“The Lord shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from a hand too strong for him.” – Jeremiah 31:11

       Whether in companies or in churches, money-related issues affect your credibility.

       Rick was the subject of an administrative investigation for allegedly pocketing funds. He realized he had made minor computation errors for their field work and immediately wrote an apology. After correcting the computation, he turned over the lacking amount.

       Sally started using these facts and twisted them into rumors. Their colleagues believed her.

       Rick never knew why his “friends” started changing. But he remained kind and hardworking. He knew he had made an honest mistake but he didn’t have to defend himself to everyone.

       A month later, the investigation ended. Sally was fired. It turned out that the receipts she gave Rick to liquidate were falsified. She apparently spread rumors to shift the focus from her to Rick because she needed the money for her son’s tuition.

       Rick can be anyone of us. People can use facts, twist them and spread ugly rumors. But keep doing what’s loving and right anyway. Because in the end, God will redeem us even from those whom we think are more powerful than us. Carlo Lorenzo (carloflorenzo@

Reflection: Are you paranoid about what people say and think about you? Relax. God is your Defender and He wants you to live a stress-free life.

St. Teresa of Los Andes, pray for us.

This prophecy of Ezekiel reminds the people both of their history and the many blessings that God gave them as He formed them into a nation faithful to Him, and of the future when there will be restoration — a return to the time of blessings and grace. The difficult thing to know is how the future will look. Will it be exactly the same as the past? Probably not, and this is the mistake that many make. The principles and spirit of a true community of disciples is always the same, but its shape and expression will differ according to time, place and culture.

21 Tell them: Thus speaks the Lord God: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land. 22 I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one prince for them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. 23 No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that they may be my people and I may be their God. 24 My servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one shepherd for them all; they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees. 25 They shall live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived; they shall live on it forever, they, and their children, and their children’s children, with my servant David their prince forever. 26 I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the Lord, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

R: The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it on distant isles, and say: He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. (R) 11 The Lord shall ransom Jacob, he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror. 12 Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings: the grain, the wine, and the oil, the sheep and the oxen. (R) 13 Then the virgins shall make merry and dance, and young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows. (R)

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

45 Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, 50 nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 So from that day on they planned to kill him. 54 So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. 56 They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?”

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Leviticus 4-6

The Passion of Jesus, which we are set to commemorate for a whole week beginning this evening, has a rich significance for everyone. Of course, in the great plan of heaven, as the prophets have expressed, Jesus’ sacrifice and death is meant to be a saving reality — a vicarious death — for all peoples to be reconciled as children of God.

       Truly God and truly man, Jesus offers Himself as the bridge builder between God and all humanity. In fact, years later, the Apostle Paul declares: “But now in Christ Jesus you, who once were far away, have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace... and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostilities” (Ephesians 2:13-14).

       For Caiaphas and the Jewish leaders who were so conscious about their status, the death of Jesus was something pragmatic in accordance with their selfish minds. The high priest stated: “If we let him... everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Knowing well the hearts and minds of these leaders, we know that they were aching to have Jesus arrested and eliminated — not so much for the nation though, but for their own sakes and positions.

       Events always are double-sided: God’s meaning and the human meaning; God’s reasons and human motivations. Sometimes they coincide, but many times they differ. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

REFLECTION QUESTION: Meditate on the graces that you need from Jesus’ saving Passion and Cross. Examine the events that happened in your life from last year’s Holy Week till now. Prepare to confess and make contrition for your selfish ways and motives.

Lord, I am sorry for the many times I became too selfish and pushed my own agenda. Grant me the grace of purity of  heart.