5th Week of Lent
01 April 2023 (Saturday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:21-28
Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backsliding in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there for ever, and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst for evermore."
Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ab, 13 (R. see 10d)
R/. The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.
Gospel : John 11:45-57
At that time: Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 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 at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: For God and for good!
Indicative: When we stand for God and good, the evil forces cannot stand us. Hence they will try desperately to pull and out us down{alertSuccess}
1. God’s promises in the Old Testament are by and large very exuberant and lavish. But we need not see them as exaggerated and empty promises like those of many politicians. Rather, we can see in those promises God’s boundless mercy and condescending generosity. It looks as if God suffers from “Short-time memory”, especially concerning the people’s sins
2. He feels deeply sad and anguished when they become disloyal and go astray. But as soon as they repent and plead for mercy, He immediately relents and forgives them. Not only that. He promises to them much more prosperity than before
3. There is exuberance and abundance, so much so a doubt arises, whether they will really happen, or whether there are only idealistic and wishful thinking. We need not take them as shallow non-realisable promises. Rather they indicate God’s holy design of “restoration”
4. Some highlights of these promises are: the re-gathering and unifying of all the dispersed people of Israel. There will be no division, no conflict or fight but only unity and one nation, and one ruler. They shall be taken care by one shepherd
5. They will be cleansed from all their defilement. That is by sin which is apostasy and idolatry. They will also be delivered from their exile and slavery, symbolised by sin. God will make an everlasting covenant of peace. He will multiply them. He will dwell among them and make them holy
6. Now all these find their referent and fulfilment in Jesus. He gathers into one all the dispersed children of Israel. This dispersion is not geographical. It is spiritual. Those who sin are dispersed from God
7. Jesus came on the mission of restoration and unification. In him all become one new nation, of new Israel. God will begin to dwell them though the living sanctuary of Jesus Christ
Imperative: Let us constantly allow God to cleanse us, liberate, unify, sanctify and glorify us through a covenantal relationship of intimacy and fidelity{alertSuccess}