Daily Catholic Mass Readings for March 28, 2019
First Reading: Jeremiah 7.23-28
23but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.24But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.25From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.26But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.'27"When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.28Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
Psalm 95
1Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.2Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.3For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.4In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.5The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.6Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;7for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,8do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert,9where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.10For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways."11So I declared on oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest."
Gospel: Luke 11.14-23
14Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.15But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons."16Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.17Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.18If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.19Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.20But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.21"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.23"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the themes of listening to God and the consequences of rejecting His will. In the first reading from Jeremiah, we hear a prophet lamenting the Israelites' stubborn refusal to follow God's commandments. Despite God's repeated calls to obedience, they chose to follow their own desires, leading to their downfall. This passage serves as a reminder of the importance of faithfulness and the dangers of spiritual complacency.
In the Gospel, Luke presents Jesus facing accusations that His miracles are the work of Beelzebub, the leader of demons. Jesus counters this by pointing out the illogic of a divided kingdom and challenges His accusers to consider the true source of His power. He emphasizes that His works are done through the power of God, signaling the arrival of the kingdom of God. This passage highlights the spiritual warfare that Jesus engages in and the need for discernment in recognizing God's work in the world.
Both readings connect through the theme of spiritual discernment and the consequences of rejecting God. Jeremiah's prophecy warns against the collective failure to listen to God, while Luke's Gospel illustrates individual spiritual blindness. Together, they call us to be attentive to God's voice and to avoid the divisions that result from rejecting His truth. In our daily lives, we are encouraged to seek unity in faith and to recognize the transformative power of God's presence. Let us strive to align our wills with God's, embracing His grace and avoiding the pitfalls of spiritual division.