The God we serve is Able!!4th Sunday of Toubah

Great Hope

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear

not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and

save you.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Isa

35:4,5

Fear

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish

leaders, who already had decided that anyone who

acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of

age; ask him.” Jn 9:22,23

Joseph of Arimathea

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate

for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of

Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With

Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body

away. Jn 19:38

RestorationHe answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Gen 3:10

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Jn 20:19,20

Pride and stubbornness

24 A second time they summoned the man who had been

blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said.

“We know this man is a sinner.” Jn 9:24

Trust in the Lord

17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we

serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want

you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you

have set up.” Dan 3:17,18

Rejection 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown

him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man

asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the

one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and

he worshiped him. John 9: 35-38

He is with you!!!

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and

familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isa

53:3

St Cyril of AlexandriaThis excerpt from from a commentary on the gospel of John (Lib. 10: PG 74, 434) by

Saint Cyril of Alexandria

After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained

necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was

something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit.