My Father and I are still working

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March 13, 2024

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

MY FATHER AND I ARE STILL WORKING

Introduction

When Jesus is questioned and blamed for curing a paralyzed man on a Sabbath, Jesus responded to them that how he is like the Father. Yes, after the work of creation, God rested on the seventh day. But the work of redemption is going on, the Father and Jesus are always at work, even on a Sabbath. Both continue the work of liberation, comforting and loving, bringing abundant nourishment to the chosen people, raising up the lame and the dead, all expressions of the work of salvation. God passionately declares that he is with us, that he cannot forget us, that he wants us to live in his love, that he is faithful to his covenant, even if his chosen people are not. Jesus is the sign of God’s love. He is the source of life now among us. With Jesus, we have to seek the Father’s will.

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.

Reading 1: Is 49:8-15

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.

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.

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.

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."

Intercessions

– For those who dare not accept that God keeps loving them as deeply as an affectionate father or mother, we pray:

– For people living under oppression, that they may have the will, the courage and the means to become free again, we pray:

– For those who are poor and suffering and cry out for joy and a bit of happiness, that the Lord may hear their prayer, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
we bring this bread and this wine before you
as the signs that we share
in the offering of Jesus, your Son.
May he give us the strength
to accept our mission in life.
As he was loyal to your will,
may our wills too,
be in complete harmony with yours,
that we may live in your love,
now and for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Our God and Father,
your Son Jesus, has renewed in his blood
your covenant of life and love with us
and deepened the bond with you

and with all the covenant people.
May we listen to his words of life,
that we may pass from death to life
and grow to the full maturity
of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord.

Blessing

No one can say, “God has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” As a mother cannot forget the baby at her breast, God can never forget us. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Reflection:

13 March 2024

John 5:17-30

As the Father, so the Son

Through his miracles, particularly his miracles on the Sabbath, Jesus redefined the common understanding that God's creative work climaxed on the sixth day of creation and rested on the seventh day. By defying the popular notion of the Sabbath, Jesus challenged the religious leadership's attempt to restrict God's saving mercy. The Sabbath needs to be understood as a joyful celebration of all the mighty works God has already done and a hope-filled longing for all that is still to be.

Jesus cured a disabled man and strengthened his life experience, and his healing activity was a reflection of God's life-giving grace. Jesus introduces to us the true face of God as the God who gives life, even on the Sabbath. It went against the teachings of religious scholars who believed that God was a strict taskmaster who would punish people who didn't adhere to religious principles. Jesus wants to correct this misconception.

Both the first reading from Isaiah and the Gospel of John reveal the true nature of God. Through Isaiah, God speaks as a Mother—the one who nurses us at her breast, comforts, takes pity on us, and thinks of us always. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of God as the Father—the one who teaches the Son how to do things and delights when others honour the Son.

And, in Jesus, we have the perfect profile of a son/daughter who delights in being loved, who loves, respects, obeys, learns from the Father, and gives him honour for everything one has received. Jesus has such a secure attachment to the Father that he is eager to share with us his sonship so that his Father will be our Father as well.

As the Father, so the Son - Youtube

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