cyril urged: "Remove all obstacles and stumbling blocks so that you will be able to go straight along the road to eternal life." |
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