April 6
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Parishioners of Holy Cross
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
King Nebuchadnezzar said: “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.”
King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Assuredly, O king,” they answered. “But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.” Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”
Responsorial Psalm
Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56
R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
“Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.”
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Gospel Acclamation
See Luke 8:15
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Gospel
John 8:31-42
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.”
They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!” So they said to him, “We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”
“Glory and praise for ever!”
Reflection
“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Remain in my word. Don’t you want to be free? Don’t be a slave to sin. Trust, rather, that the power of God’s Word can break the chains that bind us. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were forced into the normalization of worshiping the idol or golden statue of the false god like everyone else in Nebuchadnezzar’s realm, but they refused. They valued the truth and goodness of the Lord over the anticipated penalty and punishment.
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
#102:
Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely:
You recall that one and the same Word of God extends throughout Scripture, that it is one and the same Utterance that resounds in the mouths of all the sacred writers, since he who was in the beginning God with God has no need of separate syllables; for he is not subject to time. — St. Augustine
#134:
“All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and that one book is Christ, because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" — Hugh of St. Victor
#140:
The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are the true Word of God.
What’s that all for? Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego entering the furnace. Think about them as they were beginning to heat it seven times more than normal for burning and torturing people. How, in that moment, could they have possibly had the confidence and faith to trust in God’s Word that they had received all their lives? Remarkable! Given the “one Utterance” of God, the “one book” as being Christ, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had the protection of Jesus who is the Word Incarnate.
Unfettered and unhurt...walking in the fire...
That’s what is available to us too, by staying rooted in our relationship with the very word of God and by trusting in his wisdom rather than the ‘wisdom’ of the world. Not putting stock in Jesus' words, we can’t help but be left fettered, hurt, and burned by the brokenness around us. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, where the Truth of his word is, there is true freedom.
Don’t worry, in case we missed it, Jesus will reiterate this tomorrow and pick up just where we left off! “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death” (John 8:51).
Peace,
Fr. Foley
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