Seymour Hersh, in his book The Dark Side of Camelot, writes about the kindness of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy. 

His two-day-old son, Patrick, battled a lung condition. The president visited his baby in the hospital, distraught with the seriousness of his youngest child’s condition. As the president walked through the hospital hall, he passed by a room where two little girls with severe burns were confined. President Kennedy visited them first and even wrote each of them a personal letter of encouragement. Then, he went to his son Patrick and stayed with him. His baby boy passed away a day later.

Hersch reflects, “If a mere man can show love and concern for two unknown children, while his own son is suffering and dying, how much more will our infinitely loving Father in heaven express concern for us?”

Do you still doubt the love of our Heavenly Father? 

Marc V. Lopez (marcvlopez88@gmail.com)

reflect

Reflect on the passage from Ezekiel 37:26-27. How did God manifest His presence during your most trying times? 

Jesus, thank You for Your everlasting covenant with me. I am Yours. You are mine. And You are always and forever with me—at my worst and at my best! I love You. Amen.

St. Zeno of Verona, pray for us.

God acts decisively in the lives of His people and returns them to their land. This prophecy can be taken literally. The Jews believe it as a confirmation that the land, Israel, given to their fathers is theirs forever; hence their welcoming of the state in 1948. As Christians, we understand it as significant for the people who returned from exile in Babylon. It also holds future significance: the promise of heaven where all will be gathered as one in the Kingdom of God at the end of time.

²¹ Thus says 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 which 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.  

Responsorial Psalm | Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12, 13

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)

Gospel | John 11:45-56

We often look for a scapegoat to suffer for us. As Christians, we accept that this is the role of Jesus: He took our sins upon Himself and died for us on the cross to save us. There is no excuse for our sins and we should not shift the blame to others. Let us be responsible and honest disciples, accepting the blame for our transgressions and repenting for them. If we readily accept the praise for the things we do, so should we readily accept the blame for our sins and faults.

Gospel Acclamation

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?”

Reflect:

“We are all culpable in the death of Christ. My sins, your sins put Him on that cross.” (Jim Caviezel)

Read the Bible in one year! Read LEVITICUS 10 - 12 today.

Pragmatism is an incredibly powerful motivator if one is not concerned about the absolute truth. The pragmatist’s main concern is, “Will this or that particular course of action work?” If it works, then it is good—this is the measure of morality, which guides a pragmatist on what should be done. When pragmatism is confronted with absolute moral truths, a position that I believe the Church will support *ad infinitum,* it finds itself challenged by a new concept, and I cannot act contrary to this or that particular moral precept. 

For example, the Catholic Tradition values the dignity of every person. We must respect life even when conflict occurs, such as in the case of abortion, where the mother’s life and the life of the child in the womb are in competition. The child is unplanned and will hinder the life plan of the mother. The Church sees both lives with the same dignity, and thus pronounces that “no harm is to be done to either.” However, a pragmatist will argue that the woman can have an abortion in order to pursue her life plan. The child will, unfortunately, be ignored as another human person with rights. The abortion facilitates the goal of the mother.

It is easy to see that, from a Catholic perspective, there is a problem with this sort of decision making as it ignores the rights of the child in the womb. The pragmatist will be nonplussed. As far as he is concerned, abortion is the right thing to do as the woman’s goals in life will be effectively protected. 

Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

reflection questions

How pragmatic are you? Have you ever allowed the practicality and effectiveness of a particular course of action to cause you to sin because you disregarded the rights of other people?

Holy Spirit, help me to see with the eyes of God, listen with His ears, and love with His heart so that I will always be respectful of the rights of others. Amen

Today, I pray for: ____________________________________