Churches of the Day

Friday, Fourth Week in Lent

Today opposition to Christianity is violent and bloodstained in some countries of the world.
Elsewhere , ridicule and negative publicity are used.

Memory may be made of St Isodore, bishop and doctor of the Church, his religious writing were immense,  C/f N.B.A short life of this saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Wisdom 2:1, 12-22
Let us condemn him the virtuous man to a shameful death.

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:
'Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a Son of the Lord.

Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men's, the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit; he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth; he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy and boasts of having God for his father.

Let us see if what he says is true, let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God's son, God will take his part and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.'

This is the way they reason, but they are misled, their malice makes them blind. They do not know the hidden things of God, they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded, they can see no reward for blameless souls.

The Word of the Lord.         Thanks be to God.


Responsorial Psalm       Ps 33
Response                            The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

1. The Lord turns his face against the wicked to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The just call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their distress.                                             Response

2. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man but from them all the Lord will rescue him.                             Response

3. He will keep guard over all his bones, not one of his bones shall be broken.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants. Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.   Response

Gospel  Acclamation            Joel 2: 12 - 13
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
Now, now - it is the Lord who speaks -
come back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

Or                                                 Mt 4:4
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
Man does not live on bread alone,
But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                                     And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John     7:1-2. 10. 25-30      Glory to you, O Lord   
They would have arrested him then, but his time had not yet come.

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea because the Jews were out to kill him. As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, Jesus went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself.

Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying,
‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him!
Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ?
Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’

Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:
‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from.
Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.'

They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

The Gospel of the Lord             Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.



Gospel Reflection            Friday              Fourth Week of Lent         John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

As we approach Holy Week the gospel readings have more of an ominous tone to them. Jesus is spoken of in today’s gospel reading as the man they want to kill. Yet, in spite of that, Jesus is described as ‘speaking freely’. The gospel reading suggests that Jesus did not allow the hostility of some people towards him to deter him from doing what he had been sent to do. Twice in that gospel reading Jesus speaks of himself as having come from God and of God as having sent him. Jesus was faithful to his God-given mission, even when that mission made people very hostile towards him. Jesus teaches us to be faithful to our own calling, regardless of the environment in which we find ourselves.

The environment in which we live has not been all that supportive of a life of faith. We could easily get very discouraged as people of faith who are trying to grow in our relationship with Jesus. The portrait of Jesus in today’s gospel reading teaches us to keep living out our baptism and witnessing to the gospel even when it is difficult to do so. Just as Jesus knew the support of his heavenly Father, we will know the support of Jesus. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, God ‘will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it’ (1 Cor 10:13).

______________________________________

The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/


The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

_________________________

 

Saint of the Day:    St Isidore, bishop and doctor of the Church.

Summary:  St Isidore,
Born about 560 in Seville (Spain). Isidore was a compiler of knowledge and was proclaimed patron saint of the internet. He died  in 636.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

St Isidore of Seville belonged to a strong religious family in 6th century Spain. His knowledge, encyclopaedic as it was it was not always original or accurate, led to his being proclaimed patron saint of the internet.

Two brothers bishops and a sister a distinguished abbess
Isidore's family came from Cartagena in south eastern Spain, but he was probably born in Seville. His elder brother, Leander, became a great archbishop in Seville and is venerated as a saint as are another brother, Fulgentius, bishop of Ecija, and their sister, Florentina, a distinguished abbess.

Education
Leander oversaw Isidore's education probably in a monastic school and Isidore became the most learned person of his generation and a leading authority on a wide range of subjects through the Middle Ages.

Bishop of the Mozarabic liturgy
Isidore succeeded his brother Leander as bishop in 599. Recared, the Visigoth, had converted from Arianism to Catholicism and both he and Isidore made significant contributions to the culture of the new Catholic kingdom, especially in the composition of the distinctively Spanish, or what is now called Mozarabic liturgy.

Archbishop of Seville for thirty-six years , he laboured successfully to bring the Visigoths from Arianism to orthodox belief, who presided over several councils significant for Church life in Spain, and who codified the distinctive liturgy of the Spanish Church, which is preserved to this day. He is remembered for his prolific writings and as an influential educator, and highly regarded also for the pastoral care of his diocese. c/f The Australian Catholic lectionary.

[caption id="attachment_43459" align="alignleft" width="206"] Saint Isidore (560-636) was an incredibly learned man. [/caption]

His Etymologies
A compiler of popular knowledge rather than an original thinker, Isidore's encyclopaedic work is called the Etymologies, or Origins, from the number of words whose meaning he explains. Its 20 volumes cover all human knowledge from grammar and mathematics to biology, geography, classical literature and theology. Acute critics point out that not all his explanations are correct. More critically approved today is his History of the Goths, Vandals and Suebi. Isidore also wrote a book of astronomy and natural history entitled De Rerum Natura. It is probably because of his encyclopaedic knowledge that he was chosen as the patron of the internet.

The Ideal Bishop
Isidore's description of the ideal bishop is said to have inspired Pope John XXIII: "He who is set in authority for the education and instruction of the people for their good must be holy in all things and reprehensible in nothing.... Every bishop should be distinguished as much by his humility as by his authority... He is also to preserve that charity which exceeds all the other gifts and without which all virtue is nothing." During his time Isidore was dubbed the
'The Schoolmaster of the Middle ages.'

Death and Influence
Isidore died after a careful preparation in 636. It was only when his remains were removed to Leon on the route to Santiago de Compostela that his cult began to grow. In 1598 Pope Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini) canonised him. In 1722 Pope Innocent XIII (Michelangelo Conti) declared him a doctor of the Church. 

He was named patron saint of the internet sometime in the mid-2000s.

____________________________

******************************

Memorable Saying for Today

“Knowledge is better than silver,
Wisdom is better than gold.

~ unknown ~

******************************

 

TheFifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

What marvels the Lord worked for us. We all need forgiveness
(The Readings for Year A may be used as an alternative today)
(The third Scrutiny is celebrated today)

FIRST READING  

A reading from the book of the Prophet  Isaiah          43:16-21
See I am doing a new deed, and I will give my chosen people water to drink.

Thus says the Lord,
'who made a way through the sea, a path in the great waters;
who put chariots and horse in the field and a powerful army, which lay there never to rise again, snuffed out, put out like a wick.

'No need to recall the past,
no need to think about what was done before.
See, I am doing a new deed,
even now it comes to light; can you not see it?
Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness, paths in the wilds.

The wild beasts will honour me, jackals and ostriches,
because I am putting water in the wilderness (rivers in the wild) to give my chosen people drink.
The people I have formed for myself will sing my praises.'

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm   Ps 125. R v 3
Response                        What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

1. When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs.      Response

2. The heathens themselves said: 'What marvels the Lord worked for them!'
What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.                         Response

3. Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.                                Response

4. They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves.         Response

SECOND READING 
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Philippians        3:8-14
I have accepted the loss of everything if only I can have Christ

I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him. I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law, but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith. All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death.

That is the way I can hope to take my place in the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.                  Thanks be to God

Gospel  Acclamation               Amos 5:14
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

Or                                                  Joel 2:12-13
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
Now, now - it is the Lord who speaks - come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

GOSPEL:                                     

The Lord be with you.      An with your spirit
A Reading from the Gospel of John             8:1-11            Glory to you, O Lord
If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again;
and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery;
and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus,
'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?'
They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him.

But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said,
'If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.'
Then be bent down and wrote on the ground again.
When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest,
until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said,
'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' '
No one, sir' she replied.
'Neither do I condemn you,' said Jesus 'go away, and don't sin any more.'

The Gospel of the Lord                Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.