Call On Him

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032115.cfm) reminds me who we should call in times of need.

There was a popular movie in the 90’s with the tagline: “Who you ‘gonna caaaaall….?” If you watched the movie, you probably know what’s next – Ghostbusters! They were the only group people called when there were ghosts and monsters. They were the first, and only group people called during times of need. And in the way people remember this movie, God also wants us to remember this in real life.

God wants us to call him and just trust in Him.

In the first reading, we see Jeremiah calling on God to save him from those who plot evil on him. He called on God and is faithful to God. He knows God will come to his rescue and not just protect him, but punish those who seek to harm him. The psalmist echoes this as he takes his refuge in God while faced with challenges and evil.

God does not disappoint.

We know that he did not leave those who call on him. We see how he protected those who call on him and those who had faith in him. We know that nothing is impossible for God, no matter how we see the situation. Whatever we are faced with, no matter how seemingly impossible the situation is, no matter how powerful the people who persecute us may appear to be, may we just call on God and trust in Him.

May our answer to the question “Who you ‘gonna call?” always be God.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to rest and refresh ourselves. Thank you for the reminder. Lord, sorry for the times you are not first on the list of who we call during times of trouble. Help me have firm faith in you that you may always be the first, and only one I will call, not just in times of trouble, but everytime. Amen.

Blessed weekend!

In Christ,

-g-

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March 21, 2015

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 249

Reading 1 Jer 11:18-20

I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;

at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.

Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,

had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:

“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will be spoken no more.”

But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,

searcher of mind and heart,

Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

for to you I have entrusted my cause!

Responsorial Psalm Ps 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12

R. (2a) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;

save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,

Lest I become like the lion’s prey,

to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.

R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,

and because of the innocence that is mine.

Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,

but sustain the just,

O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.

R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

A shield before me is God,

who saves the upright of heart;

A just judge is God,

a God who punishes day by day.

R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.

Verse Before the Gospel See Lk 8:15

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart

and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Gospel Jn 7:40-53

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,

“This is truly the Prophet.”

Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?

Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family

and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.

Some of them even wanted to arrest him,

but no one laid hands on him.

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,

who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”

The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”

So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?

Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?

But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”

Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,

“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him

and finds out what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him,

“You are not from Galilee also, are you?

Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Then each went to his own house.