Daily Gospel for April 4. Readings for today, Saturday. John 11:45-57

Reading for today April 4, Saturday.

Reading the Book of Ezekiel 37,21-28. The Lord says this: "I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land and on the mountains of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their filthy practices and all their sins. I shall rescue them from all the betrayals they have been guilty of; I shall cleanse them; they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all; they will follow my observances, respect my laws and practise them. They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They will live in it, they, their children, their children"s children, for ever. David my servant is to be their prince for ever. I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and increase them; I shall settle my sanctuary among them for ever. I shall make my home above them; I will be their God, they shall be my people. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord, the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary is with them for ever.

Daily Psalms. Jeremiah 31:10-13

(R). "The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock."

O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: "He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock." (R). 

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord. (R). 

Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give gladness for grief. (R). 

Daily Gospel Aclamation for April 4.

"Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! Shake off all your sins, it is the Lord who speaks, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!" (cf. Ez 18;31)

Daily Gospel for April 4. John 11:45-57.

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?".

Daily Gospel Commentaries by Pope Francis.

About today´s Gospel - Jesus was persecuted. They wanted to kill him... In the Church, in fact, there are those who are persecuted from outside and those who are persecuted from within. The saints themselves have been persecuted.

In fact, when we read the lives of the saints we find ourselves before many misunderstandings and persecutions.

For, being prophets, they said things that were too hard. In this way also many thinkers in the Church were persecuted.

In this way, history testifies to us that all the people whom the Holy Spirit chooses to tell the truth to the people of God suffer persecution.

"Blessed are you when they persecute you for my name´s sake".

Jesus is precisely the model, the icon: the Lord has suffered much, he has been persecuted; and in acting in this way he has taken on all the persecutions of his people.

But even today Christians are persecuted. And they are persecuted because to this worldly society, to this peaceful society that does not want any problems, they tell the truth and announce Jesus Christ. Truly today there is much persecution.

Even today in some places there is the death penalty, there is prison for having the Gospel in the house, for teaching the catechism. A Catholic from these countries told me that they cannot pray together: it is forbidden! You can only pray alone and in secret.

If they want to celebrate the Eucharist they organize a birthday party, they pretend to celebrate the birthday and there they have the Eucharist before the party. And if, as it happened, you see the police arriving, you immediately hide everything, you continue the feast between joy and happiness; then, when the agents leave, you finish the Eucharist.

In fact, this story of persecution, of misunderstanding, continues from the time of the prophets until today. This, moreover, is also the way of the Lord, the way of those who follow the Lord. A path that always ends as for the Lord, with a resurrection, but passing through the Cross.

So do not be afraid of persecutions, of misunderstandings, even if because of them many things are always lost.

For Christians there will always be persecutions, misunderstandings. But we have to face them with the certainty that Jesus is the Lord, and this is the challenge and the cross of our faith. (Homily of today´s Gospel. Santa Marta. April 4, 2014)

Pope´s quotes.

"We should adopt the habit of examining the process of temptation in ourselves, which changes our hearts from good to bad: How did the process begin in my soul? How did it grow?... May the Holy Spirit enlighten us to have this interior awareness.". (04.4.2020 - @pontifex)

Daily Gospel, meditation in video for April 4.