Showing all posts by Elija

The twenty‑ninth day of our Lenten journey invites us to reflect on the people of the Old Covenant, from whom our Lord descended according to the flesh, as well as the apostles. To this day, they have not recognized the Messiah. Consequently, some Jews continue to await His coming, while others see the messianic promise fulfilled in the State of Israel, or run the risk of following false messiahs—if religion still matters to them at all.

As the people of the New Covenant, we should always keep in our hearts and in our prayers the intention that, after so long, the Jews may finally recognize the Messiah, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In today’s reading, we hear the prophecy that God will gather His people from among all nations, bring them back to their land, purify them of all their impurities, and give them a new heart (Ezek 36:23–28).

The context of these words is that, since the Israelites did not live in their land according to God’s will, He scattered them among the nations.

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Returning to the biblical texts that accompany us during Lent, we hear in today’s reading (Ex 32:7–14) how the Israelites fall into idolatry. Moses must listen to these words addressed to him by the Lord:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation.’” (vv. 7–10).

Throughout their history, the Israelites were tempted again and again to worship false gods. That was one of the reasons why God wanted to keep them isolated from other peoples, so that they would not imitate their idolatrous practices, which are an abomination in God’s eyes. Sacred Scripture makes it clear that these “false gods” seek to usurp God’s place, and St. Paul teaches that demons hide behind idols to deceive people (cf. 1 Cor 10:19–20). To this day, they continue to work in various ways to turn people away from the knowledge of Christ.

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Since today’s Gospel recounts the cleansing of the Temple once again, and we already explored this theme on the seventh day of our Lenten journey (https://en.elijamission.net/day-7-resist-evil-in-the-holy-spirit/),

I have decided to dedicate today’s meditation to two saints whose feast day is celebrated on March 16: Saint Abraham of Edessa (Mesopotamia) and his niece Mary.

From a very young age, Abraham longed for a life of solitude with God, so he asked his parents for permission to become a hermit. However, his parents had already chosen a young woman whom they considered worthy to be his wife. With great regret, Abraham obeyed them. Legend has it that after the wedding, he told his wife of his decision to live in permanent abstinence. Later, he left secretly and shut himself away in a solitary cell located about an hour from the city of Edessa.

God’s call to solitude was so strong that all his family’s attempts to bring him back to his wife were in vain. He walled up his cell, leaving only a small window through which he received the necessities of life.

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We are now more than halfway through our Lenten journey and are drawing closer and closer to Holy Week. The fourth Sunday of Lent is a Sunday of joy (Laetare in Latin). The priest may wear pink vestments to highlight the joyful nature of this day.

Today’s Gospel (Jn 6:1–15) presents us with the well‑known story of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The crowd had listened to Jesus’ preaching, and at the end He wanted to feed them and show them God’s providence and glory through this sign. This is what happened, and not only were they all satisfied, but there were also twelve baskets left over. The Gospel testifies that there were five thousand men (v. 10).

This miracle was a reason for the people to praise Jesus as the expected prophet: “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world” (v. 14). However, they drew the wrong conclusion, as Scripture suggests: “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself.” (v. 15)

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Today’s long reading (Dan 13:1–9, 15–17, 19–30, 33–62) tells the story of Susanna, the wife of Joakim, whom God delivered from the hands of two evil judges who falsely accused her of a serious moral crime. The Gospel (Jn 8:1–11), which we will focus on today, recounts an event full of lessons.

How does Jesus deal with the guilt of someone who has committed adultery? The scribes and Pharisees brought Him a woman in these circumstances and said, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” (vv. 4–5).

Evidently, the accusers did not want to know what Jesus thought about it, but rather to trap Him in order to find a reason to accuse Him (v. 6). At first, Jesus did not give them any answer. However, in response to their insistence, He uttered that decisive phrase that should sink deep into our hearts and shape our entire lives and our way of dealing with similar situations: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). He said this to those Pharisees and scribes who were waiting impatiently and demanding an answer. Upon hearing these words, they began to leave, one after another, starting with the oldest (v. 9). None of them dared to throw a stone.

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