FRIDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life. JN 6:63, 68

JEREMIAH 20:10-13 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Jeremiah and all the prophets experienced rejection, persecution, exile, threats, torture, imprisonment, and even death foreshadowing all that the Son of Man would suffer in order to redeem fallen mankind. The lamentations of all the prophets calling out the sins of the wicked and warning them of the chastisement that would come if they did not repent of their sins only resulted in hastening their murder. And so it was with You.

There is no human emotion You do not understand perfectly for You were fully human. You know what it is to be betrayed, to be persecuted, to be maligned by those who ought to have known better. They knew the Scriptures, they studied the Law of Moses, every word that came out of Your mouth was wisdom and they brought comfort, healing, and hope. You were not interested in just observing the Law and its precepts rather You desired that we do not separate love, compassion, kindness, and tenderness from the demands of the Law. You wanted Your hearers to understand that to love and to serve is far greater and receives greater merit from God than to be scrupulous about following the law.

How often You must have sighed with great sorrow at the blindness of those who were in positions of authority and had power. They were caught up and bound by their narrow interpretation of the Word of God that they failed to recognize the time of their salvation. God walked among His people and those who could have been Your friends and allies were instead Your greatest enemies. They were so obsessed with maintaining the status quo that they were prepared to commit murder in order to retain their stranglehold on the people. They refused to show mercy and they hated You for showing them up as hypocrites. 

But to those who believe, my Lord, You grant eternal life. You gave Yourself up into the hands of evil men paying the price for our salvation and gaining for us a Kingdom. Thank You.

JOHN 10:31-42 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The lamentations of Jeremiah and all the prophets who received only rejection and abuse, suffering, torment, and death at the hands of sinful and evil men who would rather wallow in their sins than repent and be saved, were experienced also by You. The Jews who raged against You hated You with a murderous rage. Your words revealed that they would rather serve a god of their own making and in their own image and likeness rather than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They rejected You for claiming to be the Son of the one true God whom You addressed as Father and as having been sent by Him whom You knew intimately. All the signs and wonders You performed clearly indicated Your divine power but they refused to believe. You were unafraid to speak the truth and pointed out their hypocrisies to their face. They jealously guarded the letter of the law failing to understand its spirit.

They threatened to stone You to death, they plotted unceasingly to trap You and do away with You because You disturbed their complacency and showed them up as blind leaders and teachers. Often we too are like them. We prefer our creature comforts and are unhappy when we are reminded that suffering is the lot of all who wish to follow You closely. There is no escaping the cross if we are to be authentic disciples. 

The world hates Christians because they first hated You. The world hates the Church because she follows You closely and does all that You have done. She heals the brokenhearted, binds the wounds of the suffering, opens the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and cripples leap, jump, and praise God. Prisoners are set free, the dead are brought to life and the power of God is clearly evident in her for You make Your home in Your Church, Your bride. The ungodly, the idolators, those who worship strange gods hate Christians with a demonic hatred and whether they know it or not they are pawns of satan.

Thank You, Lord, for Your assurance that the gates of hell will never prevail against Your Church for she is victorious in You. The Blood of the Lamb is her mighty protection and the devil is vanquished by the power of the Cross.