Faith Daily | 2 November 2022

PRAYER of the DAY - APBA p598

God our Father,

whose will it is to bring all things

to order and unity in our Lord Jesus Christ:

may all the peoples of the world,

now divided and torn apart by sin,

be brought together under his sovereign rule of love;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

COLLECT PRAYER FOR ALL SOULS APBA p633

We thank you, loving God,

for all your servants, known to us and unknown,

who have departed this life in your faith and fear:

give us grace so to follow their good examples,

that with them we may be brought to a joyful resurrection,

and be made partakers of your heavenly kingdom;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: John 5: 19-29

19 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. 20The 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. 21Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. 22The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, 23so that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. 24Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life.

25 ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 27and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

GOSPEL REFLECTION: Meredith Nicholls

Jesus is continuing to state his credentials. He had previously angered the Jews by not only breaking the Sabbath but by ‘…even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.’(V 18). His next appeal to them is not based so much on equality as a dependence on his Father. He states that he can only do what he sees his Father doing and throughout the Gospel of John Jesus refers his actions of obedience always back to his Father. What holds this intimate relationship together is the love that the Father has for His Son

demonstrated in the honesty, trust and transparency between Father and Son.

The Jews could not accept this close relationship with God, nor could they stomach Jesus’s claim to be able to give life and to have the authority to judge.

Jesus, speaking in truth, promises that those who hear and believe his teachings will not be condemned but will cross over from death to life. This new covenant surely is the essence of the Good News, offered at a great cost, to all peoples.

FINAL PRAYER Thomas Aquinas

Grant me O Lord my God,

a mind to know you,

a heart to seek you,

wisdom to find you,

conduct pleasing to you,

faithful perseverance in waiting for you,

and a hope of finally embracing you.

Amen.