Gospel: John 12:1-11
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus, the dead man, to life. Now they gave a dinner for him, and while Martha waited on them, Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus.Then Mary took a pound of costly perfume, made from genuine spikenard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.Judas Iscariot—the disciple who was to betray Jesus— remarked, “This perfume could have been sold for three hundred silver coins, and the money given to the poor.” Judas, indeed, had no concern for the poor; he was a thief, and as he held the common purse, he used to help himself to the funds.But Jesus spoke up, “Leave her alone. Was she not keeping it

Gospel: Luke 22:14–23:56

(…) Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You said so.” Turning to the chief priests and the crowd, Pilate said, “I find no basis for a case against this man.”(…) When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. Finding the accused to come under Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate sent Jesus over to Herod who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.Herod was delighted to have Jesus before him now; for a long time he had wanted to see him because of the reports about him, and he was hoping to see Jesus work some miracle. He piled up question upon question, but got no reply from Jesus. All the while the chief priests and the scribes remained standing there, vehemently pressing their accusations. Finally, Herod

Gospel: John 11:45-56
Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did; but some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called together the Council.They said, “What are we to do? For this man keeps on performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, all the people will believe in him and, as a result of this, the Romans will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation.”Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed.”In saying this Caiaphas did not speak for himself, but being High Priest that year, he  foretold  like 

Gospel: John 10:31-42
The Jews then picked up stones to throw at him; so Jesus said, “I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave me to do. For which of these do you stone me?”The Jews answered, “We are not stoning you for doing a good work, but for insulting God; you are only a man, and you make yourself God.”Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law: I said, you are gods? So those who received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true. What then should be said of the one anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in me, believe because of

Gospel: John 8:51-59
Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never experience death.’ Who do you claim to  be?  Do  you  claim  to  be  greater  than  our  father Abraham, who died? And the prophets who also died?” Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise myself, it would count for nothing. But he who gives glory to me is the Father, the very one you claim as your God, although you don’t know him. I know him, and if I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I know him and I keep his word.As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he

Gospel: John 8:31-42
Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in him, “You will be my true disciples, if you keep my word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying: You will be free?”Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want  to  kill  me  because  my  word  finds  no  place in you. For my part, I speak of what I have seen in my Father’s presence, but you do what you have  learned from your father.”They answered

Gospel: John 8:21-30
Again, Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?”But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.”They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to

Gospel: John 8:12-20
Jesus spoke to them again, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have light and life.” The Pharisees replied, “Now you are speaking on your own behalf, your testimony is worthless.”Then Jesus said, “Even though I bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.You judge by human standards; as for me, I don’t judge anyone. But if I had to judge, my judgment would be valid for I am not alone: the Father who sent me is with me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid; so I am bearing witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me.”They asked him, “Where is your Father?”

Gospel: John 8:1-11
As for Jesus, he went to the Mount of Olives. At   daybreak   Jesus   appeared   in   the temple again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. Then  the  teachers  of  the  law  and  the Pharisees  brought  in  a  woman  who  had been  caught  in  the  act  of  adultery.  They made   her   stand   in   front   of   everyone. “Master,” they said, “this woman has been caught  in  the  act  of  adultery.  Now  the law of Moses orders that such women be stoned  to  death;  but  you,  what  do  you say?” They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against him.Jesus bent down and  started  writing on the ground with his finger. And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And he bent down, again, writing on the ground.As a result of these words, they went away, one by one, starting with the elders, and Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing before him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin again.”

Lectio Divina

READ: A woman who was caught committing adultery was brought to Jesus. Isaiah calls the people not to lose heart but to anticipate God‘s promise of redemption. Paul kept his eye on the goal, which is “to gain trust.

”REFLECT: The teacher of the law and the Pharisees were never interested to learn a lesson from Jesus. Their question was simply “to test“ Jesus, so they could have an argument against him. Instead Jesus asked them to scrutinize themselves “ if no one among them has no sin“. In the end, the woman was left alone standing before Jesus. he did not condemn her, but gave her freedom form sin.

PRAY: Ask the Lord to maintain his presence in your heart. You pray and receive Holy Communion regularly and listen to the Word of God.

ACT: Consciously behave like a renewed person who lives in freedom from sin and gives love to others.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 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.

Reflections

“No one ever spoke like this man.”Jesus catches the attention of each one in the Temple. They do not know how to handle him. To those who believe he is a prophet, he must be treated as such. They should be careful what to do with him. Otherwise, they will be condemning an innocent man.To those who know their little faith in him argue that he cannot be a prophet because he is a Galilean, though he can do wonderful things.To those who do not give him an inch, even a benefit of the doubt, like the elders and Sad­ducees, he must be arrested and eliminated. Such person should not be allowed to disturb their peace and the status quo.Jesus can be a source of controversy. Until now, we have different views of Jesus. It depends on where we are coming from. Catholics can avoid being embroiled in useless debates if they study their faith, the scriptures and truly have a sense of belongingness to the Church. We get Jesus wrong if one of these elements is absent. We can do harm to  our  faith  and to others when we just say anything about Jesus without knowing his context.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019