Todays Mass Readings Tuesday, April 08, 2014 Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Lectionary: 252 -------------------------------------- Reading 1: Numbers 21:4-9 -------------------------------------- From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph 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. --------------------------------------------- --------------- Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21 --------------------------------------------- --------------- R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. O LORD, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily. R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. The nations shall revere your name, O LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory, When the LORD has rebuilt Zion and appeared in his glory; When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their prayer. R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the LORD: “The LORD looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. ------------------------------ Gospel: John 8:21-30 ------------------------------ Jesus said to the Pharisees: “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.” They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So Jesus said to them, “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 one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him. --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- Meditation: When you have lifted up the Son of man --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- Do you know the healing power of the cross of Jesus Christ? When the people of Israel were afflicted with serpents in the wilderness because of their sin, God instructed Moses: Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live (Numbers 21:8). The visible sign of the fiery bronze serpent being lifted up in the sight of the people reminded them of two important facts - sin leads to death and repentance leads to Gods mercy and healing. The lifting up of the bronze serpent on a wooden pole points to Jesus Christ being lifted up on the wooden cross at Calvary where he took our sins upon himself to make atonement to the Father on our behalf. The cross of Christ broke the curse of sin and death and won pardon, healing, and everlasting life for all who believe in Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Either for him or against him While many believed in Jesus and his message, many others, including the religious leaders, opposed him. Some openly mocked him when he warned them about their sin of unbelief. Its impossible to be indifferent to Jesus word and his judgments. We are either for him or against him. There is no middle ground or neutral parties. When Jesus spoke about going away he was refering to his return in glory to his Father in heaven. Jesus warned his opponents that if they continued to disobey Gods word and reject him, they would shut themselves off from God and die in their sins. Jesus words echoed the prophetic warning given to Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 3:18 and 18:18) when God warned his people to heed his word before the time is too late. God gives us time to turn to him and to receive his grace and pardon, but that time is right now. To sin literally means to miss the mark or to be off target. The essence of sin is that it diverts us from God and from our true purpose in life - to know the source of all truth and beauty which is God himself and to be united with God in everlasting joy. When Adam and Eve yielded to their first sin of disobedience, they literally tried to hide themselves from Gods presence (Genesis 3:8-10). That is what sin does; it separates us from the One who is not only all-seeing and ever present, but who is also all loving and merciful and eager to receive us. When God calls you to turn your gaze and attention towards him, do you try to hide yourself from his presence with other distractions and excuses that keep you from seeking him and listening to his voice? The proof of Gods love for us Jesus went on to explain to people that if they could not recognize his voice when they heard his word, they would have the opportunity to recognize him when he is lifted up on the cross. Jesus pointed to the atoning sacrifice of his life on the cross as the true source of healing and victory over sin and reconciliation with God. The sacrifice of Jesus life on the cross is the ultimate proof of Gods love for us. God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). To fail to recognize who Jesus is and where he came from is to remain in darkness - the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief. But if we look to Jesus and listen to his word of life and truth, then we will find the way to lasting peace and joy with God. The Lord Jesus invites each one of us to accept him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Our time here in this present world is very limited and short, but how we live it today has consequences not only for the present moment but for our eternal destiny as well. Which direction is your life headed in right now? Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and deeds may be according to your Fathers law and thus may we be saved and protected through your mighty help. --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 02:07:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015