The daily Word of God
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025
Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent (commemoration of Saint Francis of Paola, hermit)
John 5:17-30 "I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”
First Reading: Isaiah 49:8-15
I have given you as a covenant to the people, to restore the land.
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: Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
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.
Gospel Reading: John 5:17-30
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
so also does the Son give life to those whom he chooses.
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.”
So, basically, the Jewish folks (and we know that in the Gospel of John, ‘the Jewish folks’ doesn’t mean all Jewish people, but their leaders: Pharisees, Sadducees…) are super mad at Jesus because he’s not following the basic rules of being Jewish: he doesn’t respect the Sabbath! Because of that, they thought Jesus was impure and a sinner. That alone was enough to condemn him.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there. And the Jewish people get even more scandalized, if that’s even possible. It’s because Jesus talks about God like he’s his Dad! And that’s just too much because Jesus is making himself equal to God. Think about it: in the Jewish world, even today as far as I know, you can’t even say God’s name out loud. It’s such a holy name that the only way to refer to him is by saying his consonants or using other words. That’s how they show the distance between God and humans. God belongs to the sacred realm.
Compared to that idea, Jesus shows us something that’s fundamental, essential, in his message: God is Father, God is his Father, his Abba. Like Wikipedia says, Abba ‘was the loving name that Aramaic children (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD) used to refer to their fathers, and it combines some of the intimacy of the English word «dad» with the dignity of the word «father,» so it’s an informal and respectful expression. Therefore, more than a title, it was a loving way to express oneself and one of the first words a child learned to say.’
This tells us not just how Jesus referred to God. It tells us how Jesus related to God. By extension, it tells us how Christians understand God and relate to him. We see that in the simple prayer Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him to teach them how to pray, and it starts by saying ‘Our Father.’ It’s not easy to change your perspective. We can understand that it’s hard for many people to understand God like that and they still have the image of an all-powerful, controlling, watchful, threatening, and judging God in their hearts. But Jesus teaches us to see God, our Abba, in a different way. And from there, the whole Gospel makes sense in a new way. Because God is my ‘Dad,’ and from there, everything looks different.
Fernando Torres, cmf 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.
General 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 cou-rage 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.
