FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH, FRIDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT APRIL 3, 2020

MASS READINGS:

A reading of the holy Gospel according to John 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.

REFLECTION: "If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

As I sit outside, I see Spring is here! The bougainvilleas are in full bloom, my poinsettias have been planted, the birds are building their nests and the sun is bright but not too hot. Yes, new growth, is out there. You can feel it in the air. Some of my plant beds need assistance, though, with more planting and seeding needing to be done. My Jacobs Ladder vine, though a perennial, has not done well. Looked up the reason and I was able to find the problem: not enough watering, stress and too much sun. Normally I would buy more Jacob Ladder plants at the nursery and heed the care manual. However, I am not able to do that as we are in the middle of a pandemic. And so I tend to what I have and pray for relief of this disease.

Blessed Fulton Sheen referred to the priest as Jacob's ladder. ..."every priest is a Jacob's ladder, someone who connects heaven and earth. You must be able to travel down far enough to reach even the most lost of the lost, and you must be able at the same time to reach up high enough to facilitate the journey to heaven." (Bishop Robert Barron, homily)

In today's Gospel, we see Jesus discussing His divinity with the Jewish people: urging the people to see His works done as testimony of God being in Him and He in God. Priests have been selected by God to be mediators-- bringing God to man and man to God. The priest," in the person of Christ, the head, in the Church" or in "persona Christi capitis in ecclesiae", asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine and by His power they may become the body and blood of Christ.

It is with great belief and great love that we pray for the priests who are daily on Jacob's ladder bringing lost souls to heaven. During this pandemic, priests are literally losing their lives in doing God‘s work. Praying daily for them. Prayer for Priests

God Bless