Wednesday
of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 246
Lectionary: 246
Thus
says the LORD:
In a time of favor I answer you,
on the day of salvation I help you;
and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,
To restore the land
and allot the desolate heritages,
Saying to the prisoners: Come out!
To those in darkness: Show yourselves!
Along the ways they shall find pasture,
on every bare height shall their pastures be.
They shall not hunger or thirst,
nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;
For he who pities them leads them
and guides them beside springs of water.
I will cut a road through all my mountains,
and make my highways level.
See, some shall come from afar,
others from the north and the west,
and some from the land of Syene.
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
break forth into song, you mountains.
For the LORD comforts his people
and shows mercy to his afflicted.
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.
In a time of favor I answer you,
on the day of salvation I help you;
and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,
To restore the land
and allot the desolate heritages,
Saying to the prisoners: Come out!
To those in darkness: Show yourselves!
Along the ways they shall find pasture,
on every bare height shall their pastures be.
They shall not hunger or thirst,
nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;
For he who pities them leads them
and guides them beside springs of water.
I will cut a road through all my mountains,
and make my highways level.
See, some shall come from afar,
others from the north and the west,
and some from the land of Syene.
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
break forth into song, you mountains.
For the LORD comforts his people
and shows mercy to his afflicted.
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.
Responsorial
Psalm PS 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
R.
(8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Verse
Before The Gospel Jn 11:25a, 26
I am
the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
whoever believes in me will never die.
Gospel
Jn 5:17-30
Jesus
answered the Jews:
“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”
For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone,
but he has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Whoever does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this,
because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come out,
those who have done good deeds
to the resurrection of life,
but those who have done wicked deeds
to the resurrection of condemnation.
“I cannot do anything on my own;
I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”
“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”
For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that he himself does,
and he will show him greater works than these,
so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone,
but he has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Whoever does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this,
because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear his voice and will come out,
those who have done good deeds
to the resurrection of life,
but those who have done wicked deeds
to the resurrection of condemnation.
“I cannot do anything on my own;
I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,
because I do not seek my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”
Meditation: "My Father is working still,
and I am working"
Who
can claim authority and power over life and death itself? Jesus not only made
such a claim, he showed God's power to heal and restore people to wholeness of
life. He also showed the mercy of God by releasing people from their burden of
sin and guilt. He even claimed to have the power to raise the dead to life and
to execute judgment on all the living and dead. The Jewish authorities were
troubled with Jesus' claims and looked for a way to get rid of him. He either
had to be a mad man and an imposter or who he claimed to be - God's divine son.
Unfortunately, they could not accept Jesus' claim to be the Messiah, the
anointed one sent by the Father to redeem his people. They sought to kill him
because he claimed an authority and equality with God which they could not
accept. They failed to recognize that this was God's answer to the long-awaited
prayers of his people: "In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day
of salvation I have helped you" (Isaiah 49:8).
A
"covenant" to the people
Jesus was sent by the Father as "a covenant to the people" to reconcile them with God and restore to them the promise of paradise and everlasting life. Jesus' words and actions reveal God's mercy and justice. Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah when he brings healing, restoration, and forgiveness to those who accept his divine message.
Jesus was sent by the Father as "a covenant to the people" to reconcile them with God and restore to them the promise of paradise and everlasting life. Jesus' words and actions reveal God's mercy and justice. Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah when he brings healing, restoration, and forgiveness to those who accept his divine message.
The
religious authorities charged Jesus as a Sabbath-breaker and a blasphemer. They
wanted to kill Jesus because he claimed equality with God - something they
thought no mortal could say without blaspheming. Little did they understand
that Jesus was both human and divine - the eternal Son with the Father and the
human son, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. Jesus answered
their charge of breaking the Sabbath law by demonstrating God's purpose for
creation and redemption - to save and restore life. God's love and mercy never
ceases for a moment. Jesus continues to show the Father's mercy by healing and
restoring people, even on the Sabbath day of rest. When the religious leaders
charged that Jesus was making himself equal with God, Jesus replied that he was
not acting independently of God because his relationship is a close personal
Father-Son relationship. He and the Father are united in heart, mind, and will.
The mind of Jesus is the mind of God, and the words of Jesus are the words of
God.
The
unity of love and obedience
Jesus also states that his identity with the Father is based on complete trust and obedience. Jesus always did what his Father wanted him to do. His obedience was not just based on submission, but on love. He obeyed because he loved his Father. The unity between Jesus and the Father is a unity of love - a total giving of oneself for the sake of another. That is why their mutual love for each other is perfect and complete. The Son loves the Father and gives himself in total obedience to the Father's will. The Father loves the Son and shares with him all that he is and has. We are called to submit our lives to God with the same love, trust, and obedience which Jesus demonstrated for his Father.
Jesus also states that his identity with the Father is based on complete trust and obedience. Jesus always did what his Father wanted him to do. His obedience was not just based on submission, but on love. He obeyed because he loved his Father. The unity between Jesus and the Father is a unity of love - a total giving of oneself for the sake of another. That is why their mutual love for each other is perfect and complete. The Son loves the Father and gives himself in total obedience to the Father's will. The Father loves the Son and shares with him all that he is and has. We are called to submit our lives to God with the same love, trust, and obedience which Jesus demonstrated for his Father.
If we
wish to understand how God deals with sin and how he responds to our sinful
condition, then we must look to Jesus. Jesus took our sins upon himself and
nailed them to the cross. He, who is equal in dignity and stature with the
Father, became a servant for our sake to ransom us from slavery to sin. He has
the power to forgive us and to restore our relationship with God because he
paid the price for our sins.
Jesus
states that to accept him is life - a life of abundant peace
and joy with God. But if we reject him, then we freely choose for death -
an endless separation with an all-loving and merciful God. Do you want the
abundant life which Jesus offers? Believe in him, the living Word of God, who
became a man for our sake and our salvation, and reject whatever is false and
contrary to the gospel - the good news he came to give us.
"Lord
Jesus, increase my love for you and unite my heart and will with yours, that I
may only seek and desire what is pleasing to you."
A
Daily Quote for Lent: The
wonderful exchange, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Unless
the Word of God had first assumed our mortal flesh he could not have died for
us. Only in that way was the immortal God able to die and to give life to
mortal humans. Therefore, by this double sharing he brought about a wonderful
exchange. We made death possible for him, and he made life possible for us." (excerpt
from Sermon 218c,1)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, JOHN
5:17-30
Lenten Weekday
(Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm 145)
Lenten Weekday
(Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm 145)
KEY VERSE: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work" (v 17).
TO KNOW: In Jesus' day, a son learned his trade by watching his father at work. Thus, Jesus learned carpentry from his earthly father Joseph. Similarly, Jesus imitated his heavenly Father's creative and redemptive work in everything he said and did. When Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath law by healing a cripple (Jn 5:1-16), he declared that God's activity was ongoing. Jesus did not act on his own accord; he only did what the Father did. Jesus received divine power from the Father to exercise judgment and authority over life and death. Jesus' word brought healing and life to those who believed in the One who sent him, and condemnation to those who did not. At the last judgment, everyone who heard his voice and obeyed his word will be raised to eternal life.
TO LOVE: Do I reveal God's saving work by what I say and do?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to be a faithful child of your Father.
Optional Memorial of
Frances of Rome, religious
Frances was an aristocrat by birth, the mother of three and a widow. She was the foundress of the Oblates of the Tor de' Specchi (Collatines). Frances spent her life and fortune, both as laywoman and religious, in the service of the sick and the poor, including the founding of the first home in Rome for abandoned children. She dictated 97 visions, in which she saw many of the pains of Hell. On her feast day priests bless cars due to her patronage of cars and drivers. Although Frances never drove, legend says that when she went abroad at night, her guardian angel went before her lighting the road with a lantern, keeping her safe in her travels.
Wednesday March 9 2016
Wed
9th.(St Frances of Rome). Isaiah 49:8-15. The Lord is kind and merciful—Ps
144(145):8-9, 13-14, 17-18. John 5:17-30.
There
are some images from the scriptures that stay with us.
‘Can
a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget, I will never forget you.’ Many years ago, I sat praying
in my school chapel feeling troubled in the midst of a turbulent adolescence.
God reached out and sent me an image of an adult hand holding a child’s hand.
What a comfort that image continues to be. As I struggle to fulfill my promises
in these later stages of my Lenten pilgrimage, I thank you God for your
presence in my life, for the comfort in my times of struggle and for your
unending love.
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
Lend A Hand
|
More and more people work at occupations that make few physical
demands. While there will always be jobs that involve manual labor, not
everyone can enjoy the satisfaction that comes with seeing a concrete result
from physical work. Often our hobbies reveal that we need to do things with our
hands, we need to be active, and we need to use our bodies as well as our minds.
March
9
St. Frances of Rome
(1384-1440)
St. Frances of Rome
(1384-1440)
Frances's life combines aspects of secular
and religious life. A devoted and loving wife, she longed for a lifestyle of
prayer and service, so she organized a group of women to minister to the needs
of Rome's poor.
Born of wealthy parents, Frances found herself
attracted to the religious life during her youth. But her parents objected and
a young nobleman was selected to be her husband.
As she became acquainted with her new relatives,
Frances soon discovered that the wife of her husband’s brother also wished to
live a life of service and prayer. So the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out
together—with their husbands’ blessings—to help the poor.
Frances fell ill for a time, but this apparently only
deepened her commitment to the suffering people she met. The years passed, and
Frances gave birth to two sons and a daughter. With the new responsibilities of
family life, the young mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own
household.
The family flourished under Frances’s care, but within
a few years a great plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with
devastating cruelty and left Frances’s second son dead. In an effort to help
alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold her
possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all the
resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to door begging.
Later, Frances’s daughter died, and the saint opened a section of her house as
a hospital.
Frances became more and more convinced that this way
of life was so necessary for the world, and it was not long before she
requested and was given permission to found a society of women bound by no
vows. They simply offered themselves to God and to the service of the poor.
Once the society was established, Frances chose not to live at the community
residence, but rather at home with her husband. She did this for seven years,
until her husband passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life
with the society—serving the poorest of the poor.
Comment:
Looking at the exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (September 5), who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows.
Looking at the exemplary life of fidelity to God and devotion to her fellow human beings which Frances of Rome was blessed to lead, one cannot help but be reminded of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (September 5), who loved Jesus Christ in prayer and also in the poor. The life of Frances of Rome calls each of us not only to look deeply for God in prayer, but also to carry our devotion to Jesus living in the suffering of our world. Frances shows us that this life need not be restricted to those bound by vows.
Quote:
Malcolm Muggeridge's book Something Beautiful for God contains this quote from Mother Teresa about each sister in her community: “Let Christ radiate and live his life in her and through her in the slums. Let the poor seeing her be drawn to Christ and invite him to enter their homes and lives.” Says Frances of Rome: “It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).
Malcolm Muggeridge's book Something Beautiful for God contains this quote from Mother Teresa about each sister in her community: “Let Christ radiate and live his life in her and through her in the slums. Let the poor seeing her be drawn to Christ and invite him to enter their homes and lives.” Says Frances of Rome: “It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints).
Patron Saint of:
Motorists
Widows
Motorists
Widows
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 5,17-30
Lectio Divina:
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Lent Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Our God and Father,
you keep seeking us out
with love as passionate as a mother's love,
even when we have abandoned you.Give us hope and courage,
especially when we feel uncertain.
Reassure us that you want us to live
in the security of your love
and that you stay with us
through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
you keep seeking us out
with love as passionate as a mother's love,
even when we have abandoned you.Give us hope and courage,
especially when we feel uncertain.
Reassure us that you want us to live
in the security of your love
and that you stay with us
through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN 5, 17-30
Jesus answer to the Jews was, 'My Father
still goes on working, and I am at work, too.' But that only made the Jews even
more intent on killing him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but
he spoke of God as his own Father and so made himself God's equal.
To this Jesus replied: In all truth I
tell you, by himself the Son can do nothing; 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 himself does, 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.
In all truth I tell you, whoever listens
to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without
being brought to judgement such a person has passed from death to life.
In all truth I tell you, the hour is
coming -- indeed it is already here -- when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For as the Father has life in
himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and, because
he is the Son of man, has granted him power to give judgement.
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 come forth to life; and those who did evil will come
forth to judgement. By myself I can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told
to judge, and my judging is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the
will of him who sent me.
3) REFLECTION
• The Gospel of John is different from
the other three. It reveals a more profound dimension which only faith is able
to perceive in the words and gestures of Jesus. The Fathers of the Church would
say that the Gospel of John is “spiritual”, it reveals what
the Spiritmakes one discover in the words of Jesus (cf. Jn 16,
12-13). A beautiful example of this spiritual dimension of the Gospel of John
is the passage which we are going to meditate on today.
• John 5, 17-18: Jesus explains
the profound meaning of the healing of the paralytic. Criticized by
the Jews for having cured on Saturday, Jesus answers: “My Father still goes
on working, and I am at work too!” The Jews taught that no work could
be done on Saturday, because even God had rested and had not worked on the
seventh day of creation (Ex 20, 8-11). Jesus affirms the contrary. He says that
the Father has always worked even until now. And for
this reason, Jesus also works, and even on Saturday. He imitates his Father!
For Jesus the work of creation is not finished as yet. God continues to work,
unceasingly, day and night, holding up the Universe and all of us. Jesus
collaborates with the Father continuing the work of creation in such a way that
one day all may be able to enter into the eternal rest that has been promised.
The reaction of the Jews was violent. They wanted to kill him for two reasons:
because he denied the sense of Saturday and for saying he was equal to God.
• John 5, 19-21: It is love
which allows the creative action of God to shine and be visible. These
verses reveal something of the relationship between Jesus and the Father.
Jesus, the Son, lives permanently attentive before the Father. What he sees the
Father do, he does it also. Jesus is the reflection of the Father. He is the
face of the Father! This total attention of the Son to the Father makes it
possible for the love of the Father to enter totally into the Son and through
the Son, carry out his action in the world. The great concern of the Father is
that of overcoming death and to give life. It is a way of continuing the
creative work of the Father.
• John 5, 22-23: The Father
judges no one; he has entrusted all judgment to the Son. What is
decisive in life is the way in which we place ourselves before the Creator,
because it radically depends on him. Now the Creator becomes present for us in
Jesus. The plenitude of the divinity dwells in Jesus (cf. Col 1, 19). And
therefore, according to the way in which we are before Jesus, we express our
position before God, the Creator. What the Father wants is that we know him and
honour him in the revelation which he makes of himself in Jesus.
• John 5, 24: The life of God in
us through Jesus. God is life, he is creating force. Wherever he is
present, there is life. He becomes present in the Word of Jesus. The one who
listens to the word of Jesus as a word that comes from God has already risen.
He has already received the vivifying touch which leads him beyond death. Jesus
passed from death to life. The proof of this is in the healing of the
paralytic.
• John 5, 25-29: The
resurrection is already taking place. All of us are the dead who still
have not opened ourselves to the voice of Jesus which comes from the Father.
But “the hour will come” and it is now, in which the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who will listen, will live”. With the Word
of Jesus which comes from the Father, the new creation begins; it is already on
the way. The creative word of Jesus will reach all, even those who have already
died. They will hear and will live.
• John 5, 30: Jesus is the reflection of
the Father. “By myself I can do nothing; I can judge only as I am told to
judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the
will of him who sent me”. This last phrase is the summary of all that has been
said before. This was the idea that the community of the time of John had and
diffused regarding Jesus.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• How do you imagine the relationship
between Jesus and the Father?
• How do you live faith in the
resurrection?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger, full of faithful love.
Yahweh is generous to all,
his tenderness embraces all his creatures. (Ps 145,8-9)
slow to anger, full of faithful love.
Yahweh is generous to all,
his tenderness embraces all his creatures. (Ps 145,8-9)
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