Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent, April 7, 2025

Today’s Readings, from the USCCB:

Reading I

Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim, who married a very beautiful and God-fearing woman, Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah; her pious parents had trained their daughter according to the law of Moses. Joakim was very rich; he had a garden near his house, and the Jews had recourse to him often because he was the most respected of them all.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, of whom the Lord said, “Wickedness has come out of Babylon: from the elders who were to govern the people as judges.” These men, to whom all brought their cases, frequented the house of Joakim. When the people left at noon, Susanna used to enter her husband’s garden for a walk. When the old men saw her enter every day for her walk, they began to lust for her. They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments.

One day, while they were waiting for the right moment, she entered the garden as usual, with two maids only. She decided to bathe, for the weather was warm. Nobody else was there except the two elders, who had hidden themselves and were watching her. “Bring me oil and soap,” she said to the maids, “and shut the garden doors while I bathe.”

As soon as the maids had left, the two old men got up and hurried to her. “Look,” they said, “the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us; give in to our desire, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that you dismissed your maids because a young man was here with you.”

“I am completely trapped,” Susanna groaned. “If I yield, it will be my death; if I refuse, I cannot escape your power. Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.” Then Susanna shrieked, and the old men also shouted at her, as one of them ran to open the garden doors. When the people in the house heard the cries from the garden, they rushed in by the side gate to see what had happened to her. At the accusations by the old men, the servants felt very much ashamed, for never had any such thing been said about Susanna.

When the people came to her husband Joakim the next day, the two wicked elders also came, fully determined to put Susanna to death. Before all the people they ordered: “Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, the wife of Joakim.” When she was sent for, she came with her parents, children and all her relatives. All her relatives and the onlookers were weeping.

In the midst of the people the two elders rose up and laid their hands on her head. Through tears she looked up to heaven, for she trusted in the Lord wholeheartedly. The elders made this accusation: “As we were walking in the garden alone, this woman entered with two girls and shut the doors of the garden, dismissing the girls. A young man, who was hidden there, came and lay with her. When we, in a corner of the garden, saw this crime, we ran toward them. We saw them lying together, but the man we could not hold, because he was stronger than we; he opened the doors and ran off. Then we seized her and asked who the young man was, but she refused to tell us. We testify to this.” The assembly believed them, since they were elders and judges of the people, and they condemned her to death.

But Susanna cried aloud: “O eternal God, you know what is hidden and are aware of all things before they come to be: you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to die, though I have done none of the things with which these wicked men have charged me.”

The Lord heard her prayer. As she was being led to execution, God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried aloud: “I will have no part in the death of this woman.” All the people turned and asked him, “What is this you are saying?” He stood in their midst and continued, “Are you such fools, O children of Israel! To condemn a woman of Israel without examination and without clear evidence? Return to court, for they have testified falsely against her.”

Then all the people returned in haste. To Daniel the elders said, “Come, sit with us and inform us, since God has given you the prestige of old age.” But he replied, “Separate these two far from each other that I may examine them.”

After they were separated one from the other, he called one of them and said: “How you have grown evil with age! Now have your past sins come to term: passing unjust sentences, condemning the innocent, and freeing the guilty, although the Lord says, ‘The innocent and the just you shall not put to death.’ Now, then, if you were a witness, tell me under what tree you saw them together.” “Under a mastic tree,” he answered. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you your head, for the angel of God shall receive the sentence from him and split you in two.” Putting him to one side, he ordered the other one to be brought. Daniel said to him, “Offspring of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has subverted your conscience. This is how you acted with the daughters of Israel, and in their fear they yielded to you; but a daughter of Judah did not tolerate your wickedness. Now, then, tell me under what tree you surprised them together.” “Under an oak,” he said. Daniel replied, “Your fine lie has cost you also your head, for the angel of God waits with a sword to cut you in two so as to make an end of you both.”

The whole assembly cried aloud, blessing God who saves those who hope in him. They rose up against the two elders, for by their own words Daniel had convicted them of perjury. According to the law of Moses, they inflicted on them the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor: they put them to death. Thus was innocent blood spared that day.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.

R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage.

R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.

R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.

Verse before the Gospel

Ezekiel 33:11

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

Gospel

John 8:12-20

Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." So the Pharisees said to him, "You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone. And even if I should judge, my judgement is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified. I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me." So they said to him, "Where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

 

When No One Stands With You – Except God
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness…” – John 8:12

There are moments that divide a life into before and after.

Moments when your name, your reputation, your intentions – everything you’ve built – is called into question by people who don’t really know you.

People who think they do.

People who want to believe the worst because it makes them feel better.

Because it makes you easier to cast out.

Reading the story of Susanna today didn’t feel like ancient Scripture.

It felt like déjà vu.

Like someone pressed play on a memory I’ve never been able to fully shut off.

Because I know what it feels like to be misunderstood.

To be misjudged.

To have people whisper, twist, and spread a narrative that feels more like fiction than fact – but gains traction because it’s convenient.

I know what it’s like to feel the weight of accusation, not necessarily in court, but in the court of public opinion.

In family.

In friendships.

In the sacred spaces that once felt like home but now feel like tightropes.

And the worst part?

Knowing it all started with something I did.

A mistake. A misstep. A sin.

But it didn’t end there.

Others seized it.

Magnified it.

Used it.

It’s a haunting kind of helplessness – to watch people you once trusted turn on you.

To hear silence from those who once cheered you on.

To be judged more harshly by people than by the God I’ve cried out to in the dark.

That’s why Susanna’s story shatters something inside me.

Because when the voices rise against her, when even the respected elders lie and the crowd believes them…

She prays.

She lifts her tear-filled eyes to heaven.

And she trusts in a God who sees.

I remember the day I stopped defending myself.

Not because I didn’t want to – but because no one wanted to hear it.

They had made up their minds.

And in their minds, I was the villain in someone else’s story.

There’s a special kind of grief that comes when you’re alive but spoken of like you’re dead.

When people say your name like it’s a warning.

When you walk into places that used to feel safe, and all you feel is eyes.

There are days I’ve asked God, “Where were You then?”

When they threw their stones, when they gossiped, when they turned friends into spectators and pain into entertainment…

Why didn’t You step in?

But then I read today’s Gospel.

“I am the light of the world,” Jesus says.

And suddenly, I see it.

He never promised to keep the shadows from falling.

He never promised the absence of accusation.

But He did promise this – that even in the darkest valleys, He would be there.

And He was.

He is.

In the silence that followed my worst mistakes, in the echo chamber of shame, in the sleepless nights spent wondering if I’d ever get another chance…

He didn’t abandon me.

He didn’t shout over the crowd.

He whispered to my heart, “I see you. I know the truth. I still love you.”

Just like He did for Susanna.

Just like He does for anyone who falls to their knees, not with polished prayers, but with raw honesty.

And sometimes, like Daniel, He sends someone to speak up when you no longer have the strength.

I think about my wife.

Despite the stress I’ve brought into our marriage – she still loves me.

Not blindly. Not naively.

But with the kind of grace that reminds me what mercy looks like in the flesh.

I think about my sons.

The way they still call me Dad.

The way they’ve seen me screw up but still reach for me.

The way they offer me a future when I get lost in the past.

I think about the friends who stayed.

The ones who saw me at my worst and didn’t look away.

The ones who didn’t just believe in me – but believed with me.

That redemption was possible. That change was real.

That I wasn’t finished yet.

And I think about God.

Still showing up.

Still speaking truth in the temple.

Still walking toward the cross, even while others plotted His death.

Still holding the light, even when surrounded by darkness.

That’s the God I cling to.

Not the God of perfect people with flawless records.

But the God who defends the falsely accused.

Who redeems the broken.

Who shines light into corners we’ve given up on.

Who kneels in the dust, who calms the crowd, who never once looks away.

Today, I’m reminded that God doesn’t just watch from afar.

He steps into the courtroom.

He calls out the lies.

He names the truth.

And He does it not with fury – but with justice.

Not with condemnation – but with clarity.

Not with shame – but with a love so fierce, it parts seas and exposes falsehood and restores the name of the one almost forgotten.

Maybe you’ve felt like Susanna.

Maybe you’ve felt like me.

Maybe you’re still waiting for someone to speak up, to say, “This isn’t who he is.”

Let me say it for you – you are not your worst moment.

You are not the lies they told.

You are not the silence of the people who walked away.

You are seen.

You are heard.

You are loved.

And today – maybe even now – God is raising up your Daniel.

Someone who knows the truth.

Someone who isn’t afraid to speak it.

Someone who will not let you be executed by shame or buried by falsehood.

So hold on.

Keep praying.

Keep trusting.

Because even when you walk through the valley of accusation…

The Lord is at your side.

And He still saves those who hope in Him.