There will always be folks who will try to find fault in you. They will throw ‘stones’ at you and even incite others to do likewise. Especially when you are trying your best to grow in holiness and your relationship with the Lord. For this is the nature of sin and evil in the world. How you respond if you must, is what distinguishes you from those who are not disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Does your fortitude come from the faith in God our Heavenly Father whom you know will never abandon you? Hence when you do respond, you would have allowed the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you in all you say and do. You will NOT pick up ‘stones’ yourself to throw back. For like Jeremiah in today’s first reading, you have committed your cause to the Lord!
Jesus my Lord, You have gone through it all, betrayal, mental and physical anguish; even the temptation to give in and give up. Be with me in all my moments of difficulty. Thy will be done Lord, thy will be done. Amen
First reading
Jeremiah 20:10-13 †
He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men
Jeremiah said:
I hear so many disparaging me,
‘“Terror from every side!”Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All those who used to be my friends
watched for my downfall,‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we will master him
and take our revenge!’
But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero;
my opponents will stumble, mastered,
confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.
But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice, who scrutinise the loins and heart,
let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.
Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men.
Gospel
John 10:31-42
They wanted to stone Jesus, but he eluded them
The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are not stoning you for doing a good work but for blasphemy: you are only a man and you claim to be God.’ Jesus answered:
‘Is it not written in your Law:
I said, you are gods?
So the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed, and scripture cannot be rejected.
Yet you say to someone the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because he says, “I am the son of God.”
If I am not doing my Father’s work,
there is no need to believe me;
but if I am doing it,
then even if you refuse to believe in me,
at least believe in the work I do;
then you will know for sure
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’
They wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded them.
He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had once been baptising. Many people who came to him there said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him.
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