Gospel: April 8, 2025
April 8, 2025 (Tuesday)
5th Week of Lent
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
1st Reading: Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.” The Lord then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against the Lord and against you. Plead with the Lord to take the serpents away.” Moses pleaded for the people and the Lord said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked toward the bronze serpent and he lived.
Gospel: John 8: 21-30
Again, Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?” But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.” They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.” They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself, but I say just what the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.” As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.
Reflection:
“Thank God for his constant care.”
Moaning and murmuring fills the air in Exodus today. The Israelites complained in their hunger and God fed them bread from heaven, the manna in the desert. Now, they are “disgusted” with their daily bread. In their ingratitude and rebellion, they are bitten by the serpent which brings death, just as in the garden, Adam and Eve gave in to the serpent’s temptation, which brought death. The bronze serpent is made by Moses that the people might turn back to the Lord and trust in him who is their health and salvation. Their turning toward the standard is a symbol of their renewed trust in him. The bronze serpent also prefigures Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and so, likewise, our reverence towards the crucifix is a symbol of our trust in him, who is our health and salvation. The Israelites grow weary of the same things, day-in, day-out, and they grumble, forgetting to thank God for his constant care. In the humdrum of life, we might forget to thank the Lord for all his blessings. We might forget to look to him. Let’s spend time before a crucifix today, and speak to Christ directly, thanking him for his loving care.
