The Word today, Lent4B24

March 11 - March 16, 2024

Monday 11 March

St Angus, bishop and abbot

Isaiah 65:17-21 Exultant optimism is perhaps not the mood of the times, but, it is the mood of this passage from Isaiah. One line anticipates the Gospel: no more will be found the infant living a few days only. Even the exaggerations are delightful.

John 4:43-54 John’s Gospel tells this familiar story with an intriguing twist: the parent is first called a “court official,” then a “man” and only towards the end, “the father.” Roles can dictate who we are!

Tuesday 12 March

Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 “Awash with life” might be a good description of Ezekiel’s “vision” of the Temple. Exuberance is everywhere: And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal. The Gospel takes up the water image in a remarkable vision of healing.

John 5:1-3,5-16 As you listen to this story, you might bear in mind the corresponding one about about the man born blind in John 9. Under that pressure, the man born blind becomes stronger; in this Gospel, the man crumbles and betrays Jesus. What does being under pressure for the faith do to me?

Wednesday 13 March

John 5 rehearses no fewer than five arguments in the case for Jesus being the Messiah. The outline is: The miracle: 5:1-9 The Dispute: 5:10-47 The investigation: 5:10-15 The attack: 5:16-19 The five witnesses: 5:17-47 The witnesses are (1) God in 5:16-30; (2) John the Baptist in 5:31-35; (3) Jesus’ deeds in 5:36-38; (4) the Scriptures in 5:39-40; (5) Moses in 5:45-47. As in all the discourses of this Gospel, we are not hearing the actual words of the historical Jesus. Instead, after decades of reflection, we hear the deep spirituality of the great evangelist.

Isaiah 49:8-15 The opening and closing lines of this reading are simply wonderful. Written when the people were still in Exile, these verses offered a great vision of hope and return. They can encourage us today as well.

John 5:17-30 Part of the background to the opening verses is a contemporary Jewish discussion about whether God could really have ceased from creating, as it apparently says in Gen 2:2. Note an anticipation of the raising of Lazarus, who will “hear his voice and live.”

Thursday 14 March

Exodus 32:7-14 In this disconcerting story, God is furious that the people have so quickly abandoned him. Moses reminds God of who God is and so God relents, thanks be to God.

John 5:31-47 This compact reading can upset us today because of the robust comments of Jesus. In reality, we are eavesdropping on the later conversation between Christians and Jews. The evangelist parades before us three of his wife “witnesses”: Jesus’ own deeds, the Scriptures and, finally, Moses himself.

Friday 15 March

Wisdom 2:1,12-22 There is a contemporary ring to this reading from the book of Wisdom: the godless resent the faith of the believers. Such resentment foreshadows the reaction to Jesus.

John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Jesus certainly disconcerted those who met him, as we hear in this reading. Who is he really? Where is he from? Who sent him?

Saturday 16 March

Jeremiah 11:18-20 Jeremiah, always in difficulty because of his calling, places his full and total trust in God. The psalm captures it well: Lord God, I take refuge in you.

John 7:40-52 Again, there is a contemporary ring about the range of opinions and the discord triggered by the person and presence of Jesus. What do I believe? What difference does it make?

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024x, March 10). Fourth Sunday of Lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/