Liturgy Alive: Models of Celebrations

March 26, 2004 - Friday, 4th Week of Lent

THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Readings:
Wis 2:1a, 12-22; Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23; Jn 7:1-2, 10, 24-30

Introduction

Men and women who claim to know God a bit and to live consistently as his sons or daughters, are queer and bothersome to unbelievers as well as to those who take their religion as a set of duties or religious rites. There is no place for such eccentrics who go against the current, for their way of life disturbs the established ways of society. It irritates unbelievers and they want to test the faith of those who trust in God. One has to conform or else... The person who voices his plaints in the Book of Wisdom was one of those annoying people. Jesus was another. What about us?

Opening Prayer

Our God and Father,
we claim to be your sons and daughters,
who know that you love us,
and that you call us to live
the life of Jesus, your Son.
Give us the courage
to live this life consistently
not to show off, not to reprove others,
but simply because we know
that you are our Father
and we your sons and daughters,
brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Scripture Readings

First Reading: Wis 2:1a, 12-22

The wicked said among themselves,
thinking not aright:
"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God
and styles himself a child of the LORD.
To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.
He judges us debased;
he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.
He calls blest the destiny of the just
and boasts that God is his Father.
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put him to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him."
These were their thoughts, but they erred;
for their wickedness blinded them,
and they knew not the hidden counsels of God;
neither did they count on a recompense of holiness
nor discern the innocent souls' reward.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23

R (19a) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.
R The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

He watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.

Gospel Reading: Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.
But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in secret.

Some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is this not the man they want to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don't say a word to him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from."

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where he was teaching, "You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don't know him. I know him for I come from him and he sent me."
They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come.

Commentary

THE Feast of Tabernacles or Tents is believed (by some scholars at least) to have been a commemoration of the forty years when the Jews wandered homeless through the desert. During the seven days of the feast they lived in tents.
It may have been an annual reminder that they came from nowhere.
Where is a tent? Nowhere.

But when they settled they settled in earnest. The place where a person lived became, in a way, his or her name: Jesus of Nazareth, Mary of Magdala, Joseph of Arimathaea.

"We know where this man comes from," the people said. His identity was well pinned down. But, he said, "You say that you know me and know where I come from!" In fact, he told them, they didn't know. Nazareth was not his identity. They seemed to be equally sure of their own identity. But they came from nowhere, as the feast should have served to remind them. Certainty often conceals a vast amount of truth from us.

"I was sent by the One who is true, and you don't know him. I know him for I come from him and he sent me." This was his real identity. In our way, we too have to drop superficial identities and come to this realization.

General Intercessions

- For those who are persecuted for their faith and for their persecutors, we pray:

- For those to whom life seems a burden hard to bear, that they carry their cross with the Lord and find relief and happiness, we pray:

- For those who are challenged because of the good they do, that the Spirit of the Lord may give them the strength to persevere, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
your Son Jesus was rejected
by those whom he came to save.
In this eucharist he is with us now as our Lord
who died for us but rose again.
May we welcome him with love
and commit ourselves with him
to the good of our neighbor.
May our lives bear witness to him,
that no one may reject him now
on account of us, for we claim him
as our Lord and Savior for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
we pray you especially today
for those whom you send
to bring the good news of your Son to the world.
Give strength to all who have to bear witness
in difficult circumstances,
like your missionaries,
that they may not lose heart
but remain faithful and close to you
and to Jesus Christ
your Son and our Lord for ever.

Blessing

Let our lives bear witness to the Lord, who was persecuted and suffered so that we may have forgiveness and life. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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