Wednesday - March 22, 2023
TODAY'S READINGS
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 246
Reading I
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
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
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Gospel
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."
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How to experience greater unity with God
How unified are you to the Father’s will? Since you’ve been following Jesus, he’s been taking you deeper and deeper into the Father’s heart, because the two of them are one, as Jesus points out in today’s Gospel passage.
Oftentimes, we have a hard time understanding the triune nature of God, because we tend to compartmentalize the Three Persons in terms that we understand. We need to remember that when describing God, the word “persons” does not mean individual people, but three “characteristics” (for lack of a better word) of the same God, each with its own “persona”.
The persona of the Father can be described as the perfect parent, creator, and care-giver. The persona of Jesus can be described as God-become-flesh-like-us, our brother, the perfect example of how to relate to the Father. And the persona of the Holy Spirit can be described as the lover who flows from the perfect relationship that the Father and the Son have with each other, marrying us to their power and wisdom so that we can follow the Son’s example and joyfully obey the Father.
In loving Jesus, we also love the Father and his Holy Spirit. In obeying the Father, we hear the Holy Spirit and serve with Jesus. When we talk to one, we talk to all three.
Notice the kind of relationship that Jesus had with the Father and see yourself in it. Read again how Jesus described it, but this time see yourself as the Father’s child.
How unified are you with God? Can you say with Jesus, “I can do only what I see the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, I choose to do also”?
True unity is expressed in the final statement: “I am not seeking my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me.”
You, too, have been sent into this world by the Father. During your baptism, the Father commissioned you for ministry, just like he did with the baptism of Jesus.
As a beloved child of Father God, you were “co-missioned” — i.e., placed into mission with Jesus — to continue the ministry that the Son began, in the power of the Holy Spirit who helps you know and do the Father’s will.
Jesus blessed you for this task just before he ascended to heaven (see Mark 16:15). This commissioning rite is repeated at the end of every Mass when the priest, representing Jesus, sends us forth with words such as “go and live the Gospel.”
Today's Prayer
I want to be united to You, Jesus, as You are united to the Father, and do the good works that build your Kingdom of love and justice. Amen.
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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