GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 7TH APRIL 2017
FRIDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 20:10-13
PSALM: Psalm 18:2-7
GOSPEL: John 10:31-42
THEME: REJECTION
In life’s journey, we all experience rejection at one point in time or the other. It may range from mild to total rejection. The feeling of rejection is exceptionally deep and painful when the one who rejects you is the very person you have toiled to love with all your heart. There are many people out there whose hearts appear to be “perpetually broken” on account of rejection.
Jeremiah must have had it tough with his enemies. Apparently, they mocked him with his own familiar expressions (cf. Jer. 20:3, 46: & 49:29). Jeremiah sought to carry out the will of God and the result was that even those who were on good terms with him watched for his downfall. Jeremiah could have won the favour of his friends and compatriots if he had preached a message that would tickle their ears but as a true prophet, he said what God wanted him to say.
Jesus Christ is no outsider to the experience of rejection. In today’s Gospel, his countrymen picked up stones once again to stone him. In the end, he virtually had to escape from their hands and go to the far side of the Jordan. They rejected him because, in their opinion, he had blasphemed by making himself God.
The prophetic words of Jeremiah hold true for Jesus and perhaps for some of you reading this message: “For I hear many whispering: ‘Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. ‘Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him'” (Jer 20:10).
Let us spare a thought and prayer for all those who have been rejected by their families and friends. Let us speak words of encouragement to men and women of faith who have lost their jobs because they refused to compromise their Christian identity for sordid gain. Let our hearts go out for those who have lost fiancées and fiancés just because they carried their Christian values into their relationships. To all such persons, thus says the Lord, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
PRAYER: Lord, make me fearless that I may proclaim your Word even at the peril of my life. 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).