Homily for Friday, 5th Week of Lent

Homily for Friday
5th Week of Lent

March 31, 2023
Jer 20: 10-13
John 10: 31-42
Provincial House, N.R.

2 thoughts from today’s Scriptures, one from Jeremiah and one from John.

Jeremiah Lamenting Jerusalem's Destruction

(Rembrandt)

Jeremiah cries to the Lord about his persecutors, praying for the Lord to dispose of them and rescue him.  We’re mindful of the thousands if not tens of thousands of Christians under persecution today—in China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and elsewhere.  We pray that they, like Jeremiah, will persevere and that the Lord may be their “mighty champion,” that persecutors “not triumph” (20:11) but undergo a conversion of heart.

Jesus answers his opponents by pointing to his good works, which are his Father’s works (10:37-38).  Back in the 1970s there was a popular poster that asked, “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enuf evidence to convict you?”  As followers of Jesus, we are charged to give evidence of his Father’s works in our words and actions, evidence that Jesus is alive in us.