“I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” (JN 10: 32)
Our Lord came to us to reveal God’s love for us. All His “good works” came from His Father. All of His miracles and His teaching are about the same thing—how much we are loved. In response to these “good works from the Father,” they try to stone Him. What we can do is to answer with all our love for His love and do even something small to compensate for the pain He experienced. For example, during every Friday of Lent, we can assist Him on His way of the Cross with our love and gratitude.
“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” (JN 8: 51)
Such comforting words: “will never see death”—there is only one condition:” whoever keeps my word,” and the very solemn promise: “Amen, amen, I say to you.” I hope that in Heaven somebody checks our blog and our fidelity; everyday we share His words to help each other keep His word alive and effective in our daily lives. One sentence a day keeps the devil away. 🙂
“If today you hear his voice; harden not your hearts.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.” (LK 1: 26-27)
Today we celebrate solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Our Lady became the mother of Our Lord, and after nine months,she would deliver Him on the 25th of December. On this day so many Catholics start a spiritual adoption. Sisters who take care of the “window of life” confirm that many children are born close to Christmas. It looks like this spiritual adoption saves lives.
The initiative of God the Father was: His angel, His care, and His Son, and all of this depends on the answer of Our Lady. God, who created us, gave us free will to invite us to be a part of the Redemption not just receivers of His grace.
“The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us; and we saw his glory.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.’ Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (NM 21: 8-9)
We covered the crosses in our churches to prepare ourselves to see again, in a fresh way, the beauty of God’s love revealed on the cross. “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.” The cross helps us to understand how much we are loved, how important we are to God, and the price Our Lord paid to bring us freedom, dignity and the ability to love more and more, like He loves us.
“The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live for ever.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.” (JN 8: 7-8)
Where there is no sin, there is no place for mercy. Our Lord—a Merciful God—came to sinners, weak and sick, to bring them hope and give them freedom. “The one without sin” could be “the first to throw a stone at her.” A strange paradox: those who are sinners are less threatening to others than those without sin.
“I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus.’” (JN 12: 20-21)
They were Greeks, not Jews, but “had come to worship.” Without coming to worship, they would never have asked to see Jesus. The less we pray, the less we see the need to be with Him. The more we pray, the more we see the importance of Our Lord’s presence in our lives, homes, work and relationships. When He is invited into our homes, worship becomes part of our lives too.
“Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there will my servant be.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“The guards answered, ‘Never before has anyone spoken like this man.’” (J 7: 46)
We have to wait until we go to Heaven where we will be able to listen to Our Lord. Now we have testimonials from the guards: “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” When we are in trouble or in a bad situation, we can think about His voice and listen to how He communicates with us to remember how much we are loved by God.
“Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.” (WIS 2: 19)
We know when a person is gentle or not. We like gentle people, and when we have an option, we prefer to meet with that kind of person, not with the opposite. Our Lord’s gentleness was put to the test “with revilement and torture… that we may have proof of his gentleness and his patience.” We need His gentleness absolutely, and we have to know that He will be, always andin any kind of situation, patient and gentle. We need it so much because the more we lose patience and gentleness, the more we need it.
“One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.” (MT 1: 20.24)
This amazing saint was so close to the Mystery of the Holy Family, true father to Our Lord and husband to Our Lady and at the same time so far from himself. Never concentrating on himself, he always focused on others—the perfect example of the gift of self. He is called in the Litany by many different names: Joseph most just, most chaste, most prudent, most strong, most obedient, and most faithful. St. Theresa of Avila used to say that we should “go especially to Joseph, for he has great power with God.” He is never forgotten in the Church but always hidden; there is nowhere his words are written in the Bible, but the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady depended on him. He is regarded as a very special protector not only for carpenters, home buyers, workers and patron for the dying, but also especially for families.
“Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord; they never cease to praise you.”
“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” (Is 49: 14-15)
“Can a mother forget her infant?” asks the Bible today and answers: yes, it could happen, but there is always our God, Who “will never forget you.” This is truly Good News—there is always hope because we are His beloved children.
“I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me will never die.” (Gospel Acclamation)
