Encountering the Word
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.†For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. [Full text: John 5:17-30]
Contemplating the Word
If you can, track down the full text of this Gospel reading: John 5:17-30. It is amazing. Centuries before the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity was ultimately defined, the Gospel writer is inspired to reflect on the distinctiveness, and yet the inherent interconnectedness, between Father and Son. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father, and yet they are woven together in a harmonious whole, like notes coming together to form a symphony.
The Son sees what the Father does and he does likewise. In this, he shows what we too are to be doing. For we have only one purpose in this life: to participate in the work that the Father is bringing to completion. The Father is only doing one thing and only wants one thing: he is bringing all things together in Christ. This is God’s master work…his plan…his kingdom. When we pray that ‘God’s will be done’ and that ‘God’s kingdom come’ we are actually praying for the same thing twice.
To understand the significance of this, we need to try to see things as God sees them. God exists outside time: his is an eternal perspective. Being creatures bound in time, we can wonder if and how God’s plan will be achieved. Certainly it seems that there is a lot going on that has nothing to do with the Father’s desire to restore all things to himself in Christ, but that is because we are bound in time. We fail to see what God is doing.
It can be salutary to reflect on the following thought: that only those things that participate in God’s plan are real. Christ is God’s plan. That which does not participate in Christ is not true, and the day will come when it will be as if it has never existed. How can we say this? For only God is eternal and only that which is of God can exist for eternity. The often-terrible realities that plague us now will stand revealed as being nothing and without power. Sin, suffering, fear and death will be no more.
Being the Word
Understanding that only those things that participate in Christ are real and will last in to eternity, should help us focus on what we are doing. We are to free ourselves from those behaviours and preoccupations that are ultimately futile. As men and women brought up in the West, we are plagued by futility. What is the pursuit of celebrity culture, for example, if not a preoccupation with the inane?
I said to a group recently: “wouldn’t it be interesting if every baptised Catholic put even a third of the energy into prayer and social justice that we put into sport? What an amazing Church and world this would be.†I must admit that I’d wanted to say ‘put as much energy into prayer and social justice as we do into sport’ but I didn’t fancy being lynched that day. I compromised and thought, “even a third would do.â€
To achieve the renewal required of us as a Church is going to take enormous spiritual, psychological and physical effort. It is why the desert remains a powerful image. Only a fool takes crossing the desert lightly. Now is the time for the brave of heart. Pope Francis is aware of the enormity of the task:
“It is a sign of great hope that the Pope invites us to be ‘bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, styles and methods of evangelisation’ (EG33) in our communities. It is no easy task to unravel what’s seen as normal and immutable in order to invite a different way of thinkingâ€.[2]
Spend a few minutes in prayer to the God who is as close to you as your breath. Ponder the reality of God’s presence and contemplate the thought that God has something for you – a plan that is as unique as you are. Don’t worry about what that plan is nor about what you are to do. Your role is simple: sit in God’s presence and wait for him.
Remain silently in God’s presence for as long as you feel inclined or opportunity will allow. Then bring before God any sincere prayers of intercession that you have. Instead of asking God to do things for you, ask that he might achieve whatever he wishes through you.
Finish by praying the great yet simple prayer of praise to the Blessed Trinity: Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
[1] Ibid., p. 17.
[2] Ibid., p. 17.
