6 Apr
Sun
5th Sunday of Lent (B)
Jer. 31:31-34
Ps. 51:1-2,10-13
Heb. 5:7-9
Jn. 12:20-33
(Ps. Week I)
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Jeremiah tells us about the Covenant God made with His people through Moses and how they failed to honour it. This Old Covenant was broken, even though it was undertaken most solemnly and sealed with the blood of animal sacrifice. In the second, the New Covenant, the blood of Jesus on the Cross was to seal it and the promise to be God's people was to be written, not in stone as the first Covenant was, but in their very hearts. The knowledge of God as their God could not be so easily side-stepped. This Jesus, "the source of eternal salvation", (Hebrews:5:9) , we are told by Paul, submitted humbly to God's plan for Him to be part of this New Covenant.

He obeyed "through suffering" (Hebrews:5:8). The necessity for this He explains in John's Gospel when the Greeks asked to see Him. Jesus' point was that it was imperative for them not just to see Him physically but more to 'see' the truth about Him; to 'see' the role of self-abandonment to the Father's will in his life, and in our lives too if we wish to consider ourselves His followers, thus participating in the New Covenant. By doing so, we might 'see' not just the man in Jesus, but His life being a glorification of God's Name.



Lord, we pray earnestly to be able to give up self and to serve and follow Jesus unstintingly for the glory of God. Amen.

DAILY OFFERING
Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day; my thoughts, words, joys and sufferings. Grant that, vivified by the Holy Spirit and united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my life this day may be of service to You and to others. I also pray that all those preparing for marriage discover in Sacrament the source of Christ's grace for living a fithful and fruitful love. Amen.

PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH
INTENTION
That those who hold positions of responsibility in the Church may offer a shining example of a life which is always responsive to the guidance of the Spirit.
Elaboration

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