Daily Readings

Reading I:  Jer 20:10-13

I hear the whisperings of many:
    “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:  18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

R.    (see 7)  In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.
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

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
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.

 

Father Kirk's Daily Lenten Reflection
Friday of the 5th Week fo Lent: March 31, 2023

The scriptures today lay before us the prophet Jeremiah and Jesus both of whom were facing adversity. Both were confronting evil.  Both were confronting the works of Satan.  To those who were about to stone him, Jesus said: “I have shown you many good works from the Father, for which of these do you stone me?”  And Jeremiah prayed: “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.”

The Jewish religious leaders were outraged because Jesus claimed to be (we of course know that he actually was) the Son of God.  To them Jesus was a blasphemer.  Jeremiah was overcome by evil and appealed to the power of God by prayer and supplication. 

In both situations, Jeremiah and Jesus, through the grace and power of God, were able to elude and overcome the wiles of the enemy.

We also must courageously face our enemies in life and our enemy the devil lest we become overwhelmed by the evil that often seems to surround us.  Let’s try our best to heed the words of Jesus who is quoted in the gospel of Matthew as saying: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous … Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."