27th March. Friday in 5th Week of Lent

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First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13

For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”

But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

Gospel: John 10:31-42

In Jerusalem, the danger to Jesus’ life grows intense, and he withdraws to over the Jordan.

The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ – and the scripture cannot be annulled – can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

 

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Choosing what side to take

Both readings stress the stubbornness with which we can resist what God wishes us to learn. So often we see only what we wish to see, and refuse to pay heed to the voice of the Lord, urging and cajoling us to a better style of life. As his opponents resisted Jesus, so, six centuries earlier, the people had rejected Jeremiah’s prophecies. In a general phrase the prophet describes an all-too-common human response to the word of God, “They did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels, and looked backward rather than forward.” Our proper response should be one of firmer commitment to the saving message and example of Jesus. For as he says (according to Luke), “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Choosing wisely and well is a central goal throughout Lent. Many a one will try to renew their fundamental life-choices during this time, renewing their commitment to the marriage, to parenting, to a consecrated religious life, and to making a difference for good, as we pass on our way through life.

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Prepared to be unpopular

In last Monday’s gospel some hard-liners brought a woman into Jesus’ presence, claiming that according to the Jewish Law she ought to be stoned. Today’s gospel has them fetching stones to throw at Jesus himself. In response Jesus asks a very probing question, “I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?” Jesus had done nothing but good, and yet people wanted to stone him.

Sometimes, taking an initiative to do what we consider to be the good thing, the right thing, will not make us popular. The gospel reading suggests that it might even give rise to hostility. To avoid trouble, the temptation might be to do nothing. Yet, it is a temptation we need to resist. The Lord calls us to share in his work, or in today’s gospel, “my Father’s work.” Sharing in the Lord’s good work in whatever small way we can  will not always make for an easy or a simple life. Yet, it is our vocation and in trying to be faithful to it the Lord will support us; in fact, he will be working in us and through us.  [Martin Hogan]

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