4th Week of Lent
21st March 2023 (Tuesday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
In those days: [The angel] brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastwards with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on one side and on the other. And he said to me, "This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."
Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 (R. 8)
R/. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Gospel : John 5:1-16
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids- blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk." They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Water that heals!
Indicative: The waters of God’s grace are ever-flowing. They enliven, refresh, nourish and fructify life{alertSuccess}
1. Today’s word of God in both readings focuses on water. In the first reading, it is the water around the Temple, and in the gospel, it is the pool of Bethesda. Both are the sources and causes of life, freshness, growth and fruitfulness in abundance. This water nourishes and heals, and thus leads to health and strength
2. What is notable is that it is not any water. This water has power and this power comes from its association with the divine – the temple, and the stirring by an angel respectively. This indicates that ordinary and natural things are sanctified and empowered by the divine touch. It is not magical or purely human but divine
3. Any healing and miracle is not automatic. It needs a fundamental disposition of faith. It is not the water of the pool as such but the divine power behind it that heals. Often, consciously or unconsciously, we attach too much importance to the symbols and make them automatic means and transmitters of power and healing. It is where the holy objects are made to be “power-transmitting talismans”. Thus our holy ritual celebrations which are symbolic can become mechanical
4. Perhaps, this can be a strong indicator in Jesus’ healing of the ill man in the gospel. All our various ways and means of seeking divine favours shall not become substitutes for the personal encounter with Jesus. All our holy symbols and activities should be complements and indicators of a deeper experience of him
5. Do you want to be well?” looks apparently foolish because the desire for healing is quite natural and self-evident and so why ask again? But this can be a call to express the ill man’s explicit desire for healing which is essential for any healing. It evokes a response. With this fundamental disposition, Jesus heals him directly. It is no more the water but the personal intervention of Jesus
6. The ill-man answers, “There is no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am on my way, someone else gets down before me”. It is unfair, I believe, to interpret this as a defence about his prolonged stay, or protest and blame others. It is simply an elaborate and implicit answer of the man that he does really want but could not get healed due to situations
7. Jesus’ words of healing, “Rise, take up your mat and walk!” indicates what is real healing. Healing is to rise from sin, take up our lost strength, and walk steadily in grace. Jesus’ words of admonition after healing, “Do not sin anymore!” need not presume that he was sinning and his illness was because of sin. This can be indicative of a new, renewed life, healed from sin
Imperative: Every sin makes us sick, lying on our beds of tepidity and inaction, and forfeits the beauty and vigour of life. It is high time that we rise up and walk{alertSuccess}