Friday of the fourth week of Lent

Invitation

May I draw your attention to:
the daily reading of the Gospel?

This invitation aims to share with you the joy of the Gospel.
Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day

Consideration:

The liturgy juxtaposes the Book of Wisdom, Psalm 34 and John: ‘Let us beset the righteous man’ and ‘because the Jews were seeking to kill him’. This is not a true prophecy but an impressive foreshadowing. Matthew 27, 32–43 would make an even greater impression. Let us listen, verse by verse, to the beautiful first reading and we shall recognise the Passion narrative within it.

FIRST READING                  Wisdom 2, 1a, 12–22
Let us condemn the righteous man to a shameful death.

From the Book of Wisdom

In their delusion, the wicked say to one another:
“Let us attack the righteous man, for he is of no use;
he opposes our deeds;
he reproaches us for sins against the law;
he accuses us of transgressions against our upbringing.
“He claims to possess knowledge of God,
and he calls himself a child of the Lord;
he has become a reproach to us against our beliefs;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
for his way of life is different from that of others,
and his behaviour is unusual;
he regards us as counterfeit coins,
he shuns our ways as though they were unclean;
he calls the end of the righteous blessed,
he boasts that God is his father.
“Let us see if his words are true,
and let us test what happens when he departs.
“For if the righteous man is God’s son,
He will come to his aid;
and rescue him from the hand of his adversaries.
“Let us treat him with cruelty and torment,
to see if he is truly meek
and to test his patience.
“Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for, after all, according to his own words, he will be protected.”

Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,
for their wickedness blinded them.
They did not understand God’s mysteries,
they did not hope for a reward for a holy life,
nor did they believe in a prize of honour for blameless souls.

INTERLUDIUM                      Ps. 34(33), 17–18, 19–20, 21, 23

The Lord is near to the contrite in heart.
He turns His face away from evildoers;
they are forgotten on earth.
The Lord listens to the pious who call upon Him
and rescues them from every distress.

The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
He helps those who acknowledge their guilt.
Many calamities will threaten the righteous,
from each of them the Lord rescues him.

The Lord will watch over his bones,
so that none of them may be broken.
The Lord saves the life of those who serve Him,
and whoever takes refuge in Him has no punishment to fear.

VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL                  John 3, 16

For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son,
so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish.

GOSPEL                              John   7, 1-2, 10, 25-30
The Jews were seeking to arrest Jesus, but His hour had not yet come.

From the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

At that time, Jesus was travelling about in Galilee,
for He did not wish to do so in Judea,
because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
It was the time of one of the Jewish festivals,
the Feast of Tabernacles.
When His brothers had gone up to the festival,
He also set out,
not openly but in secret.
Some of the people of Jerusalem said:
“Is this not the man they are seeking to kill?
“And look,
He is preaching in public and no one is saying anything to Him!
“Could the authorities really have recognised
that He is the Messiah?
“But we know where this man comes from;
yet when the Messiah comes,
no one will know where He comes from.”
Whilst Jesus was teaching in the temple,
He cried out in a loud voice:
“You know Me and you know where I come from;
yet I have not come of My own accord,
but He who sent Me is true;
you do not know Him.
“I know Him
because I am from Him and He has sent Me.”
They wanted to lay hands on Him,
but no one laid a hand on Him,
for His hour had not yet come.

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Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On the Care of Our Common Home

The Gospel of Creation
62. Why, in this document addressed to all people
of good will, do we include a chapter on religious beliefs? I am
aware that in the fields of politics and philosophy, some
vehemently reject the idea of a Creator or consider it irrelevant,
thus relegating the richness that religions can offer for an integral
ecology and the full development of the human race
to the realm of the irrational. At other times, it is assumed that
these constitute a subculture that must simply be tolerated.
Science and religion, which offer different approaches to reality,
can, however, engage in an intensive and mutually productive
dialogue.

To be continued
Every day at 1 am