20160309 RECLAIMING OUR SONSHIP IN CHRIST
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:8-15 ©
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Thus says the Lord:
At the favourable
time I will answer you,
on the day of
salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you
and have appointed you
as covenant of the
people.)
I will restore the
land
and assign you the
estates that lie waste.
I will say to the
prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in
darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
On every roadway they
will graze,
and each bare height
shall be their pasture.
They will never
hunger or thirst,
scorching wind and
sun shall never plague them;
for he who pities
them will lead them
and guide them to
springs of water.
I will make a highway
of all the mountains,
and the high roads
shall be banked up.
Some are on their way
from afar,
others from the north
and the west,
others from the land
of Sinim.
Shout for joy, you
heavens; exult, you earth!
You mountains, break
into happy cries!
For the Lord consoles
his people
and takes pity on
those who are afflicted.
For Zion was saying,
‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord has
forgotten me.’
Does a woman forget
her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the
son of her womb?
Yet even if these
forget,
I will never forget
you.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
144:8-9,13-14,17-18 ©
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The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is kind and
full of compassion,
slow to
anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord
to all,
compassionate
to all his creatures.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is faithful
in all his words
and
loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all
who fall
and
raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is just in
all his ways
and
loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all
who call him,
who call
on him from their hearts.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Or
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Jn11:25, 26
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
I am the resurrection
and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in
me will never die.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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John 5:17-30 ©
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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.’
RECLAIMING
OUR SONSHIP IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Isaiah 49:8-15;
John 5:17-30
The
whole season of Lent is to prepare Catechumens to share in the divine sonship
in Christ, and for those already baptized, to renew their filiation with God as
their Father.
Although we are the Chosen People of God, yet we, like the Israelites in the
first reading, have lost our identity and freedom as God’s people.
Through our sins and infidelity, we have become prisoners of our passions and
our enemies. But God is bountiful in mercy and compassion, as the
psalmist declares, “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.”
Truly, God
wants to set us free by helping us to recover our dignity as His children.
He wants to restore us to wholeness. This is what God spoke through the
Prophet, “Along the roadway they will graze, and any bare height will be their
pasture. They will never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun will never
plague them; for he who pities them will lead them, will guide them to springs
of water. I shall turn all my mountains into a road and my highways will be
raised aloft.” When we become conscious that He is our God and Father,
and we are His people and His children, we will regain all that we have
lost. There will be joy and freedom in our lives.
In
these tender words of assurance to His people in exile who were feeling
abandoned and about to give up hope, God reveals not only His fatherhood but
motherhood for us all. Hence the prophet of hope exhorted the people,
“Shout for joy, you heavens; earth, exult! Mountains, break into joyful cries!
For Yahweh has consoled his people, is taking pity on his afflicted ones. Zion
was saying, ‘Yahweh has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman
forget her baby at the breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even
if these were to forget, I shall not forget you.” So, if we are feeling
burdened, abandoned, alone in our problems and imprisoned by our past, crippled
by sin and anger, then let it be known that God has not abandoned us. He
is with us even during such dark periods in our lives, when everything seems so
hopeless and forlorn. God, who is our Father and our Mother, will never
abandon us.
What
is needed is to have faith in Jesus who came to give us back our sonship.
Jesus is the Suffering
Servant, as prophesied in Isaiah. “At the time of my favour I have
answered you, on the day of salvation I have helped you. I have formed you and
have appointed you to be the covenant for a people, to restore the land, to
return ravaged properties, to say to prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in
darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’” Jesus is the One who will lead us prisoners out
of our dungeon of darkness and misery. To come out of this hell, we must
first “show ourselves”, that is, make ourselves available to Him. What
does showing ourselves entail? Simply, it means that we must learn from
Jesus what and how one can become the son of the Father. Only in Jesus
can we be restored to our sonship, since we are sons of the Father only in the
Son. We are sons and daughters by adoption, not by nature. To be sons and
daughters in the Son, we must deepen our knowledge of Jesus’ relationship with
His Father.
In the
gospel, Jesus tells us that the Father loves Him and has given everything to
Him. “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.” In claiming this love of His Father, Jesus made it clear
that He is the Mediator of the Father. He came to reveal to us His
Father’s love and mercy in His teachings, and especially in His works,
particularly of forgiveness and in setting people free from sin, illnesses and
the bondage of the Evil One. Most of all, His passion, death and resurrection
will reveal the greater things that God does.
It is
true for us too. If we want to learn how to be children of God, we
must learn from Jesus who Himself learnt from His Father. To be a son
implies having full knowledge of the Father. Sonship is the corollary of
Fatherhood and vice versa. Every child must therefore represent the
Father and become one with the Father who is the source of his life.
Indeed, in another text of the gospel Jesus says, “All things have been
committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no
one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.” (Mt 11:27) Knowledge of the son is at the pleasure of the Father,
who communicates Himself to His son. All parents would like to hand down
their values and traditions to their children, especially their skills and
trade. They hope that their children will perpetuate the values of their
fathers and race as well. In the case of God our Father, He entrusted everything
to the Son without reservation.
To
His Son, He gave Him the power to give life. “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.” Jesus therefore is our life-giver. He
is the source of life and light for everyone. This life however is only
ours if we accept Jesus as the Son of the Father. Faith in Jesus is
paramount and the ultimate criterion in finding the fullness of life.
Faith
in Jesus, therefore, is more than mere trust in Him but to believe in Him so
that His life is reflected in ours. He assures us of fullness of life if we
listen to Him, a life that begins the moment we accept Him. “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.”
What a wonderful promise from the Lord; that without being brought to
judgement, we have already passed from death to life. In other words,
even before we face the final judgement at the end of our life, this life of
God is already ours, if we share in the life of Jesus.
This
life requires that we do the will of the Father as Jesus did. “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.” To be a true son
and daughter, like all good children, we endeavour to please our parents.
Children always seek approval and the love of their parents for whatever they
do, because they owe their origin and life to them. Similarly, if we are
called to be God’s children, it will not be to the approval of man that we
seek, but only God’s. This was always the attitude of Jesus towards His
enemies, and the people as well, for His one and only desire was to serve His
Father and to do what the Father would have done. Identified with the Father
fully, He gives life to all who comes to Him.
We must
also bear in mind that sonship is ultimately spelt out in servanthood.
This explains why Jesus considered Himself as the Suffering Servant of
Isaiah. He took upon Himself as the One His Father had chosen to be the
light of the Covenant and set His people free. As we come closer to the
passion and death of our Lord, let us continue to walk in this path of
servanthood too. Life is ours as we give ourselves more and more to
Christ and His people. We who have been chosen as His sons and daughters
are called too, to bring others into God’s family. So the concrete way
for us to participate in the sonship of Christ is the way of humble service and
self-emptying for the good of humanity. As Jesus assures us, “Do not be
surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graces
at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and
those who did evil, to condemnation.” So let us not wait till Easter to
live the resurrected life, but this life is already ours as a foretaste, if we
imitate Jesus in being the instrument of God’s love for others.
Following Jesus, let us be life-givers by our words and actions. Let us
be people of hope and be like God who assures those who are depressed and alone
or lost, that we are with them and there is hope in God. Giving life to
others is the way to find life ourselves.
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