Daily Readings - Fri Apr 03 2020
Jeremiah
7O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.10For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my close friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him."11But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.12O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.13Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
John
31The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.32Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?"33The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be broken--36do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;38but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."39Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.40He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.41And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true."42And many believed in him there.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter two powerful testimonies of trust in God’s providence amidst adversity. The prophet Jeremiah, in the first reading, laments the persecution he endures for speaking God’s truth, yet he affirms that the Lord is his strength and that his persecutors will be confounded. Similarly, in the Gospel, Jesus faces the hostility of those who seek to stone Him for revealing His divine identity. Yet, Jesus remains steadfast, pointing to His works as evidence of His unity with the Father and withdrawing to a place of refuge when necessary.
Both readings highlight the tension between fidelity to God’s mission and the inevitable opposition that comes from a world resistant to truth. Jeremiah and Jesus remind us that standing for what is right often invites persecution, but it is precisely in these moments that our trust in God is tested and refined. The prophet’s cry to God and Jesus’ calm reliance on His Father’s presence in His works show us that true strength lies not in our own power, but in surrendering to God’s plan and allowing His justice to prevail.
In our daily lives, we may face smaller but no less significant challenges to our faith and values. These readings invite us to reflect on how we respond to such trials. Do we, like Jeremiah and Jesus, trust that God is with us even when the world seems against us? Let us ask for the grace to remain steadfast in our commitment to truth and to seek refuge in God’s presence, knowing that He will ultimately vindicate those who are faithful. In times of struggle, may we, like Jesus, withdraw to prayer and allow God’s works to speak for themselves, trusting that His light will shine through us even in darkness.