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| “The Infant Jesus Distributing Bread to Pilgrims” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1678 |
Reading I: Exodus
32:7-14
The LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your
people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
for they have become
depraved.
They have soon turned aside
from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a
molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying
out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt
The LORD said to Moses,
“I see how stiff-necked this
people is.
Let me alone, then,
that my wrath may blaze up
against them to consume them.
Then I will make of you a
great nation.”
But Moses implored the LORD,
his God, saying,
“Why, O LORD, should your
wrath blaze up against your own people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt
with such great power and
with so strong a hand?
Why should the Egyptians say,
‘With evil intent he brought
them out,
that he might kill them in
the mountains
and exterminate them from the
face of the earth’?
Let your blazing wrath die
down;
relent in punishing your
people.
Remember your servants
Abraham, Isaac and Israel
and how you swore to them by
your own self, saying,
‘I will make your descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky;
and all this land that I
promised,
I will give your descendants
as their perpetual heritage.’“
So the LORD relented in the
punishment
he had threatened to inflict
on his people.
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Commentary on Ex
32:7-14
“Yahweh informs
Moses of the people's sin; these verses must originate from a source other than
that of v.18, where Moses appears ignorant of what is happening in the camp.
Yahweh has divorced himself from this sinful people, for he refers to them as
"your people." He intends to destroy the wicked and form a new
nation. Moses now assumes the role of mediator and appeals to God's honor for
his own name before the pagan nations as a motive to prevent the destruction of
his people. As a second motive, Moses recalls the promises accorded to Abraham.
We note, however, the subsequent conflicting elements of the punishments
invoked by Moses (Exodus 32:20; 25-29) and the testimony of Yahweh (Exodus
32:34).”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
106:19-20, 21-22, 23
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your
people.
Our fathers made a calf in
Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a
grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had
saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham
terrible things at the Red Sea .
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Then he spoke of
exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive
wrath.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
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Commentary on Ps
106:19-20, 21-22, 23
Psalm 106 is a
national lament remembering the events from Exodus 32:7-14, where the Jews brought out of
Egypt by Moses fell into idol worship, even as he received the Law on Mt. Horeb. The psalmist reminds the people that Moses
interceded and turned away God’s wrath.
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Gospel: John
5:31-47
Jesus said to the Jews:
“If I testify on my own
behalf, my testimony is not true.
But there is another who
testifies on my behalf,
and I know that the testimony
he gives on my behalf is true.
You sent emissaries to John,
and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept human
testimony,
but I say this so that you
may be saved.
He was a burning and shining
lamp,
and for a while you were
content to rejoice in his light.
But I have testimony greater
than John’s.
The works that the Father
gave me to accomplish,
these works that I perform
testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.
Moreover, the Father who sent
me has testified on my behalf.
But you have never heard his
voice nor seen his form,
and you do not have his word
remaining in you,
because you do not believe in
the one whom he has sent.
You search the Scriptures,
because you think you have
eternal life through them;
even they testify on my
behalf.
But you do not want to come
to me to have life.
“I do not accept human
praise;
moreover, I know that you do
not have the love of God in you.
I came in the name of my
Father,
but you do not accept me;
yet if another comes in his
own name,
you will accept him.
How can you believe, when you
accept praise from one another
and do not seek the praise
that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will
accuse you before the Father:
the one who will accuse you
is Moses,
in whom you have placed your
hope.
For if you had believed
Moses,
you would have believed me,
because he wrote about me.
But if you do not believe his
writings,
how will you believe my
words?”
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Commentary on Jn
5:31-47
Jesus continues
his discourse as his revelation continues.
He now focuses on testimony other than his own to demonstrate that he is
the Son of God. He starts with John the
Baptist and then moves to the works he has performed in the Father’s name
indicating that those actions give testimony that he is from God. Jesus finally points to Holy Scripture and
tells the Jews that even scripture testifies to his identity.
In the final
section of this passage, Jesus chastises the Jews for their lack of belief in
him. He points out that he did not come
seeking praise or glory for his own sake (“I
do not accept human praise”). He goes on to tell them they do not see the
truth but will believe a lie if it conforms to what they believe the truth
should be. (“…you do not
accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him”)
The logic of the
Lord’s words in the final verses crashes down on them. If they reject Jesus in favor of the glory
that comes from false prophets then he does not need to condemn them, they are
self-condemned. He tells them that if
they believed Moses (the author of revelation in the Old Testament) they would
believe in him (Jesus) and are now condemned by Moses as well because by
rejecting Jesus, they have disbelieved in the word of Moses.
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Homily:
Today we pray for our new Holy Father, Pope Francis. May God bless him as he shepherds the faithful through many years to come. May the Blessed Virgin be a source of inspiration to holiness and may the Holy Spirit be his constant guide. Amen
Jesus, in throwing the words
of Moses into the face of the Hebrews who would not accept him as the Messiah,
also challenges each of us. While we
profess our faith in him as avowed Christians, by his words and example he asks
us if we truly believe he is our Savior.
He says; “The works that the
Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf
that the Father has sent me.” We must ask ourselves; do our works testify
that we are sent by Christ?
Through our Lenten discipline
of fasting, prayer, and alms-giving it should be clear to those we meet that we
are practicing Christians. But we must
ask ourselves; do we try to hide that fact?
Are we a little embarrassed to show our faith to the neighbor across the
street or the co-worker in the next cube?
Do we clearly work as Christ would if he were employed in our jobs, or
given the same tasks to fulfill?
Jesus had to try very hard to
change the minds of the Jews. They
thought of God the Father as the punisher who had killed off an entire
generation wandering in the desert. They
thought of him as allowing innocent people to be deformed and humiliated
because of the sins of their ancestors.
Jesus works to change that image through his own sacrifice. He is the love of the Father personified.
If we accept this new image
of God, given to us in Christ’s revelation, we must act in ways that
demonstrate this belief. We cannot hide
Christ’s love under a basket or shrink away from opportunities to show others
who we believe in. This is the great
challenge the Lord throws down once more in scripture. We are called to testify to the Father and
Son through what we do, not just what we say in the darkness of our evening
prayers.
Let that be our pledge. Let us testify to the world through our
actions that we truly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “The Infant Jesus Distributing Bread to Pilgrims” by Bartolomé
Esteban Murillo, 1678
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
[4]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc.© 1968, 3:90, pp. 65
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