March 22, 2023

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah   49: 8-15

49:8	Thus says the Lord: In a pleasing time, I have heeded you, and in the day of salvation, I have assisted you. And I have preserved you, and I have presented you as a covenant of the people, so that you would lift up the earth, and possess the scattered inheritances,
49:9	so that you would say to those who are bound, “Go forth!” and to those who are in darkness, “Be released!” They will pasture along the roads, and their pastures will be in every open place.
49:10	They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the heat of the sun beat down upon them. For the one who takes pity on them will rule them, and he will give them to drink from fountains of waters.
49:11	And I will make all my mountains into a road, and my paths will be exalted.
49:12	Behold, some will come from far away, and behold, others from the north and from the sea, and still others from the land of the south.
49:13	Give praise, O heavens! And exult, O earth! Let the mountains give praise with jubilation! For the Lord has consoled his people, and he will take pity on his poor ones.
49:14	And Zion said: “The Lord has abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”
49:15	Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to take pity on the child of her womb? But even if she would forget, still I shall never forget you.

The Holy Gospel According to John   5: 17-30

5:17	But Jesus answered them, “Even now, my Father is working, and I am working.”
5:18	And so, because of this, the Jews were seeking to kill him even more so. For not only did he break the Sabbath, but he even said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
5:19	Then Jesus responded and said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son is not able to do anything of himself, but only what he has seen the Father doing. For whatever he does, even this does the Son do, similarly.
5:20	For the Father loves the Son, and he shows him all that he himself does. And greater works than these will he show him, so much so that you shall wonder.
5:21	For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wills.
5:22	For the Father does not judge anyone. But he has given all judgment to the Son,
5:23	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.
5:24	Amen, amen, I say to you, that whoever hears my word, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life, and he does not go into judgment, but instead he crosses from death into life.
5:25	Amen, amen, I say to you, that the hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear it shall live.
5:26	For just as the Father has life in himself, so also has he granted to the Son to have life in himself.
5:27	And he has given him the authority to accomplish judgment. For he is the Son of man.
5:28	Do not be amazed at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
5:29	And those who have done good shall go forth to the resurrection of life. Yet truly, those who have done evil shall go to the resurrection of judgment.
5:30	I am not able to do anything of myself. As I hear, so do I judge. And my judgment is just. For I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.