When I stood before My executioners, accused of heresy and of daring to speak the Truth, My apostles ran away and were nowhere to be found. Those who followed Me and accepted My Teachings betrayed Me when My Word was challenged by those in authority. They began to lose trust in Me and they began to doubt Me.
Some of My followers believed the crimes of heresy, of which I was accused, and that they were justified. So powerful were My accusers – men in high places, dressed in exotic robes and who walked and talked with a sense of real authority – that few doubted them.
I was probed, challenged, sneered at, belittled, ridiculed and mocked for speaking the Truth. People fell before these rulers – men with mighty voices and whose authority was never questioned. My Voice became like a whisper in the midst of the roars of My accusers.
“Heretic” – they shouted. They said I spoke with an evil tongue, that I blasphemed against God and that I wanted to destroy their church. And so, they murdered Me in cold blood.
It will be no different when I try to make My Voice known now. When I attempt to warn all God’s children about events, which I spoke to you, My daughter, for the last couple of years. My Word will be treated with contempt. My Word will be questioned. Doubts will creep in and, once again, My apostles will run away and leave Me to the wolves.
Make no mistake, the Truth has been revealed to you. I have told you, My followers, how you will be deceived. This will very difficult for you because you will question this imposter who sits in My Father’s House.
My beloved Pope Benedict XVI was persecuted and fled, as foretold. I have not appointed this person, who claims to come in My Name.
He, Pope Benedict, will guide My followers towards the Truth. I have not deserted him and I will hold him close to My Heart and give him the comfort he needs at this terrible time.
His throne has been stolen. His power has not.
Your Jesus”
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 245
Reading 1EZ 47:1-9, 12
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Responsorial PsalmPS 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Verse Before The GospelPS 51:12A, 14A
A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
GospelJN 5:1-16
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.'”
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.”
On this mountain theLord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for theLord has spoken.”
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.”
