Jesus said to the multitude of the Jєωs: Which of you shall convince me of sin?--John viii. 46
INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT,
(JUDICA)
by Leonard Goffine, 1871
This Sunday, called Judica from the first word of the Introit, is also called Passion Sunday, because from this day the Church occupies herself exclusively with the contemplation of the passion and death of Christ. The pictures of Christ crucified are covered to-day in memory of Christ having hidden Himself from the Jєωs until His entrance into Jerusalem, no longer showing Himself in public. (John xi. 54.) In the Mass the Glory be to the Father, &c, is omitted, because in the person of Christ the Holy Trinity was dishonored. The psalm Judica is not said today, because on this day the high priests held council about our Lord, for which reason the Church uses at the Introit, in the name of the suffering, these words: Judge me, O Lord, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful men. Send forth thy light and thy truth: for they have conducted me, and brought me to thy holy mount, and into thy tabernacles. (Ps. xlii.)
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Mercifully look down upon Thy people, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that, by thy bounty and protection, they may be governed and guarded both in body and soul. Through, &c.
EPISTLE. (Hebr. ix. 11 - 15.) Brethren: Christ being come an high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heffer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ (who by the Holy Ghost offered Himself unspotted unto God) cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And therefore He is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of His death, for the redemption of those transgressions which were under the former testament, they that are called, may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
EXPLANATION. Paul here teaches, that Christ as the true high priest of the New Testament, through His precious blood on the altar of the cross has indeed perfectly made satisfaction for sins, but that the sinner must also do his own part, by cooperating with Christ to make himself less unworthy of participation in the passion of Christ and His merits, and to appropriate to himself its fruits. This is done, when he diligently and devoutly assists at the unbloody Sacrifice of Mass, by which the fruits of the death on the cross are attributed to us: and when according to the will of the Church, he purifies his conscience by true contrition and confession, and when he seeks by trust in Christ's merits to render some satisfaction for his sins through voluntary penance and faithful following of Christ.
ASPIRATION. Grant us, O meekest Jesus, Thy grace, that we through perfect contrition for our sins and the exercise of good works, may make ourselves participators in the merits of Thy bitter passion.
GOSPEL. (John viii. 46 - 59.) At That Time: Jesus said to the multitude of the Jєωs: Which of you shall convince me of sin? If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth the words of God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not of God. The Jєωs therefore answered, and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil? Jesus answered: I have not a devil: but I honor my Father, and you have dishonored me. But I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Amen, amen, I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever. The Jєωs therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets: and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. Art thou greater than our Father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself? Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that gloritieth me. of whom you say that He is your God. And you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I should say that I know him not, I should be like to you, a liar. But I do know Him, and do keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad. The Jєωs then said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am. They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Why did Christ ask the Jєωs, which of them should convince Him of sin?
To show us that he who would teach and punish others, should himself, as much as is in him, be without blame; and to manifest that He, being without sin, must necessarily be more than man, therefore the Saviour, the Son of God, as He so often and especially in this gospel announced, and proved Himself by His miracles.
Why did He say: He that is of God, heareth the words of God?
To show that the Jєωs, who would not believe His divine teachings, because the devil kept their hearts blinded by envy and hatred, could not therefore be the children of God, but of the devil. "Therefore," says St. Gregory, "let every one when he hears the words of God, ask himself, whence he comes. Eternal truth demands, that we are desirous of the heavenly fatherland, that we tame the desires of the flesh, are indifferent to the world's praises, covet not our neighbor's goods, and give alms according to our means. Therefore, let every one examine himself, and when in his heart he attends to this voice of God, he will know, if he is of God."
CONSOLATION IN CALUMNIATION
When Christ told the Jєωs the truth, He received, as is the custom in this world, no other reward than insults and calumnies, for they called Him a Samaritan, that is, an unbeliever, a heretic, one possessed by the devil. This was a hard slander for Christ, and it must have greatly pained Him; this is a great consolation to those who are innocently calumniated, for they can consider, that Christ Himself received nothing better. St. Augustine consoles such by saying: "O friend, what is there can happen to you that your Saviour did not suffer before you? Is it slander? He heard it, when He was called a glutton, a drunkard, a heretic, and a rebel, a companion of sinners, one possessed by the devil, even to hear, when driving out devils, that He did so by Beelzebub, prince of devils. (Matt. Ix. 34.) He therefore comforts His apostles, saying, "If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household?" (Matt. x. 25.) Are the pains bitter? There is no pain so bitter, that He has not endured it; for what is more painful, and at the same time more ignominious than the death of the cross? For think, says St. Paul diligently upon Him who endureth such opposition from sinners against Himself; that you be not wearied (by all contempt and calumny), fainting in your minds. (Hebr. xii. 3.)
How and why did Christ defend Himself against the slanders of the Jєωs?
Only by denying with the greatest modesty the things with which they reproached Him, saying, that He had not a devil, that He was not a Samaritan, because He honored His Father not in their manner, but in His own. Christ repelled this calumny, while He left the rest unanswered, because to permit this to rest upon Him, would be to have suffered His divine mission to be doubted, and, consequently, the honor of God and the salvation of man would have been injured. Christ thus teaches us by His own conduct to defend ourselves only against those detractions and insults which endanger the honor of God and the salvation of man, and then to defend ourselves with all modesty; by no means to do it, however, if they injure only our own good name, for we should leave the restoration of that to God, as exemplified by Christ, who knows better than we how to preserve and restore it.
How had Abraham seen Christ's day?
In spirit, that is, he had by divine revelation while yet in life, known the coming of Christ, and had rejoiced in advance; also, he heard, by revelation from God, with the other just in limbo, that Christ's coming had taken place, and drew the greatest comfort from it.
Why did Christ conceal Himself from the Jєωs, instead of taking vengeance on them?
Because the time for His death had not come; because He would show His meekness and patience, and teach us, that we should go out of our enemies' way rather than resist them or take vengeance upon them; Christ wished to instruct us to avoid passionate and quarrelsome people, for it is an honor for a man to separate from quarrels, but all fools are meddling with reproaches. (Prov. xx. 3.)
PETITION When Thine enemies calumniated Thee, most meek Jesus, Thou didst answer them with tender words, and when they were about to stone Thee, Thou didst depart from them, while we can scarcely bear a hard word, and then will not yield to our neighbor, but defend ourselves most passionately and avenge ourselves. Ah! pardon us for our impatience, and grant us the grace patiently to bear the wrongs done us, answering, when necessary, with gentleness, for Thy glory and the salvation of our neighbor.
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Topic: Passon Sunday (Read 417 times)