March 16, 2026
Monday of the Fourth Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 244
Reading
1
Thus says the
LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;
He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,
and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
They shall live in the houses they build,
and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a
and 13b
R. (2a) I
will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
“Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Verse
Before the Gospel
Seek good and not
evil so that you may live,
and the LORD will be with you.
Gospel
At that time Jesus
left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031626.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
65:17-21
Isaiah speaks of a coming Utopia, a totally new world full
of joy and gladness. It is a world without pain or sadness, a world of
prosperity and plenty. The dream is of a restored Jerusalem after the exile,
and of an even greater Messianic kingdom after that.
The reading comes from the last part of Third Isaiah, a part
of the book not written by Isaiah the prophet. Chapters 65 and 66 form an
apocalyptic collection, and date mainly from the period after the exile in
Babylon, when a remnant of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem. (While it is not
often said, many of the exiles stayed behind in Babylon because life was quite
comfortable for them there.)
In the writing of the earlier prophets, messianic happiness
was foreseen as a return to paradise, to the bliss of the Garden of Eden. But
in apocalyptic literature, such as we have in today’s reading, there is seen
rather a complete renewal of our present world. So, we have the opening words today:
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth.
The past will go into complete oblivion, never to be
remembered again.
There will be a new Jerusalem—a completely restored
Jerusalem—following the return from exile, and even more so in the Messianic
kingdom to come. Later on, the Book of Revelation will link the idea of a new
heaven and a new earth with the “new Jerusalem” (Rev 21:1-2).
It will be a world free of pain and sickness, no weeping or
wailing, no children dying before their time and no one living less than 100
years. We are speaking, of course, in apocalyptic language, not to be taken
literally. It is a dream of better and happier times to come.
It paves the way for the coming of Jesus who, in today’s
Gospel, brings healing and wholeness back to a household threatened with death.
Here, Jesus anticipates his later statement to Martha:
I am the Resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25)
We do not expect to live lives without pain, sickness or
even tragedy, but what we can expect from our commitment to Jesus’ Way is to
experience the peace which only he can give.
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Commentary on John 4:43-54
This week we begin a semi-continuous reading of John’s
Gospel. Today, Jesus brings the promise of new life, now and in the future.
Today’s Gospel follows immediately after the encounter of Jesus with the
Samaritan woman. Jesus now goes back to Galilee from Samaria. In spite of what
Jesus had said earlier about prophets not being welcomed in their own place, he
was received well, because they had seen what Jesus had done in Jerusalem
during his recent visit there.
He returns to Cana, where he had performed his first sign,
changing water into wine. A high official comes to ask Jesus to cure his son
who is dying. Jesus’ first reaction is negative; he complains of people just
looking for miracles, signs and wonders. But the man ignores Jesus’ remarks and
repeats his request for Jesus to come and heal his son before he dies. This, in
itself, indicates the level of the man’s faith in Jesus. Having faith is always
the basic requirement for healing to take place.
In the Synoptic Gospels, it is the centurion who tells Jesus
it is not necessary to go to his house. That was because he was a Gentile and
knew that Jesus should not go there (it is not clear as to whether John’s
account today is another version of this same story, or if it is a different
healing event). In today’s Gospel, Jesus simply says:
Go your son will live.
And in response:
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and
started on his way.
On his way home, the official’s servants meet him to tell
him that his son is alive and well. Upon making further enquiries, the father
learns that the fever subsided just at the moment when Jesus promised that the
boy would live. It was also the moment when the man, trusting in Jesus’ word,
began his journey home.
John tells us that this is the second of the seven “signs”
that Jesus performed.* Its clear message is that Jesus brings life, eternal
life that begins now. In John, eternal life begins as soon as we attach
ourselves in total trust to Jesus and to his Way.
Lent is a good time for us to renew our pledge to walk along
his Way and to ask for a deep level of faith to do so.
_____________________________________________________
*The seven signs in John’s Gospel are:
- The
changing of water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana (2:1-11)
- The
healing of the royal official’s son (4:46-54–today’s reading)
- The
healing of a man who is crippled at the pool by the Sheep Gate (5:1-18)
- Feeding
of the 5,000 (6:1-15)
- Jesus
walking on the water (6:16-21)
- Healing
of the man born blind (9:1-41)
- The
raising of Lazarus (11:1-44)
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1042g/
Monday,
March 16, 2026
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
almighty Father, You want us not to turn to the past to regret it and to mourn
over it but to hope in the future, in the new earth and the new heaven.
Give us a firm faith in Your Son Jesus Christ, that
notwithstanding the shortcomings of our time we may have faith in the future,
which You want us to build up with Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - John 4: 43-54
At that time Jesus left [Samaria for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all
he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the
feast. Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard
that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to
come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you
people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to
him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go;
your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While
the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would
live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left
him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at
that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole
household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came
to Galilee from Judea.
Reflection
Jesus had left Galilee and set forth toward Judah in order to
arrive in Jerusalem on the occasion of the festival (Jn 4: 45) and, passing
through Samaria, He was returning again to Galilee (Jn 4: 3-4). The observant
Jews were forbidden to pass through Samaria, and they could not even speak with
the Samaritans (Jn 4: 9). When the Assyrians conquered Israel, the Jews there
ended up scattered throughout the area and the Assyrians adopted the the God of
Israel, Yahweh, and their practices. The Jews within Judah denied that any
non-Hebrew had a right to worship Yahweh, or to worship outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus did not care about these norms which prevented friendship and dialogue.
He remained several days in Samaria and many people were converted (Jn 4: 40).
After that, He decided to return to Galilee.
•
John 4: 43-46ª: The return to Galilee. Even
though Jesus knew that the people of Galilee had certain reservations about
Him, He wished to return to His own home town. John refers to how badly Jesus
was received in Nazareth of Galilee. Jesus himself had declared that “No
prophet is honored in his own home town” (Lk 4: 24). But now, given the
evidence of what He had done in Jerusalem, the Galileans change their opinion
and receive Him well. Jesus then returns to Cana where He had worked the first
“sign” (Jn 2: 11).
•
John 4: 46b-47: The petition of the court
official. It is the case of a gentile. A short time before, in Samaria, Jesus
had spoken with a Samaritan woman, a heretical person according to the Jews, to
whom Jesus revealed His condition of Messiah (Jn 4: 26). And now, in Galilee,
He receives a gentile, the official of the king, who was seeking help for his
sick son. Jesus does not limit Himself to help those of His race only, nor
those of His own religion. He is ecumenical and receives all.
•
John 4: 48: Jesus’ answer to the court official.
The official wanted Jesus to go with him to his house to cure his son. Jesus
answered, “Unless you see signs and portents you will not believe!” A harsh and
strange answer. Why does Jesus answer in this way? What was wrong with the the
official’s request? What did Jesus want to accomplish through this response?
Jesus wants to explain how our faith should be. The official would believe only
if Jesus went with him to his house. He wanted to see Jesus curing. In general,
this is the attitude that we all have. We are not aware of the deficiency of
our faith. We often expect God to accomplish His work in the way we think it
should be done.
•
John 4: 49-50: The official repeats his petition
and Jesus repeats the response. In spite of Jesus’ answer, the man does not
keep silence and repeats the same petition: “Sir, come down before my child
dies!” Jesus continues to stand His ground. He does not respond to the petition
and does not go with the man to his house and repeats the same response, but
formulated in a different way: “Go home! Your son will live!” Both in the first
as well as in the second response, Jesus asks for faith, much faith. He asks
that the official believe that his son has already been cured. And the true
miracle takes place! Without seeing any sign, nor any portent, the man believes
in Jesus’ word and returns home. It could not have been easy. This is the true
miracle of faith: to believe without
any other guarantee, except the Word of Jesus. The ideal is
to believe in the word of Jesus, even without seeing (cf. Jn 20: 29).
•
John 4: 51-53: The result of faith in the word
of Jesus. When the man was on the way home, his servants saw him and ran to
meet him to tell him that his son had been cured, that he was alive. He asked
them when the boy had begun to recover and discovered that it was exactly the
time when Jesus had said, “Your son will live!” He was confirmed in his faith.
•
John 4: 54: A summary presented by John, the
Evangelist. John ends by saying, “This new sign, the second, Jesus performed.”
John prefers to speak of sign and not of miracle. The word sign connotes
something which I see with my eyes, but only faith can make me discover its
profound sense. Faith is like an X-Ray: it enables one to see what the naked
eye cannot see.
Personal Questions
•
How do you live your faith? Do you have faith in
God’s word or do you only believe in miracles and in perceptible experiences?
•
Jesus accepts heretics and foreigners in a way
that fosters conversion. How do I relate with people who are different from me?
How do I foster their conversion through that relationship?
•
These early cultures, like the Assyrians
adopting the religion of the Hebrews over time, mixed their beliefs as they
assimilated. That was probably one reason there was such resistance to
outsiders among the Jews in Judah. This is true among cultures today. How
should different cultures be welcomed within and into the Church, while
preserving the Church’s teachings, doctrine, and culture?
Concluding Prayer
Make music for Yahweh,
all you who are faithful to Him,
praise His unforgettable holiness. His anger lasts but a moment, His favor
throughout life;
In the evening come tears, but with dawn cries of joy. (Ps
30: 4-5)
