In answer to the religious authorities’ question as to why Jesus works on the Sabbath by healing people, Jesus replied ‘My Father is always at his work’ (heos arti ergazetai), which is to say that my Father keeps on working even until now. God never ceases to do His saving, reconciling, healing and life-giving work, not even on the Sabbath. And so Jesus said, “And I too am working”, meaning that he has the same right to work even as God works, to erase the wrong laws of men and to establish the just and compassionate laws of God.
The Psalmist says that God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is always awake and alert to us, always working for our present and ultimate well-being. The same is true of Jesus, our risen Lord. Even when he seems to be asleep, as he was in the storm at sea, he is alert to us.
In the language of today’s first reading God is to be found as mother. ‘Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the child of her womb? Yet, even if these forget, I will never forget you’. A mother’s love for the child of her womb is tender and life-giving.
The work that Jesus and his Father are always engaged in is that of giving life to others, ‘As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses… For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life’. God goes on working through his Son in a life-giving way.
Are you an agent of Life? Is your life life-giving to others around you? Friends, we are called to share in God’s life-giving work in this world. We are called to give expressions in our lives to the life-giving nature of God’s love. Whenever we allow the Lord’s word to make a home in us, shaping our lives, we will not only draw life from him, but our lives will become life-giving for others.
Peace be with you!
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