GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 8TH APRIL 2017
SATURDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT
FIRST READING: Ezekiel 37:21-28
PSALM: Jeremiah 31:10, 11-13
GOSPEL: John 11:45-56
THEME: WHO WILL BELL THE CAT?
The expression, “Who will bell the cat?”, is said to have originated from one of Aesop’s fables (6 BC) and retold in William Langland’s allegorical poem, “ Piers Plowman” (1377 AD). According to the story, a group of mice at a meeting agreed to put a bell around the cat’s neck to serve as a signal of her approach. This proposal was met with general applause until an old mouse got up and said, “That is all very well, but who will bell the cat?”
There is a moment in history when someone must gather courage, step out and do the “dirty” job for the sake of the rest. There is a season when someone may need to make a personal sacrifice to save a relationship, marriage, family, religious community, country, etc. A time comes when someone must risk his/her life to save the multitude. And when that hour comes, “who will bell the cat?”
In today’s Gospel text, the high priest Caiaphas provides an answer to the question of who will bell the cat in order for humanity to be saved. He speaks concerning Jesus without realising that he was making a prophetic statement: “You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (Jn 11:50). The impending death of Jesus, the text continues, would gather into one the dispersed children of God. This fulfils the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel – “Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all sides, and bring them to their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land…” (Ezek. 37:21-22).
As we prepare ourselves to commence the celebration of the Holy Week of our salvation, let us all fix our eyes on Jesus, the saviour of humankind, and draw near to him. He has come to set us free.
PRAYER: ‘Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of your dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’ Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).