20 MARCH – WEDNESDAY IN PASSION WEEK

Lesson – Leviticus xix. 1‒18 

In those days the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel, and you will say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not steal. You must not lie: neither may any man deceive his neighbour. You must not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. You must not calumniate your neighbour, nor oppress him by violence. The wages of him that has been hired by you will not abide with you until the morning. You must not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind: but you must fear the Lord your God, because I am the Lord. You must not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. Judge your neighbour according to justice. You must not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. You must not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am the Lord. You must not hate your brother in your heart, but reprove him openly, lest you incur sin through him. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of your citizens. You must love your friend as yourself. I am the Lord. Keep my laws, for I am the Lord your God.’”

Thanks be to God. 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This passage from Leviticus in which our duties to our neighbour are so clearly and so fully defined, is read to us today in order that we may see how we fulfil these important duties and correct whatever shortcomings we may discover in ourselves. It is God who here speaks. It is God who commands. Observe that phrase: “I am the Lord.” He repeats it several times to show us that if we injure our neighbour, He, God himself, will become the avenger. How strange must not such doctrine have seemed to the catechumens who had been brought up in the selfish and heartless principles of paganism. Here they are told that all men are brethren, and that God is the common Father of all, commanding all to love one another with sincere charity, and without distinction of nation or class. Let us Christians resolve to fulfil this precept to the letter: these are days for good resolutions. Let us remember that the commandments we have been reading were given to the Israelite people many ages before the preaching of the Law of Love. If, then, God exacted from the Jew a cordial love of his fellow-men, when the divine law was written on mere tablets of stone, what will He not require from the Christian who can now read that Law in the Heart of the Man-God who has come down from heaven and made Himself our brother in order that we might find it easier and sweeter to fulfil the precept of charity? Human nature united in his Person to the Divine, is henceforth sacred. It has become an object of the heavenly Father’s love. It was out of fraternal love for this our nature that Jesus suffered death, teaching us, by His own example, to have such love for our brethren, that, if necessary, we ought to lay down our lives for them (John iii. 16). It is the Beloved disciple that teaches us this, and he had it from his Divine Master.

Gospel – John x. 22‒38

At that time it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. The the Jews therefore came round about Him, and said to him: “How long do you hold our souls in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them: “I speak to you and you believe not. The works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me: and I give them eternal life: and they will not perish forever, and no man will pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father has given me, is greater than all: and no man can snatch it out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one.” The Jews then took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: “Many good works I have showed you from my Father: for which of those works do you stone me?” The Jews answered Him: “For a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy: and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your law: I said you are gods? If he called them Gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the Scripture cannot be broken; do you say of him, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world: You blaspheme; because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

After the Feast of Tabernacles came that of the Dedication, and Jesus remained in Jerusalem. The hatred His enemies bore Him is greater than ever. They come round about him, that they may make Him say he is the Christ, and then accuse Him of claiming a mission which does not belong to Him. Jesus deigns not to reply to their question, but tells them that they have seen His works, and that these give ample testimony of His being Christ, the Son of God. It is by faith, and by faith alone, that man can here know his God. God manifests Himself by His divine works: man sees them, and is bound to believe the truth to which they bear testimony. By thus believing, he has both the certitude of what he believes, and the merit of his believing. The proud Jew rebels against this: he would fain dictate to God how he should act, and sees not that such a pretension is impious and absurd.

But if Jesus openly declares the truth, He will scandalise these evil-minded men! Be it so. The truth must be preached. Our Lord has others to consult besides them. There are the well-intentioned, and they will believe what He teaches. He therefore utters these sublime words by which He declares not only that He is Christ, but that He is God: “I and the Father are one.” He knew that this would enrage His enemies, but He had to make Himself known to the world and arm the Church against the false doctrines of heretics who were to rise up in future ages. One of these is to be Arius, who will teach that Jesus is not God, but only the most perfect of creatures. The Church will answer that Jesus is one with the Father — consubstantial to the Father, and, then, after causing much trouble and sin, Arianism will die out and be forgotten. The Jews mentioned in today’s Gospel are the fore-runners of Arius. They understand what our Lord says — He says He is God, and they seek to stone Him. Jesus gives them a fresh grace. He shows them why they should receive what He here teaches: He reminds them, by the Scriptures they knew off by heart, that the name god has sometimes been applied, in a limited sense, to men who had certain high offices put upon them by heaven, and then He bids them think of all the miracles they have seen Him work, which so plainly testify to His being assisted by His Father, and once more declares Himself to be God, saying: “The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” But men hardened in obstinacy as these are cannot be convinced, and the sin they have committed against the Holy Spirit is working its effects. How different is it with the sheep of this divine Shepherd! They hear His voice. They follow Him. He gives them eternal life: no man will pluck them out of His hand. Happy sheep indeed! They believe because they love, and as it is through the heart that truth gains ascendency over them, so is it by pride of intellect that darkness gets admission into the soul of the unbeliever, and lasts as long as pride lasts. Alas, poor unbeliever! He loves his darkness. He calls it light. He blasphemes when he thinks he reasons, just as these Jews crucified the Son of God, that, as they said, they might give glory to God.