THE DAILY GOSPEL
March 18, 2015 (Wednesday)
Ps 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 The Lord is gracious and merciful.
4th Week of Lent St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor 1st Reading: Is 49:8-15 This is what Yahweh says: “At a favorable time I have answered you, on the day of salvation I have been your help; I have formed you and made you to be my Covenant with the people.
You will restore the land, and allot its abandoned farms. You will say to the captives: Come out; and to those in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the road; they will find pasture on barren hills. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching wind or the sun beat upon them; for he who has mercy on them will guide them and lead them to springs of water.
I will turn all my mountains into roads and raise up my highways.
See, they come from afar, some from the north and west, others from the land of Sinim.” Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth; break forth into song, Omountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people and taken pity on those who are afflicted. But Zion said: “Yahweh has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb?
Yet though she forget, I will never forget you. Gospel: Jn 5:17-30
Jesus replied, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling God his own Father.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.
Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life.
Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself, and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. And he has empowered him as well to carry out Judgment, for he is Son of Man.
Do not be surprised at this: The hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
I can do nothing of myself. As I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Reflection:
Today’s gospel reminds us of the often used phrase “chip off the old block”, which generally means that a person (usually a male) behaves in the same way as his father or resembles his father. It widely refers to the relationship between father and son, and means that they are of similar character, or “made of the same stuff” so to speak. Jesus proclaims to the Jews and to us his listeners that he and the Father are “of the same stuff” when he said, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does.” Jesus is the perfect mirror of the Father as He acts in Jesus and through him. Their father-son bond is limitless. Jesus, like the Father, is a source of life because if life is what the Father offers, so does he, the son, offer life to those who believe. Therefore our faith in the life-giving character of God in Jesus enables us to endure hardships, challenges, trials, and persecutions because we know that if we remain united with God, we are safe and secure.