March 28 Monday:
The context: According to John’s Gospel, after facing rejection by his hometown, Nazareth,
Jesus went to Jerusalem in Judea for the Passover feast. From Jerusalem, Jesus returned to Galilee and to his headquarters, Capernaum, where people received him as a miracle-working preacher and prophet. Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus did a long-distance (telepathic) healing for the dying son of an official employed in the royal court of king Herod. Jesus was preaching at Cana, twenty miles away from Capernaum. Herod’s officer came on horseback from Capernaum to Cana urgently seeking Jesus’ presence for the healing of his dying son. He was desperate enough to swallow his pride and make a public request to a wandering preacher for this healing. Jesus’ critical comment on the lack of belief in the Pharisees did not discourage the official. With expectant Faith he pleaded with Jesus, reminding him of the seriousness of the illness. So, Jesus told him, “Go; your son will live.” With trusting Faith in the assurance Jesus had given him, the officer rushed back toward his house. On the way there, he received the good news that his son had been healed at the very time Jesus gave his assurance. The officer was so grateful that he and the other members of his family accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah without fearing the ridicule of fellow-officers and friends.Life message : 1) Miraculous healings can take
place in our lives, too, if we approach Jesus the healer with true humility,
trusting Faith, earnest prayer and the willingness to surrender ourselves to
God’s will. We have the unfailing word of Jesus to rely on, only that, nothing
less. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 29 Tuesday:
The context: The Jews had three major feasts –
the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Passover, and the Feast of Pentecost.
Although only adult male Jews living within a 15 mile-radius of Jerusalem were
bound to participate in the Passover feast, Jesus went to Jerusalem as a
practicing Jew. Today’s Gospel passage describes how Jesus healed a paralyzed
man who had been lying near the “Probatic” pool of Bethesda (also
called Bethzatha), for 38 years, hoping for a healing when the water was
miraculously stirred by an angel. Before granting the healing, Jesus asked the
paralytic if he wanted to be healed. The man expressed his intense desire for
healing and confessed his inability to crawl to the pond in time. At once,
Jesus gave the healing command, “Take up your pallet, and walk,” and
the man obeyed.The Pharisees sternly told the healed man that he shouldn’t be
carrying his mat as that the day was the Sabbath. The man responded that his
healer had told him to but was unable to identify Jesus as that healer when
they asked. Later, when Jesus caught up with former paralytic in the Temple and
warned him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you!” the
former paralytic recognized that it was Jesus who had healed him and reported
the fact to the Jews who had earlier questioned him about carrying his mat.
Life message: 1) We, too, will experience
miracles in our lives when we approach God with trusting Faith in His power to
do the impossible and in His mercy for His children. But we need to express our
desire to Him with persevering and fervent prayers. 2) This miracle challenges
us to give up the blindness of our heart and the lameness of our mind and the
paralysis of our spirit and to focus on the positive of God’s unconditional
healing and love made visible in Jesus. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 30 Wednesday:
Context: Today’s Gospel passage gives Jesus’
explanation vindicating himself when he has been accused by the Jews of
breaking the Sabbath by healing on that day, and of being a blasphemer, by
claiming, as God’s Son, equality with God and the same authority and power as
God.
Jesus’ claims and justification: In general, Jesus claims
that he is one with the Father in all he does as Mediator, and that there is a
perfect understanding between him and his Father in the whole matter. But, at
the same time, he is obedient, and so entirely devoted to his Father’s will
that it is impossible for him to act separately from his Father in anything.
Thus, Jesus claims that his identity with the Father is made visible in his
complete obedience: Jesus always does what his Father wants him to do. Then
Jesus proves his equality with the Father by doing some works that are the
exclusively works of God Who is his Father. For example, it is God’s
prerogative to raise the dead, and give life, and Jesus exercises these
prerogatives. Jesus has received Divine power from the Father to exercise His
judgment and authority over life and death. That is why Jesus’ words bring
healing and life to those who believe in the One Who sent him, and condemnation
to those who do not. At the last judgment, all who have heard Jesus’ voice and
obeyed his word will be raised to eternal life.
Life message: True Christian life is the
surrender of our lives to God with the same love and obedience which Jesus
demonstrated for his Father. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
March 31 Thursday:
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus
defends His Messianic claims. The Jews demanded proofs for Jesus’ Messianic
claims, quoting Dt 19:15 which requires two or three witnesses to substantiate
a person’s claims. Here, Jesus presents four witnesses who approved His
Messianic and Divine claims: John the Baptist, his own miracles,
his Heavenly Father, and the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament.
1) John the Baptist, whom many Jews considered a prophet,
bore witness to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” and the Holy One whose paths he had
come to prepare. 2) The miracles Jesus worked could only have been done by the
power of God his Father. 3) God the Father attested to the Divinity of Jesus at
Jesus’ Baptism (cfr. Jn 1:31-34); at the Transfiguration (cfr. Matthew 17:1-8),
and later, in the presence of the whole crowd (cfr. John 12:28-30). 4) The
books of the Old Testament, namely the Law and the Prophets, bear testimony to
Jesus’ Divine and Messianic claims. It was the Spirit of God Who prompted the
prophets of the Old Testament to write their Messianic prophecies. Then Jesus
identifies four obstacles which prevented the Jews from recognizing him as the
Messiah and Son of God: 1) their lack of love of God, 2) their striving after
human glory, 3) their prejudiced interpretation of Sacred texts, and 4) their
lack of Faith in Moses and the prophets.
Life message: When we have doubts about Faith
and the Church’s teachings we need to 1) read the Bible with trusting Faith; 2)
pray for an increase of Faith; 3) learn the teachings of the Church, starting
with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the official
documents of the Church; 4) accept the mysteries of our Faith, relying on the
Divine Authority and veracity of Jesus; and 5) examine how strong our own
Christian testimony is. Does our life reflect the light of Christ so much that
it brings light to the darkness in others? (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 1 Friday:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage describes
Jesus’ secret journey to Jerusalem to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles
(Booths), amid rumors of his possible arrest. But Jesus courageously made his
public appearance in the crowd in Jerusalem and started teaching in the Temple.
Naturally, people started wondering why the authorities did not arrest him.
Jesus’ Messianic claim and the Jewish reaction: Jesus made
two unique and seemingly blasphemous claims. 1) He claimed that he was the
Messiah, God’s Anointed One. 2) Jesus made the additional claim that only he
knew God as He is because Jesus had come from God. By this claim, Jesus
contradicted the belief of the Jews that they had the perfect and final
revelation of God given through Moses and the prophets. In addition, Jesus’
claim to be the Messiah, and the “Son of Man” prophesied by Daniel, with
exclusive and intimate knowledge of God was, they thought, nothing but
blasphemy. The Jews argued that a mere carpenter-turned- wandering-preacher
from Nazareth could not be the Messiah because nobody was supposed to know
where the Messiah would come from. According to Jewish belief, the Messiah
would emerge quite unexpectedly from Mount Olivet, cross the Kedron Valley,
enter the city of Jerusalem, be anointed by Elijah the prophet, take possession
of the City and the Temple and establish His Messianic kingdom.
Life messages: 1) Like the Jews, we, too, can be
prejudiced and occasionally refuse to accept and follow the teachings of the
Church. We need to have the humility to honor the teaching authority of the
Church and its guidance by the Holy Spirit.
2) We need to accept Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior,
experience him through prayer and the Sacramental life and surrender our lives
to him.
3) Like the Jews who expected the surprise appearance of a
super-human Messiah we, too, show the tendency to seek God only in miraculous
and extraordinary events, ignoring His presence within us and in everyone
around us. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22
April 2 Saturday(St. Francis of Paola, Hermit)
The context: Today’s Gospel describes the
reaction of the people, the Pharisees, the Temple police, and Nicodemus, the
Sanhedrin member, to Jesus’ public claim to be the promised Messiah and
the “Son of Man” prophesied by Daniel.
The common people say that Jesus probably is the expected
Messiah because of His authoritative teaching and authentic miracles. But the
Pharisees, the Scribes, and the Jewish priests can only see Jesus as a Galilean
from Nazareth, and they argue from Scripture that the real Messiah must be born
in David’s family in Bethlehem. The Temple police, whom they have sent to
arrest Jesus, report that they have not arrested Jesus because, “nobody ever
spoke like Him.” They are impressed by Jesus’ wisdom and authoritative
teaching. Nicodemus, a prominent member of the supreme council of the Jews
defends Jesus, demanding that the Sanhedrin give Jesus a fair trial before they
have Him punished for blasphemy on unfounded claims.
Life messages: 1) We believe in Jesus’
teachings, based on His authority as God. We believe in the Sacred Scriptures
based on the teaching authority Jesus gave to Peter and his successors. Since
Jesus and His Apostles believed in the Old Testament Books as the inspired word
of God, and since the Church teaches the same thing, we, too, believe them to
be the real word of God, and we follow the instructions given in the Bible. Hence,
we need to follow the Bible as the guide of our Christian life and accept the
traditional interpretation given to the word of God by the teaching authority
in the Church.
2) Today we Christians are also “a sign of contradiction,”
as Simeon described Jesus, because we are different and challenging when we
stand for Christ and choose His teachings while others reject them. We need to
have, and act on, the courage of our Christian convictions. (Fr. Tony)
