"... the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what he does, the Son will do also." (John 5:19)
After some years of working with young people in the academic world, I say that nothing can be truer than the adage "the apple does not fall far from the tree." To understand why a student is the way he/she is, go to the source! Look to the student's family. There is the key to the treasure that each person is. But who of us would think about our trying to understand more fully the person we call Jesus, the person we know as the Son of God? Well, you might say that St. John's "magnum opus," his great work, his life of Jesus, his gospel is his evaluation of the intimate life that Jesus within the family of the Holy Trinity. To have an inkling of the nature of our God, of Jesus himself, we have to take some time to look at what God does in our own lives as well as in the life of Jesus. Bishop Robert Morneau, a respected retreat master for priests, says that the works of God are "creating, redeeming and sanctifying." This holy man sees Jesus as doing what the Father and the Holy Spirit do: "give life and love to the world."
Each of us come to the world from God and we are empowered by God to continue the works that Jesus along with Father and Holy Spirit accomplish in our world. The mission that God entrusted to us even from the day of our birth is to be a reflection to others of the life and love of God.
During Lent each year we take time to examine our lives. We look through prayer and awareness of God's goodness to consider if we are like the apple that falls from the tree but might roll down the hill, ending up a little too far from beneath the tree of life. What we are called to do during Lent, as we know, is not rocket science. God asks us during these days, especially as we focus on the magnitude of Jesus' love for us, to consider if we take part in the wonders of God: creation, redemption and sanctification. Today, we might ask ourselves this question: And just how have I served my God doing the works of the Lord?
