April 5, 2025 - Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Artist Sister Mary of the Compassion, OP (1908-1977)

If you were to take a moment and quietly think of three people who you feel know you and think of what each of their responses would be if they were asked who you are, the answers would vary. A family member might say “he/she is a good sibling, he/she is a great friend, he/she is a great son/daughter.” If you were to ask a childhood friend, he/she might say you are like a brother/sister, a person who has been there during challenging times, the one who has travelled through great adventures with them. A work colleague or supervisor might say that you are a good worker, kind and hospitable, always ready to work on tasks that need completion. These individuals may know you through their interactions and time spent together, but when it is all said and done, who are you? You are the person the Lord made you to be. 

In today’s Gospel reading from John, there is a great buzz and clamor about who Jesus is. The crowd who had assembled are struggling to identify who He is. There are some that believe he is the Prophet, yet there are some who are unsure. They find reasons and try to defend their beliefs of why Jesus cannot be the Messiah using Scripture and law, which did not say the Messiah would come from Galilee, but from Bethlehem and the lineage of David.

Even in this present time 2000 years later, we find generations of individuals from different religious denominations and non-believers committed to spending their efforts of dissuading their own family, children, and friends on who they believe Jesus is. For all those misled and misinformed, Jesus is love. He is the Word made flesh. He is the Son of God, one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine. He is the one who took the cross to Calvary for our salvation. He is the one that selfishly took the nails on his hands and feet to demonstrate His love for us and his never-ending mercy and forgiveness for our sins. 

During our Lenten passage this season, as we prepare and celebrate His death and Resurrection, let us continue our repentance and sacrifices to humble ourselves to reach the altar to receive Him. Through the consummation of the Eucharist and drink from His cup, his precious blood, we become one with Christ. He is in us, and we are in Him. It is through the taste of His cup that we really know who Jesus is.  

May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favor in your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Deacon Richard Ferreira, Director, Center for Diaconal Formation

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