Jn 5:17-30
Jesus replied, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling God his own Father.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.
As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way, the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son, as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.
Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life.
Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself, and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. And he has empowered him as well to carry out Judgment, for he is Son of Man.
Do not be surprised at this: the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
I can do nothing of myself. As I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
REFLECTION
Today’s saint, Frances of Rome, was born at Rome and died there on this day in 1440. She belonged to the noble Roman family of Busso and was married very young, in obedience to the wishes of her parents, to Lorenzo dei Pongiani, a wealthy landowner. From him she had three children. All her life she aided the poor with great generosity and provided for the care of the sick in the city hospitals. Towards the end of her life she founded a religious community dedicated to works of charity.
Now this remarkable woman is classified in the Vatican II Weekday Missal as a “religious,” she who was married most of her life and had three children. Is that not strange? It is as if her married life had no role in her becoming a saint! St. Bridget (July 23) is also classified a “religious,” although she had eight children. The same holds true for St. Hedwig (October 16) who had seven children, for St. Elizabeth of Hungary (November 17) who had three children, for St. Jane Frances de Chantal (December 12) who had four children. It seems at first blush that the organizers of the liturgical books (no doubt all males) do not hold the married state in very high esteem… Perhaps it is time that we, the people of God, do something about it.
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