April 4 Monday: (St. Isidore, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church):
Context: It was the first night of the Jewish Festival of the Tabernacles (Festival of Booths), and Jesus was standing in the Court of the Women in the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem.
It was evening, and Jesus was facing the huge blaze of light from the two colossal golden lampstands, on which, as was customary for this evening, hung a multitude of lamps, lighted after the evening sacrifice. The light brightened the whole city of Jerusalem (Navarre Bible). Suddenly Jesus made the controversial claim, “I am the Light of the World,” which was saying that, as Yahweh, Jesus was the Light of the world. This claim was seen by the scribes and Pharisees as his making himself equal to God (blasphemy), for Jews associated the word light with God. The Lord is my Light (Psalm 27:1). The Lord will be your everlasting Light (Isaiah 60:19). When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a Light to me (Micah 7:8).The Jewish reaction: The Jews challenged Jesus’ claim as one being made without two witnesses and hence baseless. But Jesus argued that he had another witness, God his Father, and, hence, that his claim was valid. He further declared that their counterargument was wrong because of their ignorance of who Jesus really was as the Son of God.
Life messages: 1) We believe in Jesus’ claims because his miracles and his Resurrection from the dead prove that Jesus is God. 2) Every Christian needs to receive the Light from Jesus and reflect and radiate that Light in the form of love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and humble service. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 5 Tuesday (St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest):
The context: Through his teaching and healing ministry, Jesus tried to convince his listeners that he was the promised Messiah. But only a few of his followers acknowledged him as the Messiah. The pride and the prejudice of the scribes and the Pharisees prevented them from seeing anything Divine in Jesus. Hence, Jesus gave them the warning that he was going to the place where he had come from, and they would not be able to go there. They misunderstood Jesus’ statement about his going home to Heaven as planning suicide. So, Jesus gave the Jews the warning that they would die in their sins unless they believed in him as the saving Messiah and accepted his teaching. Then Jesus clarified how he was going to save those who believed in him by referring to the story of Moses’ bronze serpent, a symbol of God’s benevolent saving will, exercised toward His wayward, now repentant, children. Just as the complaining Israelites in the desert were healed and saved from the serpent bites by looking at the bronze serpent lifted on the pole, Jesus, too, would be lifted on a cross for the salvation and freedom from sin of all mankind. Jesus further explained that his cross would defeat sin and death and that he would give everlasting life to those who believed in him as the Messiah. Jesus declared his Divinity when he said, “I am He.
Life messages: 1) We need to be humble instruments in the hand of God, trusting in His power and goodness. St. Augustine reminds us that God Who created us without our permission cannot save us without our active cooperation, for to do so would be a violation of our free will, His gift to us so that we might love Him and each other freely, or reject Him and each other in equal freedom. Hence, let us cooperate in the fulfillment of God’s plan for us with Mary’s trusting Faith and humility. 2) Like Mary who brought God to us as Jesus our Savior, we are called to carry Jesus and bring him to the lives of others around us in love, mercy, forgiveness, and service. “Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ.” (St. Ambrose). Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 6 Wednesday:
The context: Today’s first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Daniel, tells us how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a 90 feet tall and 3 feet thick golden statue built, then commanded all his subjects to bow down in adoration before it as a test of loyalty. Many Jews did so, fearing persecution and death. But three young Jewish men, who were favorites of the king and were employed by the King in the royal court, refused to worship the statue because of their religious belief in one God, Yahweh. Hence, they were thrown into a fiery furnace to die. There, Yahweh their God protected them, as they were ready to sacrifice their lives rather than turn their backs on Him. It was their Faith, their loyal allegiance to God and their obedience to His will that saved them.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that it was such loyal Faith and obedience to his teachings that would make them his disciples, enjoying true freedom. Jesus explained to them that true freedom is freedom from sin, submitting their hearts and wills to God their Father speaking through His Son Jesus. The Jews argued that they had never been slaves to foreign gods, although they had been under Persian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman rulers. They claimed they had always kept the Faith of Abraham their father. Jesus plainly told them that they were slaves of sin and the devil because they not only refused to accept him as the Son of God and obey his words but were also planning to kill him.
Life messages: 1) Let us become true disciples of Christ by believing in Christ’s teachings, studying and mediating on his words in Holy Scripture, and obeying his commandment of love in our daily lives.
2) Let us seek Jesus’ help and the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we may be freed from slavery to sins, evil habits, attachments, and addictions. 3) Let us grow in true Christian discipleship by freely submitting our heart, mind, and will to an all-merciful, all-loving, and all-wise God. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 7 Thursday: (St. John Baptist de la Salle, Priest):
The context: In today’s Gospel, Jesus surprises and infuriates the Jews by the blinding lightning and deafening thunder of his Divine claims. First, Jesus claimed that one who kept his words would not die because his words were God’s words. The Jews responded, arguing that even a great man of Faith, like Abraham who kept God’s words, had died. Next Jesus claimed that he had unique knowledge of God because he came from God. The Jews believed that God had revealed everything about Himself through the Torah. Third, Jesus claimed a unique obedience to God, his Father, because he thought, spoke and acted as God wished. The Jews believed that their fathers and prophets had obeyed God perfectly. Fourth, Jesus claimed that he was not limited by time and, hence, that he was there even before Abraham and that Abraham had seen Jesus. The Jews believed that Abraham had been given a vision of the entire history of Israel including the vision of the Messiah. At this last claim, the Jews attempted to stone Jesus for blasphemy. But Jesus escaped.
Life message: 1) We need to put our trust in Jesus because of His claims of Divinity. If we believe that we will receive eternal life by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we need to live out our belief by obeying him. As God, Jesus is present in all areas of our lives, so we need to talk to him about everything and listen to him always. (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 8 Friday:
The context: In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah laments over the false accusations leveled against him by his friends and enemies. In the Gospel, Jesus refutes the accusation of blasphemy and avoids the attempt at stoning him to death (the Jewish punishment for blasphemy), by giving two proofs of his Divinity and equality with God as the Son of God. Jesus was called a blasphemer when he forgave the sins of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8). Later during his trial before the Sanhedrin, the High Priest would do the same when Jesus solemnly confessed his Divinity.
Two arguments supporting Jesus’ Divinity: 1) The Book of Psalms, a book of Jewish Holy Scripture, reminds the Jewish judges of their high dignity and consequent responsibility saying: “You are gods, sons of the Most High” (Ps 82:6) because they are commissioned by God to act in the place of God in promoting His Justice. (God is reprimanding unjust judges reminding them of their position and role). If they can be called sons of God, Jesus argues, his saying, “I am consecrated and sent by God (meaning, “Hence, I share the Divinity of God and claim it”), is not blasphemy but truth. 2) The truth that Jesus is the Son of God is supported also by the credentials of his miracles. Jesus claims that it is his Father who does these miracles through him. Hence, Jesus challenges his accusers to accept his deeds even if they cannot accept his claim.
Life messages: 1) By Baptism we are made children of God, heirs of Heaven, and members of the Trinitarian family of God. 2) We, too, are consecrated and commissioned by our Baptism to bear witness to Jesus and his ideals. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 9 Saturday:
The context: Today’s Gospel gives the reaction of the High Priest and his associates when the news about Jesus’ raising of Lazarus reached their ears. They convened a joint council of priests and Pharisees to discuss the reaction of the people in favor of Jesus. (Lectio Divina = In order to be able to understand this reaction of one part of the population, it is necessary to become aware that half of the population of Jerusalem depended completely on the Temple so as to be able to live and to survive. Because of this, it would have been difficult for them to support an unknown prophet from Galilee who criticized the Temple and the religious authorities. This also explains why some even were ready to inform the authorities. They were afraid of the Romans, because in the past it had been shown many times, by the Roman invasions in the year 64 before Christ until the time of Jesus, that the Romans repressed with great violence any attempt at popular rebellion. (Cf. Acts 5:35-37). In the case of Jesus, the Roman reaction could have led to the loss of everything, even of the Temple and of the privileged position of the priests).Caiaphas held the High Priesthood from the year 18 to the year 36 AD. It was the popular belief that when a High Priest asked for God’s counsel for the nation of Israel, God would speak through him. God used Caiaphas to prophesy the redemptive death of Jesus for the whole world when Caiaphas said: “It is expedient for you that One Man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” Here, Caiaphas’ words have two meanings: 1) Caiaphas meant he wanted to put Christ to death on the pretext that that would ensure the political peace and survival of Israel. 2) The Holy Spirit meant that the new Israel, the Kingdom of God, the Church, would be founded through the death of Christ on the Cross, and that His death would save not only Israel but “all the children of God who are scattered abroad.” The prophets had already announced that the future assembly of Israelites faithful to God would form the new people of Israel. These prophecies were fulfilled by the death of Christ, Who, when raised up on the cross, drew and gathered together the true people of God, composed of all believers, whether Israelites or not.)
Life messages: 1) We are entering Holy Week tomorrow. It is in Holy Week that we gratefully remember how Jesus died for the whole world. 2) Hence, these are days given us that we may express our gratitude to Christ who died for our sins, by repentance, by the renewal of our lives, and by our preparation to celebrate resurrection of our Lord. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
