Wednesday 30 March 2022 4th week of Lent
Isaiah 49:8-15
Thus says the Lord: At the favourable time I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. (I have formed you and have appointed you as covenant of the people.) I will restore the land and assign you the estates that lie waste. I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ On every roadway they will graze, and each bare height shall be their pasture. They will never hunger, or thirst, scorching wind and sun shall never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water. I will make a highway of all the mountains, and the high roads shall be banked up. Some are on their way from afar, others from the north and the west, others from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth! You mountains, break into happy cries! For the Lord consoles his people and takes pity on those who are afflicted. For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you.
Psalm 144 The Lord is kind and full of compassion.
John 5:17-30
Jesus said to the Jews, ‘My Father goes on working, and so do I.’ But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the sabbath, he spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal. To this accusation Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: and whatever the Father does the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does himself, and he will show him even greater things than these, works that will astonish you. Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses; for the Father judges no one; he has entrusted all judgement to the Son, so that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever refuses honour to the Son refuses honour to the Father who sent him. I tell you most solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement he has passed from death to life. I tell you most solemnly, the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life; and, because he is the Son of Man, has appointed him supreme judge. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and those who did evil, to condemnation. I can do nothing by myself; I can only judge as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.’
Reflection:
The text from Isaiah forecasts the return of the people of God from their exile in Babylon.
While Israel forgot its God and turned to the gods of other nations leading to their ruin and capture at the hands of the Babylonians, the Lord will never forget his people, as a woman could not forget the child at her breast. This relationship of mother and child is reflected in the Gospel which speaks of the unity between the son and the father. But You don’t need a theological dissertation from me on this.
But perhaps there is a lesson for us on how we enter into unity with God. This happens first by seeking the mind of God. Second, we must believe what we come to know through an act of our will. As we discover the truth, we must choose it for our lives. The challenge is that there are numerous competing voices vying for our attention. As we sort through them, choosing that which God reveals, we naturally become attracted to the mind and will of God and make them our own. In this act, we also become one with God.
Reflect, today, upon the unity you are called to live with the Father and the Son. It is this unity that brings fulfillment to your life. Seek the mind and will of God in all things and your whole being will be drawn into greater unity with God.