Fourth Wednesday of Lent
Saint Cyril
18 March 2026
Like Father, like Son
Today’s Gospel gives us a remarkable glimpse into the relationship between Jesus and the Father. “I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing.”
At first that might sound like weakness. We often admire independence and self-sufficiency, especially as Americans. But Jesus is revealing something much deeper: His entire life is perfectly aligned with the Father. He does not act separately from the Father. He does not pursue His own agenda. Everything He does flows from the Father’s will. In other words, Jesus lives in complete union with the Father.
And because of that union, the works of Jesus are not simply impressive miracles. They are signs that God Himself is at work. When Jesus heals, when He gives life, when He judges with justice—He is revealing the very heart of the Father.
That is why Jesus continues in the Gospel by saying that the Father has entrusted everything to the Son: the power to give life, the authority to judge, the work of bringing people from death into life. The people listening to Him understand exactly what He is claiming. This is why they become angry. Jesus is not presenting Himself as another teacher or prophet. He is claiming a unity with the Father that no one else could claim.
But the first reading helps us see why this unity matters.
In Isaiah, God speaks to His people who are discouraged and forgotten. They are living in exile, wondering if God has abandoned them. And God responds with words that are among the most tender in all of Scripture: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”
God is assuring His people that His love is constant, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.
Now place that promise next to the Gospel. If Jesus perfectly reveals the Father—if He does only what He sees the Father doing—then every action of Jesus becomes a window into that same faithful love. When Jesus heals the sick, we see the Father’s compassion. When Jesus forgives sinners, we see the Father’s mercy. When Jesus calls people to repentance, we see the Father’s desire for life. And when Jesus eventually goes to the Cross, we will see the fullest expression of that love.
That is why these readings come at this point in Lent. As we approach the final weeks of the season, the Church wants us to see that the Passion is not an accident or a tragedy. It is the moment when the Son fully reveals the Father’s love for the world. The Son does what He sees the Father doing—and what the Father is always doing is giving life.
That truth also speaks to our own lives. Lent invites us not only to admire Jesus, but to learn from Him. The Christian life is meant to follow the same pattern: aligning our lives with the will of the Father. When our lives move in that direction—when our choices reflect God’s mercy, patience, and generosity—we begin to share in the life that Jesus reveals.
And this matters especially as we prepare for the final turn of Lent.
Soon the readings will lead us directly to the Cross. When we see Jesus suffering, rejected, and condemned, we might be tempted to think that God has forgotten Him. But today’s readings remind us that the opposite is true. The Son and the Father are never separated. Even in suffering, Jesus is doing what He sees the Father doing: loving the world, giving life, and drawing people back to God.
And the promise of Isaiah still stands. God does not forget His people. Even when the path leads through suffering, even when the future seems uncertain, the love of God remains constant.
That is the truth Lent is preparing us to see more clearly as we approach the mystery of the Cross.
Because the same Father who says, “I will never forget you,” is the Father whom Jesus reveals in everything He does.