“Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heavens!” (Mt 21:9)
The people are gathered, and for a short time that which corresponds to the reality of the coming of the Son of God is happening: He is received with rejoicing and joy, the people receive their true King, their Messiah, the one long promised! Read More
Ez 37:21-28
The Lord Yahweh says this: I shall take the Israelites from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them to- gether from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in the country, on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. Read More
Jer 20:10-13
I heard so many disparaging me, ‘Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All those who were on good terms with me watched for my downfall, ‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we shall get the better of him and take our revenge!’ But Yahweh is at my side like a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, vanquished, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs. Read More
Although we are in the “Passion Time”, I would like to dedicate today’s meditation to the “Message from the Father”, as we do on the 7th of every month.
When we meditate on the Passion, we usually think of Our Lord Jesus Christ and visualise His suffering all the way to the Cross. We probably also have in mind the Mother of the Lord, who stood by the Cross and accompanied her Son until his redemptive death. But perhaps we do not think so much of the suffering of our Heavenly Father. Read More
Note: Since today’s Old Testament reading is also very long, we will content ourselves here with a brief summary and highly recommend reading it in its entirety in the 3rd chapter of the Book of Daniel.
Three young Jewish men were commanded by the king to commit idolatry. Those who refused were to find death in the furnace of fire. The three refused, trusting in God. Thrown into the fiery furnace, the king saw four figures walking around unharmed in the fire, for God had sent them an angel to save them. Read More
Num 21:4-9
They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.’ At this, God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. Read More
Because of the length of today´s reading, I’ll give a brief summary: it tells the story of Susanna, a respectable woman. Two of the elders of Israel tried to seduce her. But she eluded them. Thereupon they brought false charges against her that she had taken up with a young man and threatened her with death. In her distress, Susanna entrusted herself to God. Read More
Jn 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in the middle they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and in the Law Moses has ordered us to stone women of this kind. What have you got to say?’ Read More
Jer 11:18-20
Yahweh informed me and I knew it; you then revealed their scheming to me. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may no longer be remebered!’ Read More
Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
After this Jesus travelled round Galilee; he could not travel round Judaea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. As the Jewish feast of Shelters drew near, however, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, not publicly but secretly. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? Read More
