Reading 1
Ez 37:21-28
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My dwelling shall be with them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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.
Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
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. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
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. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
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. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
Gospel
Jn 11:45-56
Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
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.”
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,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.
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.
Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
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?”
Meditation: John 11:45-56
“What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.” (John 11:47)
From the outset, Jesus’ ministry was rife with miracles. He changed water into wine (John 2:1-11). Then he healed a royal official’s son without even seeing or touching the lad (4:47-54). Later, with one simple command, he healed a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years (5:1-9). He also walked on water, multiplied fishes and loaves, and created sight in a man born blind (6:1-21; 9:1-8). And finally, as the climax of all his miracles, he raised a man from death (11:34-44).
The attitude of Jesus’ opponents toward all this seems almost nonchalant. They didn’t deny the facts; they just didn’t seem to care about them. Instead, they focused nearsightedly on their own concerns—that Jesus might cause them some trouble with the Romans.
Isn’t that just what happens when we lose touch with the Lord in our everyday lives? A miracle occurs, and we dismiss it with a matter-of-fact explanation. A person repents and changes his life, and we chalk it up to maturity. We have a sense of peace at Mass, and we ascribe it to the music, not the Holy Spirit. Is it possible we’ve become too “sophisticated” for our own good?
Jesus urged: “Let the children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). He wants us to come to him with childlike expectation, wide-eyed and wondering what he will do next. He wants us to ask for miracles and look for them, to step back occasionally during the day and ask: “What are you doing right now?” Jesus’ opponents grew up too fast. They became too serious, when they should have been simply amazed at what God
was doing around them.
So get acquainted with the Spirit’s still, small voice in the little things in your life. Jesus hasn’t stopped creating or healing or feeding or bringing life to his people. He never changes, and what he did two thousand years ago, he still does today. Learn to sense his presence, the gentleness of his touch, the sound of his voice. And be prepared to see the astonishing unfold right before your eyes!
“Jesus, take my hand, and lead me today. Open my eyes to the miracles you are working around me, and free me to rejoice at them.”
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