April 8:Monday: Jn 8: 12-20: 12 Again Jesus
spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 The Pharisees then said
to him, “You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14
Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for
I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I
come or whither I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh, I judge no
one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that
judge, but I and he who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the
testimony of two men is true; 18 I bear witness to myself, and the Father who
sent me bears witness to me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your
Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me,
you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he
taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet
come.
Context: It was the first night of the Jewish
Festival of the Tabernacles (Festival of Booths), and Jesus was standing in the
Court of the Women in the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem. It was evening, and
Jesus was facing the huge blaze of light from the two colossal golden lamp
stands, on which, as was customary for this evening, hung a multitude of lamps,
lighted after the evening sacrifice. The light brightened the whole city of
Jerusalem (Navarre Bible). Suddenly Jesus made the controversial claim, “I am
the Light of the World,” which was saying that, like Yahweh, Jesus was the
light of the world. This claim was seen by the scribes and Pharisees as his
making himself equal to God (blasphemy), for Jews associated the word light
with God. The Lord is my Light (Psalm 27:1). The Lord will be your
everlasting Light (Isaiah 60:19). When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a
Light to me (Micah 7:8).
The Jewish reaction: The Jews challenged Jesus’ claim as one
being made without two witnesses and hence baseless. But Jesus argued that he
had another witness, God his Father, and, hence, that his claim was valid. He
further declared that their counter-argument was wrong because of their
ignorance of who Jesus really was as the Son of God.
Life messages: 1) We believe in Jesus’ claims
because his miracles and his Resurrection from the dead prove that Jesus is
God. 2) Every Christian has to receive the light from Jesus and reflect and
radiate that light in the form of love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and humble
service. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
April 9 Tuesday: John 8:21-30: 21 Again he
said to them, “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am
going, you cannot come.” 22 Then said the Jews, “Will he kill himself, since he
says, `Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from
below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 I
told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless
you believe that I am he.” 25 They said to him, “Who are
you?” Jesus said to them, “Even what I have told you from the beginning. 26 I
have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I
declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand
that he spoke to them of the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up
the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my
own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is
with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30
As he spoke thus, many believed in him.
The context: Through his teaching and healing
ministry, Jesus tried to convince his listeners that he was the promised
Messiah. But only a few of his followers acknowledged him as the Messiah. The
pride and the prejudice of the scribes and the Pharisees prevented them from
seeing anything Divine in Jesus. Hence, Jesus gave them the warning that he was
going to the place where he had come from, and they would not be able to go
there. They misunderstood Jesus’ statement about his going home to Heaven as
planning suicide.
So Jesus gave the Jews the warning that they would die in
their sins unless they believed in him as the saving Messiah and accepted his
teaching. Then Jesus clarified how he was going to save those who believed in him
by referring to the story of the bronze serpent. Just as the complaining
Israelites in the desert were healed and saved from the serpent bites by
looking at the bronze serpent lifted on the pole, Jesus, too, would be lifted
on a cross for the salvation and freedom from sin of all mankind. Jesus further
explained that his cross would defeat sin and death and that he would give
everlasting life to those who believed in him as the Messiah. Jesus declared
his Divinity when he said, “I am He.
Life messages: 1) We need to be humble
instruments in the hand of God, trusting in His power and goodness. St.
Augustine reminds us that God Who created us without our permission cannot save
us without our active cooperation. Hence, let us cooperate in the fulfillment
of God’s plan for us with Mary’s trusting Faith and humility. 2) Like Mary
who brought God to us as Jesus our Savior, we are called to carry Jesus and
bring him to the lives of others around us in love, mercy, forgiveness and
service. “Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord.
Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ.” (St.
Ambrose). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
April 10 Wednesday: Jn 8: 31-42: 31
Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my
word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth
will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham, and
have never been in bondage to anyone. How is it that you say, `You will be made
free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who
commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not continue in the house for
ever; the son continues for ever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be
free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to
kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen
with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They
answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were
Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill
me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what
Abraham did. 41 You do what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not
born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If
God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from
God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
The context: Today’s first reading, taken from
the book of the prophet Daniel, tells us how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had
a golden statue built and commanded all his subjects to bow down in adoration
before it as a test of loyalty. Many Jews did so, fearing persecution and
death. But three young Jewish men who were favorites of the king and were
employed by the King in the royal court refused to worship the statue because
of their religious belief in one God, Yahweh. Hence, they were thrown into a
fiery furnace to die. There, Yahweh their God protected them, as they were
ready to sacrifice their lives rather than turn their backs on Him. It was
their Faith, their loyal allegiance to God and their obedience to His will that
saved them.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that it
was such loyal Faith and obedience to his teachings that would make them his
disciples. Jesus explained to them that true freedom is freedom from sin,
submitting their hearts and wills to God their Father speaking through His Son
Jesus. The Jews argued that they had never been slaves to foreign gods,
although they had been under Persian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman rulers. They
claimed they had always kept the Faith of Abraham their father. Jesus plainly
told them that they were slaves of sin and the devil because they not only
refused to accept him as the Son of God and obey his words but were also
planning to kill him.
Life messages: 1) Let us become true disciples
of Christ by believing in Christ’s teachings, studying and mediating on his
words in Holy Scripture and obeying his commandment of love in our daily lives.
2) Let us seek Jesus’ help and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to free
ourselves from slavery to sins, evil habits, attachments and addictions. 3) Let
us grow in true Christian discipleship by freely submitting our heart, mind,
and will to an all-merciful, all-loving, and all-wise God.
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
April 11 Thursday (St. Stanislaus, Bishop, Martyr): Jn
8: 51-59: 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word,
he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a
demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, `If any one keeps my
word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham,
who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus answered,
“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of
whom you say that he is your God. 55 But you have not known him; I know
him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know
him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to
see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 The Jews then said to him, “You are not
yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they took up stones to
throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
The context: In today’s Gospel, Jesus surprises
and infuriates the Jews by the blinding lightning and deafening thunder of his
Divine claims. First, Jesus claimed that one who kept his words would not die
because his words were God’s words. The Jews responded, arguing that even a
great man of Faith, like Abraham who kept God’s words, had died. Next Jesus
claimed that he had unique knowledge of God because he came from God. The Jews
believed that God had revealed everything about Himself through the Torah.
Third, Jesus claimed a unique obedience to God, his Father, because he thought,
spoke and acted as God wished. The Jews believed that their fathers and
prophets had obeyed God perfectly. Fourth, Jesus claimed that he was not
limited by time and, hence, that he was there even before Abraham and that
Abraham had seen Jesus. The Jews believed that Abraham had been given a vision
of the entire history of Israel including the vision of the Messiah. At this
claim, the Jews attempted to stone Jesus for blasphemy. But Jesus escaped.
Life message: 1) We need to put our trust in
Jesus because of His claims of Divinity. If we believe that we will receive
eternal life by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we need to live out our
belief by obeying him. As God, Jesus is present in all areas of our lives, so
we need to talk to him about everything and listen to him always.
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
April 12 Friday: Jn 11: 32-42: have
shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?”
33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we stone you but for
blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered
them, “Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are Gods’? 35 If he called
them Gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), 36 do
you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, `You are
blaspheming,’ because I said, `I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the
works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though
you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that
the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to arrest
him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan
to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained. 41 And many
came to him; and they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said
about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.
The context: In the first reading, the prophet
Jeremiah laments over the false accusations leveled against him by his friends
and enemies. In the Gospel, Jesus refutes the accusation of blasphemy and
avoids the attempt at stoning him to death (the Jewish punishment for
blasphemy), by giving two proofs of his Divinity and equality with God as the
Son of God. Jesus was called a blasphemer when he forgave the sins of the
paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8). Later during his trial before the Sanhedrin, the
High Priest would do the same when Jesus solemnly confessed his Divinity.
Two arguments supporting Jesus’ Divinity: 1) The Book of
Psalms, a book of Jewish Holy Scripture, reminds the Jewish judges of their
high dignity and consequent responsibility saying: “You are gods, sons
of the Most High” (Ps 82: 6) because they are commissioned by God to
act in the place of God in promoting His Justice. (God is reprimanding unjust
judges reminding them of their position and role). If they can be called sons
of God, Jesus argues, his saying, “I am consecrated and sent by God (meaning,
“Hence, I share the Divinity of God and claim it”), is not blasphemy but truth.
2) The truth that Jesus is the Son of God is supported also by the credentials
of his miracles. Jesus claims that it is his Father who does these miracles
through him. Hence, Jesus challenges his accusers to accept his deeds even if
they cannot accept his claim.
Life messages: 1) By Baptism we are made children of
God, heirs of Heaven and members of the Trinitarian family of God. 2) We, too,
are consecrated and commissioned by our Baptism to bear witness to Jesus and
his ideals. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/19
April 13 Saturday (St. Martin I, Pope, Martyr): Jn
11: 45-56: 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary
and had seen what he did, believed in him; 46 but some of them went to the
Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the
Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man
performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him,
and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” 49
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You
know nothing at all; 50 you do not understand that it is expedient for you that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not
perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that
year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, 52 and not for the
nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered
abroad. 53 So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death. 54
Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews but went from there
to the country near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and there he
stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and
many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify
themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they
stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?”
The context: Today’s Gospel gives the reaction
of the High Priest and his associates when the news about Jesus’ raising of
Lazarus reached their ears. They convened a joint council of priests and
Pharisees to discuss the reaction of the people in favor of Jesus.
Caiaphas held the High Priesthood from the year 18 to the
year 36 AD. It was the popular belief that when a High Priest asked for God’s
counsel for the nation of Israel, God would speak through him. God used
Caiaphas to prophesy the redemptive death of Jesus for the whole world when
Caiaphas said: “It is expedient for you that One Man should die instead
of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” Here,
Caiaphas’ words have two meanings: 1) Caiaphas meant he wanted to put Christ to
death on the pretext that that would ensure the political peace and survival of
Israel. 2) The Holy Spirit meant that the new Israel, the Kingdom of God, the
Church, would be founded through the death of Christ on the Cross, and that His
death would save not only Israel but “all the children of God who are scattered
abroad.” The prophets had already announced that the future assembly of
Israelites faithful to God would form the new people of Israel. These
prophecies were fulfilled by the death of Christ, Who, when raised up on the
cross, drew and gathered together the true people of God, composed of all
believers, whether Israelites or not.
Life messages: 1) We are entering Holy Week
tomorrow. It is in Holy Week that we gratefully remember how Jesus died for the
whole world. 2) Hence, these are days given us that we may express our
gratitude to Christ who died for our sins, by repentance, by the renewal of our
lives and by our preparation to celebrate resurrection of our Lord.
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
