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| “Madonna and Child with the Lamb of God” by Cesare da Sesto, 1515 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
During the Fourth Week of Lent (especially in
cycles B and C when the Gospel of the man born blind is not read on the Fourth Sunday
of Lent) option
Mass Texts are offered.
Reading I: Isaiah 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.
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Commentary on Is
49:8-15
This reading from Isaiah is a part
of the second “Servant of the Lord” oracles. In this segment, the servant
promises salvation to the captives and light to those in darkness. He has led
the people by pleasant and safe paths and has shown mercy. The response from
Zion is “the Lord has forsaken me,” to which we hear the tender
response: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the
child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” God’s
fidelity and faithfulness are assured.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
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Commentary on Ps
145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
This song of praise has an acrostic
pattern (aleph, beth, etc.). In the first strophes the goodness of the Lord is
extolled, quoting Exodus
34:6-7. God’s covenant is extended to all peoples. The passage
continues celebrating God’s mercy to those who are “bowed down” –
overcome by hardship –and concludes with the psalmist’s faith in
God’s faithfulness to those who call upon him in genuine need.
CCC: Ps 145:9 295,
342
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Gospel: John 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.”
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Commentary on Jn 5:17-30
In the Gospel from John, Jesus has
already angered the Jews by violating the Sabbath. (This passage immediately follows
the story about the cure of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda.) Now he
really upsets them by apparently blaspheming, saying God is his own Father.
Almost as if to cement his fate, he makes sure we understand that he did not
make that statement casually. Rather he paints a complete analogy of biological
father and son. Jesus goes on to state that the authority to judge the actions
and lives of others has also been given to him. The inheritance is complete.
Failure to hear and believe will
result in resurrection to condemnation. "Another work of the
Son is that of judgment, a divine prerogative that the father has given him
(cf. John 3:35).
Again it is brought out (cf. John 3:18) that
judgment takes place not only at the end of time but in the here and now, on
the basis of acceptance or rejection of Christ." [4]
The passage concludes with the
promise of salvation to those who hear and understand; that salvation is
eternal life.
CCC: Jn 5:16-18 594; Jn
5:18 574,
589; Jn 5:19 859,
1063; Jn 5:22 679; Jn
5:24-25 994; Jn
5:24 1470; Jn
5:25 635; Jn
5:26 612,
679; Jn 5:27 679; Jn
5:28-29 1038; Jn
5:29 998; Jn
5:30 859, 2824
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Reflection:
The oracle of the “Servant of the Lord” from
Isaiah predicts the statement made by Jesus in the Gospel. The servant
comes, according to the prophet, to lead the people by safe paths to
salvation. He even predicts the lack of recognition by Zion. They have
forgotten God’s earlier mercies in bringing the people out of bondage in Egypt,
and now cry out that God has forsaken them.
In the Gospel, Jesus has revealed that he is the
Son of God in unequivocal terms. He goes further to say that God has
willed to His Son the authority to judge, the ability to hand out rewards for
faithfulness, and punishment for wickedness. Just as Isaiah uses the
analogy of parent and child at the end of the first reading (“Can a mother
forget her infant”), Jesus makes it clear that he is the Son of God, and
the power and authority that is in the Father is also in the Son.
Unequivocally they are one; an extension of one another.
From a practical perspective we must ask
ourselves: what must we do in response to the scriptural message? The
answer is also scriptural. The Lord calls on us to cease our unbelief and
believe. In this belief there is a great blessing, because just as the Lord
reserves the right of judgment at the end of time, he also judges in the here
and now. His promise of the resurrection starts, not just when we die,
but even now. His judgment, which can bring blessed peace or the groan of
pain, begins in this life and extends to eternal life.
We say to this: “But I do believe.”
And the Lord will say, “By your actions I will
know you.”
Today’s scripture reminds us of the promise of
eternal life, and encourages us not to forget the good things the Lord has
already done for us. He has given us life and we praise him. He has
given us the path to salvation and we praise him. He has laid down his
human life for us, endured suffering and death, so that we might join him with
all the angels and saints and be spared from condemnation.
Pax
[1]
The picture
is “Madonna and Child with the Lamb of God” by Cesare da Sesto, 1515.
[3]
The
readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm
and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4]
Jerome
Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 63:84, p. 434.
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