April 3, 2019

April 3

April 3, 2019:  Wednesday, 4th week, Lent

See a dozen connections with today?
Legend below
Listen
For Psalm 145
Pope Francis General Audience

 To serve hope today is to build bridges between cultures.  It was a joy and honor for me to do this in Morocco, meeting its people and leaders.  King Mohammed and I reiterated religions' essential role in defending human dignity, promoting peace and justice, and caring for creation.

Life for those who emigrate changes and returns to being human when they find a community that welcomes them as persons.  Recall the "Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration."  We have offered our contribution:  welcome, protect, promote, and integrate migrants.  We must make a path together through these actions to build cities and countries that preserve their cultural and religious identities, are open to differences, and know how to value them.

 Why do I go see Muslims and not just Catholics?  We're all Abraham's descendants.  God permits many religions because of his permissive will, but they all look to God.

 Yesterday was the UN World Day of Sport for Peace and Development.  Sport is a universal language embracing all peoples, helping overcome conflicts and unite people.  Sport is a source of joy and great emotion, and a school of virtue.  I wish you the best in life and sport.  Official summary.

Read

  • Is 49:8-15  I'll restore the land and say to prisoners, "Come out!" and to those in darkness, "Show yourselves!"  They won't hunger or thirst.  I'll lead and guide them.  I'll cut a road through my mountains, comfort you, and show mercy.  Can a mother forget her infant?  Even should she, I'll never forget you.
  • Ps 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18  "The Lord is gracious and merciful."  The Lord is good, faithful, and just, near to all who call on him.  He lifts up the falling.
  • Jn 5:17-30  The Jews tried to kill Jesus because he broke the sabbath and called God his father.  Jesus:  The Son can only do what he sees the Father doing.  The Son, like the Father, gives life; whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life.  The dead will hear the Son and rise: those who have done good, to life; others, to condemnation.  I seek the will of the one who sent me.
Reflect
  • Fr. Chidi Ekpendu homily video:  Our compassionate, gracious God won't forget you.  Ask for forgiveness; return to him.  Pray, fast, and give....
  • Creighton:  No image of God is perfect, but some are better than others.  Our readings provide two:  a mother who never forgets her child, and the Father.  Jesus, Word made flesh, is uniquely qualified to represent God; he says and does what what God sent him to do.  We'll never fully understand how Jesus can be both different from and united to God, but we can come to know him more intimately....
  • One Bread, One Body:  The religious leaders were determined to kill Jesus because he was not only breaking the sabbath but was also speaking of God as his Father, making himself equal to God.  Jesus might have spared his life if he them he wasn't really God, but he made it clear he was divine:  "The Father and I are One."  "Before Abraham came to be, I AM" (the name God used with Moses.  His death sentence came when he called himself by that name at the Sanhedrin's interrogation.  Following Jesus is an all-or-nothing bet on his divinity; his life only makes sense if we understand he is God.  We're called to be "all in" as he was:  he claimed to be God, and lived accordingly; we can't straddle the issue...  We're called to be "all in."; we can't straddle the issue...."
  • Passionist:  We need to go beyond words to experience God’s love.  We can open ourselves to him through the sacraments. scripture, surrender to the the Holy Spirit (check out The Wild Goose).  Ask for more of the Spirit in order to know the God’s love. “Can a woman forget her baby at the breast...?  I won't forget you.”  God is for us, behind and before us.  He'll never leave or forsake us.  Throw yourself into his arms.  “Whoever listens to my words and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life.....”
  • DailyScripture.net:  "My Father is still working, and so am I ":  Jesus claimed authority over life and death and showed God's power to heal and restore people to life.  He showed God's mercy by releasing people from their burden of sin.  He claimed to have power to raise the dead and to judge the living and dead.  The Jewish authorities, troubled with such claims, looked for a way to get rid of him.  He was either a madman and impostor, or who he claimed to be.  Since they couldn't accept his claim to be the Messiah, they sought to kill him; they didn't recognize he was God's answer to the his people's prayers.  The Father sent Jesus to reconcile his people with God and restore to them the promise of paradise.  Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy when he brings healing, restoration, and forgiveness.  To the religious authorities Jesus was a Sabbath-breaker and blasphemer, claiming equality with God.  Jesus answered their Sabbath-breaking charge law by saying God's purpose for creation and redemption is to save and restore life; Jesus doesn't stop showing the Father's mercy on the Sabbath.  He answered them about equality with God by saying he had a close personal relationship with the Father and so wasn't acting independently.  Jesus says his identity with the Father is based on trust and obedience; his obedience was based on love.  The Son loves the Father and gives himself to the Father's will; the Father loves the Son and shares all he is and has with him.  We are called to submit our lives to God with the same love, trust, and obedience....
Dress legend
  • 'Musical notes with "joy"' tie pin:  Sing out and rejoice (1st reading)
  • Blue shirt:  The Lord guides his people beside springs of water (1st reading)
  • 'Sun' pin:  The sun won't strike them (1st reading)
  • 'Alps' pin:  "I'll cut a road through my mountains; break forth into song, you mountains" (1st reading)
  • 'Boundless mercy' pin:  The Lord shows mercy (1st reading), is gracious and merciful (psalm)
  • "I ♥ my dad" tie with baby feet:  Can a mother forget her child? (1st reading), Father/Son love (gospel)
  • 'Clocks' suspenders:  "In a time of favor I answer you" (1st reading); "the hour is here when the dead will hear the Son's voice and live..." (gospel)
  • 'Phone' tie bar:  The Lord is near to all who 'call' on him (psalm)
  • Classroom blackboard with equals-sign:  Jesus called God his father, making himself God's equal (gospel)
  • Purple suspenders:  Lenten season
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