The Popish Plot
vLent 2019: "Bonus from: 'The Prosperity Plot'"
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Fifth Sunday of Lent
The Book of Isaiah, chapter forty-three, verses sixteen thru twenty-one;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verses one & two, two & three, four & five, & six;
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter three, verses eight thru fourteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eight, verses one thru eleven.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, our Gospel today tells about the woman that scribes and Pharisees caught in adultery. Imagine where they were standing when they caught her in the very act. The voyeurism and perversion of these men! Then they comeen masse, in the terrible enthusiasm of a mob, and they present the case to Jesus.
Now, what does Jesus do in the face of this violent mob? First, he writes on the ground. The mysterious writing might indicate the listing of the sins of each person in the group. As he said in another Gospel, "Remove the plank in your own eye, and then you can see more clearly the speck in your brother’s eye."
And then he says, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her." He forces them to turn their accusing glance inward, where it belongs. Instead of projecting their violence outward on a scapegoat, they should honestly name and confront the dysfunction within themselves.
This story, like all the stories in the Gospels, is a foreshadowing of the great story toward which we are tending. Jesus will be put to death by a mob bent on scapegoating violence.
Reflect: What is "scapegoating violence" and where do you see it in our culture? Have you ever been involved in this type of violence yourself?
Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 77
The Book of Exodus, chapter thirty-three, verses one, two, three & twelve thru twenty-three.
Commentary: The Command to Leave Sinai (Exodus, 33:1-3) & Moses's Intercession (Exodus, 33:12-23).
Mass Journal: Week XIX
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
How I wish that when people discovered you or I are Catholic, they could immediately conclude that we are honest, hardworking, generous, loving, joyful, compassionate, temperate, humble, disciplined, prayerful, & generally in love with life. You wouldn't need too many people like this to develop a positive reputation for Catholicism in a local community. I pray that God raises them up. I prayer that God will transform you & me into Catholics of that caliber. All it will take to radically alter the way Catholics are perceived in society today is you for & me to become… honest, hardworking, generous, loving, joyful, compassionate, temperate, humble, disciplined, prayerful, & generally in love with life.
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