Sunday
March 15^th

4^th Sunday of Lent

1^st Reading: 1 S 16:1b, 6–7, 10–13a:
Yahweh asked Samuel, “How long will you be grieving Saul whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.” As they came, Samuel looked at Eliab the older and thought, “This must be Yahweh’s anointed.” But Yahweh told Samuel, “Do not judge by his looks or his stature for I have rejected him. Yahweh does not judge as man judges; humans see with the eyes; Yahweh sees the heart.” Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel who said, “Yahweh has chosen none of them. But are all your sons here?”

Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, tending the flock just now.” Samuel said to him, “Send for him and bring him to me; we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.” So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him to Samuel. He was a handsome lad with a ruddy complexion and beautiful eyes. And Yahweh spoke, “Go, anoint him for he is the one.” Samuel then took the horn of oil and anointed him in his brothers’ presence. From that day onwards, Yahweh’s spirit took hold of David. Then Samuel left for Ramah.

2^nd Reading: Eph 5:8–14:
You were once darkness, but, now, you are light, in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth, in every form. You, yourselves, search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness, that are of no benefit; expose them instead.

Indeed, it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light. Therefore it is said: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, that the light of Christ may shine on you.”

Gospel: Jn 9:1–41:
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Master, was he born blind because of a sin of his, or of his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither was it for his own sin nor for his parents’ sin. He was born blind so that God’s power might be shown in him. While it is day we must do the work of the One who sent me; for the night will come when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As Jesus said this, he made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then he said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This word means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbors, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beg-gar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.” Then they asked him, “How is it, that your eyes were opened?”

And he answered, “The man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” They asked, “Where is he?” and the man answered, “I don’t know.” The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “That man is not from God, for he works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet!” After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, how is it, that he now sees?”

The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind; but how it is that he now sees, we don’t know, neither do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.” The parents said this because they feared the Jews, who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled from the synagogue. Because of that his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.” So, a second time, the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Tell us the truth; we know that this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He replied, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they started to insult him. “Become his disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”

The man replied, “It is amazing that you don’t know where the man comes from, and yet he opened my eyes! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone honors God and does his will, God listens to him. Never, since the world began, has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him.

He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is he, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said, “You have seen him and he is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world to carry out a judgment: Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.” Some Pharisees stood by and asked him, “So we are blind?” And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. But you say, ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”

Reflection:
Some people relish the fact that someone is inferior to them and feel bad if the status quo is changed. They take delight in the misery of others and enforce a code that legitimizes their pettiness. Such is the case of the people and the Pharisee of today’s Gospel. They would not believe that the blind man who was a sinner in their midst could find healing and wholeness. That was too scandalous since he had to suffer more as punishment for sins committed in this life.

So they maligned him and his healer and declared unholy the healing that had taken place on a holy day. The blind man who now could see should have been the sign that told them God is now walking in their land. Their deeds reveal that their spiritual blindness was far greater than the physical blindness of the man. When was the last time I rejoiced at the blessings of others? Perhaps I have to remind someone today how blessed he or she is and invite her or him to thanksgiving and praise to the God who is overly generous to us.

Monday
March 16^th

1^st Reading: Is 65:17–21:
I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again. Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more.

You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit.

Gospel: Jn 4:43–54:
When the two days were over, Jesus left for Galilee. Jesus himself said that no prophet is recognized in his own country. Yet the Galileans welcomed him when he arrived, because of all the things which he had done in Jerusalem during the Festival, and which they had seen. For they, too, had gone to the feast. Jesus went back to Cana of Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. At Capernaum there was an official, whose son was ill, and when he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked him to come and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe!”

The official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” And Jesus replied, “Go, your son lives!” The man had faith in the word that Jesus spoke to him, and went his way. As he was approaching his house, his servants met him, and gave him the good news, “Your son has recovered!” So he asked them at what hour the child began to recover, and they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday, at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” And the father realized that that was the time when Jesus had told him, “Your son lives!” And he became a believer, he and all his family. Jesus performed this second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.

Reflection:
In contrast to Nazareth where Jesus could hardly work miracles because of their unbelief, Galilee is a place of fecundity for the Lord. This is where He first performed His miracle way before His time, the miracle of the wine in a wedding feast. Here in this Gospel, He will again perform another miraculous sign, that is, the healing of the official’s son.

Where there is faith in Him, Jesus’ power manifests itself all the more. He need not pry open the minds and hearts of people. They are already predisposed. This tremendous saving in time and energy of Jesus is therefore channeled to more productive things. Possibilities multiply when there is cooperation.

Tuesday
March 17^th

St. Patrick’s Day
Joseph of Arimathea

1^st Reading: Ezk 47:1–9, 12:
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple and I saw water coming out from the threshold of the temple and flowing eastward. The temple faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the temple, from the south side of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside, to the outer gate facing the east; and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.

The man had a measuring cord in his hand. As he went towards the east he measured off a thousand cubits; and led me across the water which was up to my ankles. He measured off another thousand cubits and made me cross the water, which came to my knees. He measured off another thousand cubits and we crossed the water, which was up to my waist.

When he had again measured a thousand cubits, I could not cross the torrent, for it had swollen to a depth which was impossible to cross without swimming. The man then said to me, “Son of man, did you see?” He led me on further and then brought me back to the bank of the river. There I saw a number of trees on both sides of the river. He said to me, “This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become wholesome.

Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in it; fish will be plentiful; and the seawater will become fresh. Wherever it flows, life will abound. Near the river on both banks, there will be all kinds of fruit trees, with foliage that will not wither; and fruit that will never fail; each month they will bear a fresh crop, because the water comes from the temple. The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.

Gospel: Jn 5:1–16:
After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, there is a pool (called Bethzatha in Hebrew) surrounded by five galleries. In these galleries lay a multitude of sick people: blind, lame and paralyzed. (All were waiting for the water to move, for at times an angel of the Lord would descend into the pool and stir up the water; and the first person to enter the pool, after this movement of the water, would be healed of whatever disease that he had.)

 There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him, and because he knew how long this man had been lying there, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” And the sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; so while I am still on my way, another steps down before me.” Jesus then said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk!”

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his mat and walked. Now that day happened to be the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had just been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and the law doesn’t allow you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The one who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!’” They asked him, “Who is the one who said to you: Take up your mat and walk?”

But the sick man had no idea who it was who had cured him, for Jesus had slipped away among the crowd that filled the place. Afterward Jesus met him in the temple court and told him, “Now you are well; don’t sin again, lest some-thing worse happen to you.” And the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jews persecuted Jesus because he performed healings like that on the Sabbath.

Reflection:
Unhappy is a sick person with no one to attend to his or her needs. There is no one to ease the burden and the suffering such sickness brings. This is what happened to the man sick for thirty-eight years. As much as he desired healing in the miraculous pool of Bethzatha, nobody was there to help him. Each one was preoccupied with his or her own sickness. They could not spare any sympathy for him. Thus whenever the pool’s water was disturbed, those wishing to be healed and their cohorts pushed and shoved one another in an effort to be the first to touch the waters.

It was a hopeless situation indeed for that man. However, Jesus passed by and took pity on Him. Not even the prohibition to refrain from work on the Sabbath could deter Him to help the sick man. He had suffered enough because of his fate. He should not be deprived of healing even on a holy day. Only great persons can transcend the prohibition to love even though it is legitimated by human laws. They are extraordinary because they see beyond the ordinary that most of us see.

Wednesday
March 18^th

Cyril of Jerusalem

1^st Reading: Is 49:8-15:
Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, To restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, Saying to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves!

Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; For he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level. See, some shall come from afar, others from the north and the west, and some from the land of Syene.

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted. 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.

Gospel: Jn 5:17-30:
Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

“Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

“For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.

“I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

Reflection:
One of the most painful moments in the history of Israel was their exile to Babylon. At that time they felt that Yahweh had abandoned them. The prophets, especially Isaiah, was sent to remind them that it was because they had been unfaithful to the Covenant that the Lord God had punished them. But only for a while. The anger of God is but a while.

Isaiah then tells the Israelites that they will be restored to their homeland. They will have a “homecoming!” In a beautiful hymn Isaiah sings: “Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb?” Yes, indeed, the Lord does punish us for our sins, but in the end His mercy endures.

Lent is the time when we are reminded of our sins and at the same time it is a time to remember that our God invites us back to return to Him. Lent is the favorable time for the return of prodigal sons and daughters to the Father’s house. It is time for a homecoming!

Thursday
March 19^th

Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1^st Reading: 2 Sm 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16:
The Lord spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'”

Gospel: Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24a:
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “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.

Reflection:
The miracle stories in the Gospel of John are signs, that is, beyond the visible event or act, there is a greater spiritual reality or truth that is being taught. Thus, the 1st sign, the miracle of the water being transformed into wine at Cana was a sign of the inauguration of the “New Covenant” that Jesus was to bring about by his Passion.

The 2nd miracle, the cure of the son of the Official, was a sign of the extent of the redemption Jesus was to accomplish. Previous to this miracle we have Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus (representing the Jews) and the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (representing the “lost tribes of Israel”). With this miracle Jesus makes it clear that salvation is not only for the children of Abraham but is extended to non-Jews. The Official in this Gospel episode was probably a pagan or Roman centurion. The story is very similar to the one we read in Matthew 8:5ff. Moreover, co-relating this miracle with our first reading, we find the deeper significance of the cure of the son of the Official.

Isaiah prophesies the defeat of death with the coming of the “new heavens and a new earth.” Jesus will conquer sin, sickness, death! Oh how blest are we, too, who are non-Jews to be included in Christ Jesus’ work of salvation!

Friday
March 20^th

Spring Begins

1^st Reading: Wis 2:1a, 12-22:
The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways.

“He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”

These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.

Gospel: Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30:
Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflection:
There were 4 important festivals the Jews celebrated in Jerusalem: (1) Passover to commemorate the liberation from Egypt, (2) Pentecost to commemorate the giving of the Torah, (3) the Day of Atonement to confess sins and beg for forgiveness, and (4) Tabernacles to celebrate in anticipation the triumph of Israel over their enemies. The episode in the Gospel today is set on the 4th festival. Jesus’ disciples seem to have gone ahead for the festival. Jesus follows some days later.

The Festival of Tents was, at the time of Jesus, a time when the Jews would be praying for the victory of Israel over their enemies. It was a time when the Jews would have been praying and expecting the Messiah who would restore the kingdom of Israel. Thus, we could understand the curiosity of the people of Jerusalem. Will this Jesus, whom some already call the “Messiah,” enter Jerusalem and declare his “messiahship?” This would have been perfect timing. Political timing, that is! But he would fulfill the Father’s plan at the proper time. As Jesus had said to his Mother in the miracle of Cana, “my time has not yet come” so John the Evangelist tells us “his time had not yet come.”

In life we often have to abide by God’s timing, not our own. We have to pray “In his time, he makes all things beautiful, in his time.”

Saturday
March 21^st

1^st Reading: Jer 11:18–20:
Yahweh made it known to me and so I know! And you let me see their scheming: “Take care, even your kinsfolk and your own family are false with you, and behind your back they freely criticize you. Do not trust them when they approach you in a friendly way.” But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.

I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.” Yahweh, God of Hosts, you who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.

Gospel: Jn 7:40–53:
Many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? Doesn’t Scripture say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?” The crowd was divided over him. Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers of the temple went back to the chief priests, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man.”

The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the law!” Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, “Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.” And they all went home.

Reflection:
The people are now divided, for or against Jesus. They could not simply make up their mind how to understand Him. Is He a Prophet or the Christ? In addition, if He is the Christ, should it not be that His place of origin is supposed to be unknown? On the other hand, isn’t it that the Messiah should come from the line of David and from Bethlehem?

Questions upon questions arise regarding who Jesus is. And above this commotion lords over the haughty dismissal of the religious authorities of that time. Those who follow Jesus are ignorant of the Law. The situation is tense. It will be a matter of time before things will get out of hand.