Reflection for WEDNESDAY, 4th Week of Lent.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar
Today's Gospel Verses
John 5:17-30
The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live
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 on the readings
Words are powerful. We use words to convey our ideas and concepts.
We use words to express our feelings and our convictions.
Although at times we feel that there are just too many words with nothing much to convey.
We also just heard a lot of words from the 1st reading and the gospel.
But these words will just remain as words unless we hear something more.
When we hear the voice of Jesus behind those words, then those words become powerful. Then those words become life-giving.
Jesus said that whoever listens to His words has eternal life.
To have eternal life means that we will live our lives the way that Jesus wants us to live.
That means we must live a life that is free from sin and wrong-doing, so that we know what peace and joy and love and the fullness of life is all about.
And whenever we have our needs, we just have to present it to the Lord in prayer.
As the Lord said in the 1st reading : At the favourable time I will answer you.
Those are powerful words of God's promises. May we listen to them, so that we will have life.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.
Let's pray for the forthcoming state elections.
St. Joseph, Pray for us.