Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 22nd March, 2024
Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent
Transferred Feast of St Macartan, bishop, may be celebrated today
Both Jesus and Jeremiah were faced by disbelieving followers but both were supported
by the knowledge that the Lord was on their side.
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Jeremiah 20:10-13
The Lord is at my side, a mighty hero.
Jeremiah said:
‘I hear so many disparaging me,
“‘Terror from every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall,
‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error.
Then we will master him and take our revenge!’
But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, mastered, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.
But you, the Lord of hosts, you who probe with justice,
who scrutinise the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
Sing to the Lord, Praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men.’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 17
Response In my anguish I called to the Lord and he heard my voice.
1. I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise: when I call I am saved from my foes. Response
2. The waves of death rose about me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
the snares of the grave entangled me; the traps of death confronted me. Response
3. In my anguish I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears Response
Gospel Acclamation Mt 4: 17
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
or Jn 6:63. 68
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John 10:31-42 Glory to you, O Lord
They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them.
The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them,
‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’
The Jews answered him,
‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man and you claim to be God.‘
Jesus answered:
‘Is it not written in your Law: I said, you are gods?
So the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed, and
scripture cannot be rejected.
Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world,
“You are blaspheming”, because he says, “I am the son of God.’
If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me;
but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do;
then you will know for sure that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’
They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them. He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising. Many people who came to him there said,
‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true‘; and many of them believed in him.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Friday 22 March Fifth Week of Lent John 10:31-42
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah cries out in response to all who are opposing him, ‘Terror from every side’. I am sure those in besieged and shelled cities today could cry out ‘Terror on every side!’ They could equally say in the words of today’s Responsorial Psalm, ‘The waves of death rose about me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the snares of the grave entangled me; the traps of death confronted me’. The forces of death are bringing anguish to many in conflict zones at present. The same forces of death are ranged against Jesus in the gospel reading. Some people want to stone him because of the claim he makes to be the Son of God. ‘You are blaspheming’, they say. In time, Jesus would be put to death, not by stoning but by the Roman form of execution reserved for certain kinds of criminals, crucifixion. Jesus, now risen Lord, identifies with all who are being terrorized and brutalized. He continues to travel his way of the cross through them. He cries out to us through them. He is crying out to those who are inflicting the violence and terror, but his cries are falling on deaf ears. He cries out to all of us to do whatever we can to support and help the victims of violence. These cries are not falling on deaf ears as many people from nations throughout Europe and elsewhere open their homes to refugees and support fund raising efforts to help those in greatest need. In the gospel reading, Jesus refers to his ‘many good works’. The Lord’s many good works continue today through all who are doing what they can to respond to the cries of all who are being brutalized by war. These many good works are what Jesus refers to in that reading as ‘my Father’s work’. It is God’s work. In the face of all death-dealing aggression, God needs us all to do his life-giving and life-saving work. Our good works are a sign that God and his Son are at work in and through us.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
