Today's readings and reflection

FIRST READING (Jeremiah 20:10-13)

I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him.”

But 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 dishonour will never be forgotten.

O Lord of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause.

Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

GOSPEL (John 10:31-42)

At that time: The Jews took up stones again to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?”

The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), do 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’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but 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.”

Again they tried to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained. And many came to him; and they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

And many believed in him there.

REFLECTIONS

I am the Son of God - Servants of the Word

Rejection for speaking the truth - Howie Kalb, SJ

Think about how you wear the Cross - Pope Francis

FURTHERMORE . . .

John the Baptist was obviously not as great as Jesus was - he performed no signs like Jesus did. But he did serve his purpose to point people to Jesus.

What a testimony - everything John said about Jesus was true.

John had been beheaded; was gone, but his teaching lived on. May people say about us when we are gone that everything we told them about Jesus was true. May neighbours and co-workers and friends say that we spoke the truth of Jesus in love.

May our kids and relatives and fellow believers know we’re committed to knowing and sharing God’s truth revealed in his Word and in Jesus. And may many believe in Jesus through our testimony as they did there where John had ministered. I pray that you want that kind of legacy - a legacy of loving proclamation of biblical and Christ-honouring truth.

But you will not have that legacy unless you discipline your mind to understand and communicate truth clearly to people of every age.

You may have a legacy of being a nice person, even a caring Christian who did loving acts of service. But you may not leave enough truth behind you for anyone to follow in your footsteps. Please discipline your mind; open your mouth to speak truth to other people.

You will fumble and fail and have to correct yourself and even have to seek forgiveness for wrong words at times. You will even face opposition like Jesus did, but it is worth it. It is worth the joy you’ll have - the love you’ll share. It is worth the effort for the glory of God; the good of others. Be like Jesus; make biblical arguments out of love for souls.

And today, if you are a soul who has never come face to face with the exclusive truth claims of Jesus, then hear him today. He healed all kinds of incurable diseases and afflictions to show his divine power and love. He spoke with undeniable authority and wisdom. He was God in flesh. He lived on earth and then He died to receive the punishment for sin for all who trust him. Then he rose again to prove he conquered of sin and death. So believe; entrust your life to him.

From Blasphemy or Deity? By Mark Vaughan

PRAYER

O my God, I beseech thee, by thy loneliness,

not that thou shouldst spare me affliction,

but that thou not abandon me in it.

When I encounter affliction,

teach me to see thee in it

as my sole Comforter.

May affliction strengthen my faith,

fortify my hope,

and purify my love.

Grant me the grace to see thy hand

in my affliction,

and to desire no other comforter but thee. Amen.

- St Bernadette of Lourdes (1844-1879)

Who is REALLY against Jesus today?

These are millstones from Capernaum, used for grinding grains. What a terrible thing it would be to have one of those tied to your neck as you were thrown into the sea. Made from the basalt rock found in Capernaum, they are far too heavy for a man to lift on his own. The pointy part of the one in the foreground is the bottom. A bowl-shaped piece was inverted over it. The wheat was poured into the top and one or two women turned it to grind the wheat which would fall out underneath. 


One of the websites that I have bookmarked is run by the English Dominicans. It is simply called torch.op.org, and contains an amazing archive of homilies for the Sundays of the year, in a range of styles and also from a variety of theological perspectives. I share with you a challenging homily preached on this Sunday three years ago by the Very Revd Dr Simon Francis Gaine OP. 

[Readings: Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43,45,47-8]

It's a Scandal

Jesus always provokes a response in those who encounter him. It's true that there are those who want to follow but are afraid and those who are held back by something they don't want to leave behind. But at bottom there are those who are for him, and those who are against. Jesus himself implies as much: 

For he that is not against us is for us. 

And in different circumstances he says: 

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 

So who is for Jesus and who against? In today's Gospel, Jesus cautions us against judging that those outside his group of disciples are against him. Someone not a disciple has been performing miracles in Jesus's name, and when the disciples complain about it Jesus admonishes them rather than the lone exorcist. No one, Jesus says, can do such a mighty work in his name and afterwards speak evil of him.

Nor is it that the exorcist is somehow for Jesus but against the disciples. When the disciples made their complaint, their grievance was that the man was not with us. Whom does this 'us' include, Jesus or just the disciples? Perhaps their concern was that the man wasn't following them rather than not following Jesus. So is Jesus replying that the exorcist, though he may not be with the disciples, is nevertheless for Jesus? No. Jesus doesn't say that the man is for him but not for the disciples. He says: 

He that is not against us is for us. 

Jesus doesn't reject the exorcist, but he doesn't exclude the erring disciples either. Jesus and the disciples are 'us'. Whatever their mistakes, the disciples are not his enemies. Who though are the ones who are really against Jesus? 

Jesus's enemies might have been thought to be the Roman authorities, and indeed they are the ones to try him and put him to death. Moreover, Jesus struggled with Satan in the desert and set about despoiling his house by exorcising devils. He was opposed by the Sadducees who saw him as a threat to their religious and political position. He was opposed too by the Pharisees whose religiosity he lambasted. 

And yet, in today's Gospel Jesus singles out none of these as those who are against him. Instead he speaks against those who cause little ones who believe in him to sin, those who 'scandalise' believers. These, it seems, are those who are really against him, not an external enemy even, but someone within - any disciple could become a scandal to another believer. 

We are used to thinking of a scandal as some disgraceful happening, but here 'to give scandal' means to behave in such a way that you encourage others to sin. In our second reading St James speaks of the rich who oppress the poor and don't pay their wages. Now that is already a heinous crime, but imagine if those rich people are also Christians! When other Christians see their behaviour, they may feel justified in sinning themselves. And so the sin of the rich would be not just oppression but scandal too.

Who is opposing God, who is opposing Christ, in our world today? There are many who are against him, including those who campaign against religion and faith. But perhaps those who are really against God are those Christians who have ended up making themselves an 'enemy within', a scandal or a stumbling-block to the faith of others. 

Is that us? Are we a stumbling block to others by our failure to live Christian lives in church and out of church? Have we given scandal by a lack of reverence for Christ in others? Have we given scandal by a lack of reverence for Christ in the Eucharist? Do we fail to show proper regard for the Church as the Body of Christ? 

Jesus tells us that it would be better for those who give scandal to be drowned at the bottom of the sea, just as the Egyptians, the enemies of God's people, were drowned. There is, however, an alternative. In baptism the old Adam in all of us was drowned away. When the grace of our baptism is renewed, at Mass, in confession, or by any growth in charity, we drown away the enemy of God in us. Whenever we repent by God's grace and turn back to him and do penance, we cut off some unspiritual part of ourselves and throw it away. Let us never be scandals to others, but instead the prophets and disciples our Lord wants.