[Catholic Caucus Devotional] My Catholic Life! Catholic Daily Reflections: Doing the Father’s Work

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. John 5:17–18

The context of today’s Gospel is important. The lines above come at the conclusion of the story of Jesus healing the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda. The man had been crippled for thirty-eight years, and Jesus healed him, telling the man, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8).

Though the miracle was awe-inspiring, the rigid Pharisees quickly chastised the man for carrying his mat, which they saw as a violation of the Sabbath law...

When Jesus healed the man and told him to rise and pick up his mat, the Pharisees believed Jesus violated the Law of Moses in two ways. First, they claimed that the healing itself was a form of work and thus a violation of the Sabbath. Second, they saw Jesus’ instruction to the man to pick up his mat as a disregard for the prohibition against work, encouraging the man to break the Sabbath.

To us, these condemnations may seem extreme and legalistic, but to the Pharisees, Jesus acted unlawfully and they began to persecute Him.

What is useful to ponder is Jesus’ response to the criticism... Criticism and persecution can tempt us to fear, and that fear can pressure us into compliance to avoid consequences. Jesus, however, did not take this approach.

Instead, Jesus reaffirms His divine authority to perform works of mercy on the Sabbath, declaring Himself Lord of the Sabbath. He says, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” In other words, Jesus connects His work of healing with the ongoing work of the Father, the source of the Law.

If His act of healing came from the Father—the One who gave the Ten Commandments—then His healing could not be a violation of the Law.

The rest of today’s Gospel is a longer discourse on this point: “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.” Jesus declares His oneness with the Father, revealing their perfect unity of being and action. This unity, rooted in their shared divine nature, is central to our understanding of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—consubstantial and eternally one in being.

Jesus’ goal was not to defend Himself against the Pharisees’ criticism or to resolve the conflict. His goal was to proclaim the truth, even though it would further enrage the Pharisees. He did not fear their judgment, was not intimidated by their condemnation, and did not allow their rigid legalism to stop Him. Instead, He spoke clearly and openly to them about the truth, in love.

Reflect today on how you handle rash judgment, criticism, and false accusations. Do you let criticism lead to fear or anxiety? Do you respond with anger or try to defend yourself? Or do you confront errors with truth, sharing that truth with love and confidence? Fear and anger come in many forms and can deeply affect the way we relate to others. Though they are different emotions, they are often interwoven, emerging together in our hearts. Pray that God will dispel all fear and replace anger with courage and truth. Like Jesus, we must speak and act in communion with the Father’s will, rejecting the intimidation and manipulation of those who falsely accuse us.

Most Holy Father in Heaven, You sent us Your divine Son to dwell among us and be our Savior. All that Your Son did was in union with You, fulfilling Your glorious works. Please adopt me as Your child so that I will also fulfill Your will, becoming a greater instrument of Your works in the world. Most Holy Trinity, I trust in You.

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY(RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

Today’s First Reading

From: Isaiah 49:8-15

The Lord’s Aid to the Returning Exiles (Continuation)
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[8] Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; [9] saying to the prisoners, ‘Come forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture; [10] they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. [11] And I will make all my mount ins a way, and my highways shall be raised up. [12] Lo, these shall come from afar, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.” [13] Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

The Restoration of Zion
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[14] But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, my LORD has forgotten me?"

[15] “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that, she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."

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Commentary:

49:7-13. The Lord, who has chosen his servant and commissioned him to re-unite the scattered tribes, shows special kindness to those who have come back from exile or who are on the point of doing so. This important teaching comes across very clearly in this somewhat heterogenous passage.

It starts (v. 7) by contrasting the love of God and the humiliation of the chosen people, who will eventually be exalted (cf. 52:13-15); some commentators see the verse as part of the second Song of the Servant. The following stanza (vv. 8-9a) is addressed to those who have already returned home but who are depressed by the terrible state of the country: the Lord cannot but be faithful and he will grant salvation “in a time of favor” (v. 8). St Paul will apply this “time of favor” to the coming of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 6:2). The final stanza (vv. 9b-13), ‘addressed to the repatriates, is a further attempt to raise the spirits of people who have already returned home from all points of the compass (v. 12): “from afar” probably means Mesopotamia and therefore the east; “the west”, literally, “the Sea”, often used with that meaning (cf. 24:14); “Syene” or “Sinim”, that is, natives of Syene, a city in the extreme south of Egypt, symbolizes the south in general. Once again, the joy of the new. exodus is mentioned, and the passage ends with a brief but intense hymn of praise to God (v. 13). The point is made repeatedly that God gives his beloved people special protection.

49:14-50:3. After the oracles concerning the servant, the prophet now focuses on Zion, the city beloved of the Lord, to which people will come from all over, the diaspora, to settle there. It will be a genuine miracle. The first verses speak very movingly of God’s love for his people (49:14-20). The passage goes on, in a didactic style, to stress that the Lord will bring about the liberation of Jerusalem (49:21-26). It draws two comparisons--that of an eastern kingdom (49:22-23) and that of mighty warrior (49:24-26); each ends with an assertion reminiscent of Ezekiel’s message: “And you will know that I am the Lord” (cf. “Introduction to Ezekiel”, p. 595, below). Finally (50:1-3), the sense of abandonment felt by those in Jerusalem (cf. v. 14) is answered from another angle. Using the wedding imagery first used by Hosea (cf. Hos 1-3), the prophet puts words in the Lord’s mouth to the effect that the exile was not meant to be forever; it was not irrevocable. There was no document written to terminate the marriage (cf. Deut 24:1-2, Jer 3:8); nor was the sale contract ever closed. Exile was a punishment that had to happen; it was a temporary thing, provoked by the people’s sins. But God keeps his promises; he will restore Zion; he is as mighty now as he was at the time of the exodus, as he will demonstrate.

In the fullness of time, when Jesus brings salvation, this oracle will have even greater significance: “In Jesus Christ God has established a new and everlasting covenant with mankind. He has placed his almighty power at the service of our salvation. When his creatures lose confidence and are afraid through lack of faith, we hear once again the voice of Isaiah who speaks out in the name of the Lord: ‘Is my hand too short to redeem? Have I not strength to save?” (St Josemaria Escrivá, "Friends of God", 190).

49:15-16. The image of the mother who can never forget her children (v. 15) is one of the most beautiful metaphors used in the Bible to describe the love that God has for his people; it has been echoed by spiritual writers down the ages. Pope John Paul II applies it with reference to the merciful love that God shows his own--the "rahamin" in Hebrew, a word that derives from maternal love ("rehem" means motherly embrace). Like a mother, God has borne mankind, and especially the chosen people, in his womb; he has given birth to it in pain, has nourished and consoled it (cf. 42:14; 46:3-4): “From the deep and original bond--indeed the unity--that links a mother to her child there springs a particular relationship to the child, a particular love. Of this love one can say that it is completely gratuitous, not merited, and that in this aspect it constitutes an interior necessity: an exigency of the heart. It is, as it were, a ‘feminine’ variation of the masculine fidelity: to self expressed by "hesed". Against this psychological background, "rahamin" generates a whole range of feelings, including goodness and tenderness, patience and understanding, that is, readiness to forgive. [...] This love, faithful and invincible thanks to the mysterious power of motherhood, is expressed in the Old Testament texts in various ways: as salvation from dangers, especially from enemies; also as. forgiveness of sins--of individuals and also of the whole of Israel; and finally in readiness to fulfill the (eschatological) promise and hope in spite of human infidelity” ("Dives In Misericordia", note 52; cf. "Mulieris Dignitatem", 8).

The first words of v. 16 are another graphic description of the love of God; and so we find John Paul II using them in an exhortation on that subject “Dear young people, receive the love that God first gives you (cf. 1 Jn 4:19). Hold fast to this certainty, the only one that can give meaning, strength and joy to life: his love will never leave you, his covenant of peace will never be removed from you (cf. Is 54:10). He has stamped your name on the palms of his hands (cf. Is 49:16)” ("World Youth Day", 6 January1997).

Today’s Gospel Reading

From: John 5:17-30

The Cure of a Sick Man at the Pool at Bethzatha (Continuation)
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[17] But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working still, and I am working." [18] This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God His Father.

Christ Defends His Action
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[19] Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does likewise. [20] For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. [21] For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. [22] The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, [23] that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. [24] Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

[25] "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [26] For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself, [27] and has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. [28] Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice [29] and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

[30] "I can do nothing on My own authority; as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me."

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Commentary:

17-18. "My Father is working still, and I am working": we have already said that God is continually acting. Since the Son acts together with the Father, who with the Holy Spirit are the one and only God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can say that He is always working. These words of Jesus contain an implicit reference to His divinity: the Jews realize this and they want to kill Him because they consider it blasphemous. "We all call God our Father, who is in Heaven (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8). Therefore, they were angry, not at this, that He said God was His Father, but that He said it in quite another way than men. Notice: the Jews understand what Arians do not understand. Arians affirm the Son to be not equal to the Father, and that was why this heresy was driven from the Church. Here, even the blind, even the slayers of Christ, understand the works of Christ" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang., 17, 16). We call God our Father because through grace we are His adopted children; Jesus calls Him His Father because He is His Son by nature. This is why He says after the Resurrection: "I am ascending to My Father and your Father" (John 20:17), making a clear distinction between the two ways of being a son of God.

19. Jesus speaks of the equality and also the distinction between Father and Son. The two are equal: all the Son's power is the Father's, all the Son does the Father does; but they are two distinct persons: which is why the Son does what He has seen the Father do.

These words of our Lord should not be taken to mean that the Son sees what the Father does and then does it Himself, like a disciple imitating his master; He says what He says to show that the Father's powers are communicated to the Son through generation. The word "see" is used because men come to know things through the senses, particularly through the sight; to say that the Son sees what the Father does is a way of referring to all the powers which He receives from Him for all eternity (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, "Comm. on St. John, in loc.").

20-21. When He says that the Father shows the Son "all that He Himself is doing", this means that Christ can do the same as the Father. Thus, when Jesus does things which are proper to God, He is testifying to His divinity through them (cf. John 5:36).

"Greater works": this may be a reference to the miracles Jesus will work during His lifetime and to His authority to execute judgment. But THE miracle of Jesus was His own resurrection, the cause and pledge of our own (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20ff), and our passport to supernatural life. Christ, like His Father, has unlimited power to communicate life. This teaching is developed in verses 22-29.

22-30. Authority to judge has also been given by the Father to the Incarnate Word. Whoever does not believe in Christ and in His word will be condemned (cf. 3:18). We must accept Jesus Christ's lordship; by doing so we honor the Father; if we do not know the Son we do not know the Father who sent Him (verse 23). Through accepting Christ, through accepting His word, we gain eternal life and are freed from condemnation. He, who has taken on human nature which He will retain forever, has been established as our judge, and His judgment is just, because He seeks to fulfill the Will of the Father who sent Him, and He does nothing on His own account: in other words, His human will is perfectly at one with His divine will; which is why Jesus can say that He does not do His own will but the Will of Him who sent Him.

22. God, being the Creator of the world, is the supreme Judge of all creation. He alone can know with absolute certainty whether the people and things He has created achieve the end He has envisaged for them. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, has received divine authority (cf. Matthew 11:27; 28:18; Daniel 7:14), including the authority to judge mankind. Now, it is God's will that everyone should be saved: Christ did not come to condemn the world but to save it (cf. John 12:47). Only someone who refuses to accept the divine mission of the Son puts himself outside the pale of salvation. As the Church's Magisterium teaches: "He claimed judicial power as received from His Father, when the Jews accused Him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. [...] In this power is included the right of rewarding and punishing all men, even in this life" (Pius XI, "Quas Primas, Dz-Sch 3677"). Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Judge of the living and the dead, and will reward everyone according to his works (cf. 1 Peter 1:17).

"We have, I admit, a rigorous account to give of our sins; but who will be our judge? The Father [...] has given all judgment to the Son. Let us be comforted: the eternal Father has placed our cause in the hands of our Redeemer Himself. St. Paul encourages us, saying, Who is [the judge] who is to condemn us? It is Jesus Christ, who died [...] who indeed intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). It is the Savior Himself, who, in order that He should not condemn us to eternal death, has condemned Himself to death for our sake, and who, not content with this, still continues to intercede for us in Heaven with God His Father" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced To Practice", Chapter 3).

24. There is also a close connection between hearing the word of Christ and believing in Him who sent Him, that is, in the Father. Whatever Jesus Christ says is divine revelation; therefore, accepting Jesus' words is equivalent to believing in God the Father: "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me.... For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father who sent Me has Himself given Me the commandment what to say and what to speak" (John 12:44, 49).

A person with faith is on the way to eternal life, because even in this earthly life he is sharing in divine life, which is eternal; but he has not yet attained eternal life in a definitive way (for he can lose it), nor in a full way: "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2). If a person stays firm in the faith and lives up to its demands, God's judgment will not condemn him but save him.

Therefore, it makes sense to strive, with the help of grace, to live a life consistent with the faith: "If men go to so much trouble and effort to live here a little longer, ought they not strive so much harder to live eternally?" (St. Augustine, "De Verb. Dom. Serm.", 64).

25-30. These verses bring the first part of our Lord's discourse to a close (it runs from 5:19 to 5:47); its core is a revelation about His relationship with His Father. To understand the statement our Lord makes here we need to remember that, because He is a single (divine) person, a single subject of operations, a single I, He is expressing in human words not only His sentiments as a man but also the deepest dimension of His being: He is the Son of God, both in His generation in eternity by the Father, and in His generation in time through taking up human nature. Hence Jesus Christ has a profound awareness (so profound that we cannot even imagine it) of His Sonship, which leads Him to treat His Father with a very special intimacy, with love and also with respect; He is aware also of His equality with the Father; therefore when He speaks about the Father having given Him life (verse 26) or authority (verse 27), it is not that He has received part of the Father's life or authority: He has received absolutely all of it, without the Father losing any.

"Do you perceive how their equality is shown and that they differ in one respect only, namely, that one is the Father, while the other is the Son? The expression `He has given' implies this distinction only, and shows that all other attributes are equal and without difference. From this it is clear that He does everything with as much authority and power as the Father and is not endowed with power from some outside source, for He has life as the Father has" (St. John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St. John", 39, 3).

One of the amazing things about these passages of the Gospel is how Jesus manages to express the sentiments of God-Man despite the limitations of human language: Christ, true God, true man, is a mystery which the Christian should contemplate even though he cannot understand it: he feels bathed in a light so strong that it is beyond understanding, yet fills his soul with faith and with a desire to worship his Lord.

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