Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent
First Reading
Isaiah 49:8–15
“Thus says the Lord:
At the favourable time I will answer you,
on the day of salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you and have appointed you
as covenant of the people.)
I will restore the land
and assign you the estates that lie waste.
I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
On every roadway they will graze,
and each bare height shall be their pasture.
They will never hunger or thirst,
scorching wind and sun shall never plague them;
for he who pities them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water.
I will make a highway of all the mountains,
and the high roads shall be banked up.
Some are on their way from afar,
others from the north and the west,
others from the land of Sinim.
Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth!
You mountains, break into happy cries!
For the Lord consoles his people
and takes pity on those who are afflicted.
For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord has forgotten me.’
Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 144(145):8–9,13b–14,17–18
The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
The Lord is good to all
and has compassion on all he has made.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
Gospel
John 5:17–30
Jesus said to the Jews,
“My Father goes on working, and so do I.”
But that only made them more determined to kill him,
because he not only broke the sabbath
but called God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
Jesus answered:
“I tell you most solemnly,
the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees the Father doing.
Whatever the Father does, the Son does too.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything he does.
He will show him even greater works than these,
works that will astonish you.
Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,
so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
The Father judges no one;
he has entrusted all judgement to the Son,
so that all may honour the Son
as they honour the Father.
Whoever refuses honour to the Son
refuses honour to the Father who sent him.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever listens to my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life.
Without being brought to judgement
he has passed from death to life.
The hour will come – in fact it is here already –
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and all who hear it will live.
For the Father, who is the source of life,
has made the Son the source of life;
and because he is the Son of Man
he has appointed him supreme judge.
Do not be surprised at this:
the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves
at the sound of his voice.
Those who did good will rise to life;
those who did evil, to condemnation.
I can do nothing by myself;
I judge only as I am told to judge,
and my judgement is just,
because I seek not my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.”
Reflection
One of the most painful human feelings is the sense of being forgotten. When life becomes difficult, many people quietly carry the thought: perhaps God has moved on from me.
The first reading from Isaiah speaks directly into that fear. The people of Israel believed their suffering meant God had abandoned them. Their city was broken, their future uncertain, and hope seemed distant. Into that despair God speaks a promise that is both powerful and deeply personal.
“Does a mother forget her baby at the breast?”
In ancient culture, the bond between mother and child represented the strongest possible human attachment. Yet God goes even further. Even if such an impossible thing happened — even if a mother forgot her child — God says he would not forget his people. The Catechism echoes this truth: God’s love surpasses even parental love and remains faithful to his covenant (CCC 218, 220).
This is not sentimental language. It is covenant language. God is declaring that his commitment is stronger than human memory, stronger than changing circumstances, stronger even than our own doubts. Even when we feel distant, God continues to draw us back to himself (CCC 27), sustaining all things with his providence (CCC 301).
The Gospel then brings this promise into focus through Jesus.
When Jesus says, “My Father goes on working, and so do I,” he is responding to criticism about healing on the Sabbath. But his words reveal something deeper: God has never stopped working in the world. Creation did not end on the seventh day. God continues to restore, heal, and give life. The Son shares fully in the Father’s life and mission (CCC 242), acting in perfect unity with him (CCC 859).
This is why Jesus speaks about passing “from death to life.” The transformation he offers is not only something that happens at the end of time. It begins now — whenever someone listens to his word and trusts the Father who sent him. Even now, believers already share in this new life through grace (CCC 1002), grounded in the promise of the resurrection (CCC 994).
Many people imagine faith as waiting for God to act one day in the future. These readings suggest something different. God is already at work, often quietly and slowly, shaping lives in ways we cannot immediately see.
Sometimes we only recognise it later, looking back over our journey.
The promise of Isaiah and the words of Jesus meet in the same truth: God has not forgotten us, and his work in our lives has not stopped. Christ, who has authority to judge and give life (CCC 679, 1021), is already calling us into that life today.
Even in seasons that feel uncertain or empty, God is still guiding, still restoring, still leading people from darkness into life.
One line to carry today:
God has not forgotten me — even now, he is still at work in my life.
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