Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

LECTIONARY
254

FIRST READING

GN 17:3-9

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
"My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God."

God also said to Abraham:
"On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages."

PSALM

PS 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Response: The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations –
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

GOSPEL

JN 8:51-59

Jesus said to the Jews:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death."
So the Jews said to him,
"Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad."
So the Jews said to him,
"You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

Daily Reflection

When Jesus preached to the people, He challenged the very foundation of their beliefs and their understanding of God.

Jesus said that to know Him and to understand His Word would enable every believer to experience God; for it was to God the Father that Jesus had come to testify. He also said that by believing in and obeying His Word, one would inherit eternal life. A concept that people found difficult to digest.

The teachings of Jesus lead us to personally discover the God we worship, rather than build our faith on concepts handed down. And the surest way to begin this journey is with Sacred Scripture, to know and experience God as Scripture presents Him to us.

In the first reading we hear of Abram’s encounter with God. Unlike many of his kinsmen who worshipped a plethora of gods and idols, Abram made a choice to follow the ‘One’ God who had called him to a walk of faith! In time, Abram grew to discover more and more the God he followed.

Do we know whom we believe in? Do we know whom we follow?