During this season of Lent, I will be working through Bishop Robert Barron’s Lenten Gospel Reflections (available through Word on Fire). Each day, I will share the readings and the reflection question, followed by my own thoughts.
March 30, 2022
Jesus answered the Jews,
17 “My Father is working still, and I am working.”
18 This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, 27 and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. 30 I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
The Holy Bible (Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition, Jn 5:17–30). (2006). Ignatius Press.
When have you displaced your own concerns to prioritize the concerns of God? What difficulties, if any, did you have in doing this?
Two quick thoughts before I move on to the reflection question. First, note verses 28-29. As we declare in the Creed every week, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” Our hope is not in some kind of annihilation of the physical world. Ours is not a Gnostic religion of “spiritual good/physical bad.” Rather, we recognize that we are made in God’s image, created to worship in both body and soul. Second, note that though Christ in His earthly ministry subordinated Himself to the will of the Father, He is “equal with God” (John 5:18). From the Catechism: “The Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but cooperate in such a way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. Christ’s human will does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 475). So during His earthly ministry, the Son submitted His human will to the will of the Father; His divine nature is always aligned with the Father and the Holy Spirit; His rational human nature was subordinate to the Father during His earthly ministry, but He is now glorified and fully equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Now, on to the reflection question.
A couple of years ago, an opportunity came up for a promotion at my work. It was a role that I had been working toward and was very interested in – the work would be more interesting, and I would be given a raise – so I applied. I was shortlisted and went in for an interview. During the interview, I was told that a successful applicant for the role would need to be available to work on both Saturday and Sunday evenings. They asked if I was available for those shifts. I had a decision to make. The position that I was in at the time gave me Saturdays off, allowing me to attend anticipatory Mass before my Sunday shift; however, switching to this new role would preclude me from attending any obligatory Mass unless I sacrificed a great deal of sleep – and since I work with heavy machinery, that wasn’t an option. I decided (literally for the first time in my life) to prioritize my relationship with God over a job opportunity. I told the supervisors conducting the interview that I would be available to work either Saturday or Sunday, but explained that I would need one or the other off so that I could attend church.
I did not get the position. And I have to say, it was hard seeing someone else get the role. It was hard congratulating him when I saw him next. It was hard to have one of my supervisors tell me that I could have gotten the role if I hadn’t been so inflexible about my schedule. But I pushed through and continued doing my best in the role that I still had.
Several months later, a new opportunity came up. A role parallel to the role I’d applied for unexpectedly opened up. This new role was on a team that I’d hoped to get onto, but the team didn’t have any plans for expansion, and nobody on the team seemed to have any plans to transfer elsewhere. But when one of those team members accepted a promotion onto a different team, my dream role was suddenly put on the table. I eagerly applied. This position offered the same pay as the first role I’d applied for, my particular skill-set was even more closely aligned with the scope of the work, and it was on a fixed schedule – with Saturdays off! Again, I was shortlisted. And thanks be to God, I was selected for the role.
During that original period of rejection, I hadn’t yet been confirmed. I was still in RCIA. I could have chosen to prioritize my career over God. Many other times in my life, I’ve done exactly that. But something that my RCIA instructor had talked with me about several months before had stuck with me. I had talked with him about trying to figure out how to properly put God first without taking time away from my wife and kids and job. I’d seen others volunteer so much time at their churches that they didn’t properly provide for their families, or they sacrificed time with their families in the name of God – attending church functions, Bible studies, homegroups, prayer groups, church board meetings…etc. Think of the Mary Kay quote: “God first, family second, career third.” Trying to adhere to this prioritization while attempting to strike a semblance of balance felt like that the quip about the Project Management Triangle: “Good, fast, cheap. Choose two” – but instead, I was having to choose between God, my family, and my career.
My RCIA instructor said that this common idea created a false dichotomy. We shouldn’t be shirking our vocations. He explained that as a husband and father, my vocation is providing for the physical and spiritual well-being of my family. He said that we need to think about it not in terms of putting God before our families and career, but that we need to put God at the centre of our lives. I think that without that conversation occurring, I wouldn’t have had the strength to be firm in my convictions. And I do need to say too – even though things worked out for the best in a very concrete way (missed out on something good for the sake of God, only to be rewarded with something even better a few months later), even if they hadn’t worked out, it was still the right choice to make. I think though that God gave me a special blessing to show me, a brand-new baby Catholic, that I’d done the right thing in deciding to put aside a physical “good” for a spiritual “better.” In the future, I don’t have any false expectations; I understand that it’s not typical that sacrifices in this life are rewarded in this life; however, my hope is in heaven, and my goal is to be in right relationship with God and to keep my family on the path to Him.
Lord, let me keep You at the centre of all I do. Let my life bring glory to You alone. Fill me with Your love, and let that love spill out to bless all those around me. Let me be a man after Your own heart. Lord Jesus Christ, may I love my wife as You love Your bride, the Church. Father, may I love my children with the unconditional and patient love that You have given to me. Holy Spirit, transform my heart; make me every day more like Christ.
Steven Mills 
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