Tuesday of
the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 245
Lectionary: 245
The angel
brought me, Ezekiel,
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Responsorial
PsalmPS 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R. (8) The
Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Verse Before
The GospelPS 51:12A, 14A
A clean heart
create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
give me back the joy of your salvation.
GospelJN 5:1-16
There was a
feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’“
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
“Do you want to be well?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’“
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
Meditation: "Walk and sin no more"
Is there anything
holding you back from the Lord's healing power and transforming grace that can
set you free to live in wholeness, joy, and peace with God? God put into the
heart of the prophet Ezekiel a vision of the rivers of living water flowing
from God's heavenly throne to bring healing and restoration to his people. We
begin to see the fulfillment of this restoration taking place when the Lord
Jesus announces the coming of God's kingdom and performs signs and miracles in
demonstration of the power of that kingdom.
One of the key signs
which John points out in his Gospel account takes place in Jerusalem when Jesus
went up to the temple during one of the great Jewish feasts (John 5:1-9). As
Jesus approached the temple area he stopped at the pool of Bethzatha which was
close by. Many Jews brought their sick relatives and friends to this pool. John
tells us that a "multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed" were
laid there on the pavement surrounding the pool (John 5:3). This pool was
likely one of the ritual baths used for purification for people before they
went into the temple to offer prayers and sacrifice. On certain occasions,
especially when the waters were stirred, the lame and others with diseases were
dipped in the pool in the hope that they might be cured of their ailments.
The lame man that Jesus
stopped to speak with had been paralyzed for more than 38 years. He felt
helpless because he had no friends to help him bathe in the purifying waters of
the pool. Despite his many years of unanswered prayer, he still waited by the
pool in the hope that help might come his way. Jesus offered this incurable man
not only the prospect of help but total healing as well. Jesus first awakened
faith in the paralyzed man when he put a probing question to him, "Do you
really want to be healed?" This question awakened a new spark of faith in
him. Jesus then ordered him to "get up and walk!" Now the lame man
had to put his new found faith into action. He decided to take the Lord Jesus
at his word and immediately stood up and began to walk freely.
The Lord Jesus
approaches each one of us with the same probing question, "Do you really
want to be healed - to be forgiven, set free from guilt and sin, from
uncontrollable anger and other disordered passions, and from hurtful desires
and addictions. The first essential step towards freedom and healing is the
desire for change. If we are content to stay as we are, then no amount of
coaxing will change us. The Lord will not refuse anyone who sincerely askes for
his pardon, mercy, and healing.
"Lord Jesus, put
within my heart a burning desire to be changed and transformed in your way of
holiness. Let your Holy Spirit purify my heart and renew in me a fervent love
and desire to do whatever is pleasing to you and to refuse whatever is contrary
to your will."
A Daily Quote for Lent: Christ our
physician, by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.
"Our wound is
serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a
mercy that, while you were living in evil and sinning, He did not take away
your life, but brought you to belief and forgave your sins? What I suffer is
serious, but I trust the Almighty. I would despair of my mortal wound if I had
not found so great a Physician." (excerpt from Sermon 352,3)
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, JOHN 5:1-6
Lenten Weekday
(Ezekiel 47:1-9. 12; Psalm 46)
Lenten Weekday
(Ezekiel 47:1-9. 12; Psalm 46)
KEY VERSE: "Rise, take up your mat, and walk" (v 8).
TO KNOW: The third "sign, of God's mighty work in John’s gospel was the healing of the paralytic who had been crippled for 38 years. Modern excavations have uncovered the Bethesda pool with its five porticos where Jesus healed the man. A popular belief of the time was that when the water became turbulent (caused by a sudden inflow through the drain) the first person to get into the pool would be cured (v 4, the account of an angel stirring up the waters is missing from early Greek manuscripts and is probably a later addition). When Jesus asked the crippled man if he wanted to be healed, the man explained that no one had ever helped him into the water (a baptismal symbol). Jesus' powerful word restored the man to full health, but the healing was surrounded by disbelief and accusations that Jesus violated the law by curing on the Sabbath. Jesus warned them that it was sin, more than physical infirmity, which prevented a person from responding to God's grace.
TO LOVE: In what ways do I need to "rise and walk" this Lent?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, heal me of everything that makes me weak and unable to walk in your grace.
Optional Memorial of John of God, religious
John was born Juan Ciudad in Portugal. The greater part of his life was spent as a wanderer, working as a shepherd, soldier, laborer and bookseller. When John finally settled in Granada around the age of forty he underwent a conversion and he decided to devote the rest of his life to caring for those in need. Before he died on March 8th, his fifty-fifth birthday, his selfless dedication to the sick brought him to be known as "John of God". By faithfully following his example, the Order of Brothers formed after the death of St. John of God has passed on John's way of serving. He gave what he had, begged for those who couldn't, carried those who could not walk, and converted both his patients and those who saw him work with them. It is called "Hospitality" and after five centuries it remains the charism of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. Canonized in 1690 he is patron saint of the sick, hospitals and nurses. His motto is: "Labor without stopping. Do all the good works you can while you still have the time."
Tuesday March 8 2016
Tue
8th. (St John of God). Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12. The mighty Lord is with us; the God
of Jacob is our refuge—Ps 45(46):2-3, 5-6, 8-9. John 5:1-3, 5-16.
‘My
Father goes on working and so do I.’
Today
we remember St John of God, who was dedicated to supporting people with
physical and mental illnesses. We also read of Jesus’ compassion towards the
disabled man at Bethsaida. Seeing the man’s suffering and his inability to
reach the healing waters, Jesus was moved to help him to walk, but was
criticised by scrupulous Jewish elders as it was the Sabbath. We are reminded
here that many people in our community today reach out to others following
Jesus’ example even as governments enact laws that protect the rich and
privileged. As Christians, we know the enforcement of rules without thought as
to the condition of the people involved, is not the way of the Gospel. Today we
might ponder ways we could work with community groups, which reach out in our
own community, to help our needy sisters and brothers.
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
|
Moving Forward
|
Complaining can become a habit and it can soon burden our
spirits—and our friends. When we’re going through tough times, some amount of
struggle and grief is to be expected. But as people of faith, we know that at
some point we need to let go of the grieving and move forward with grace.
March 8
St. John of God
(1495-1550)
St. John of God
(1495-1550)
Having given up active Christian
belief while a soldier, John was 40 before the depth of his sinfulness began to
dawn on him. He decided to give the rest of his life to God’s service, and
headed at once for Africa, where he hoped to free captive Christians and,
possibly, be martyred.
He was soon advised that his
desire for martyrdom was not spiritually well based, and returned to Spain and
the relatively prosaic activity of a religious goods store. Yet he was still
not settled. Moved initially by a sermon of St. John of Avila (May 10), he
one day engaged in a public beating of himself, begging mercy and wildly repenting
for his past life.
Committed to a mental hospital
for these actions, John was visited by St. John, who advised him to be
more actively involved in tending to the needs of others rather than in
enduring personal hardships. John gained peace of heart, and shortly after left
the hospital to begin work among the poor.
He established a house where he
wisely tended to the needs of the sick poor, at first doing his own begging.
But excited by the saint’s great work and inspired by his devotion, many people
began to back him up with money and provisions. Among them were the archbishop
and marquis of Tarifa.
Behind John’s outward acts of
total concern and love for Christ’s sick poor was a deep interior prayer life
which was reflected in his spirit of humility. These qualities attracted
helpers who, 20 years after John’s death, formed the Brothers Hospitallers, now
a worldwide religious order.
John became ill after 10 years
of service but tried to disguise his ill health. He began to put the hospital’s
administrative work into order and appointed a leader for his helpers. He died
under the care of a spiritual friend and admirer, Lady Ana Ossorio.
Story:
The archbishop called John of God to him in response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: "The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital, except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor." The archbishop could only trust in John's sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with deep respect.
The archbishop called John of God to him in response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: "The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital, except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor." The archbishop could only trust in John's sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with deep respect.
Comment:
The utter humility of John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is most impressive. Here is a man who realized his nothingness in the face of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience, courage, enthusiasm and the ability to influence and inspire others. He saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord, and, moved to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in openness to God’s love.
The utter humility of John of God, which led to a totally selfless dedication to others, is most impressive. Here is a man who realized his nothingness in the face of God. The Lord blessed him with the gifts of prudence, patience, courage, enthusiasm and the ability to influence and inspire others. He saw that in his early life he had turned away from the Lord, and, moved to receive his mercy, John began his new commitment to love others in openness to God’s love.
Quote:
The archbishop called John of God to him in response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” The archbishop could only trust in John’s sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with deep respect.
The archbishop called John of God to him in response to a complaint that he was keeping tramps and immoral women in his hospital. In submission John fell on his knees and said: “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.” The archbishop could only trust in John’s sincerity and humility, and dismissed him with deep respect.
Patron Saint of:
Booksellers
Firefighters
Heart patients
Hospitals
Nurses
Printers
Sick
Booksellers
Firefighters
Heart patients
Hospitals
Nurses
Printers
Sick
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 5,1-16
Lectio Divina:
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Lent Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord our God,
you have quenched our thirst for life
with the water of baptism.
Keep turning the desert of our arid lives
into a paradise of joy and peace,
that we may bear fruits
of holiness, justice and love.
Lord, hear our prayer
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
you have quenched our thirst for life
with the water of baptism.
Keep turning the desert of our arid lives
into a paradise of joy and peace,
that we may bear fruits
of holiness, justice and love.
Lord, hear our prayer
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - JOHN 5, 1-16
There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem next to the Sheep Pool there is a pool
called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five porticos; and under these were crowds
of sick people, blind, lame, paralysed.
One man there had an illness which had
lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had
been in that condition for a long time, he said, 'Do you want to be well
again?' 'Sir,' replied the sick man, 'I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets
down there before me.' Jesus said, 'Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk
around.' The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and started to
walk around.
Now that day happened to be the Sabbath,
so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, 'It is the Sabbath; you are not
allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.' He replied, 'But the man who cured me told
me, "Pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around." ' They asked, 'Who
is the man who said to you, "Pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around"?
' The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared, as the place was
crowded.
After a while Jesus met him in the
Temple and said, 'Now you are well again, do not sin any more, or something
worse may happen to you.'
The man went back and told the Jews that
it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the
Sabbath that the Jews began to harass Jesus.
3) REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel describes Jesus who
cures the paralytic who had waited 38 years for someone to help him get to the
water of the pool so as to be healed! Thirty-eight years! Before this total
absence of solidarity, what does Jesus do? He transgresses the law of Saturday
and cures the paralytic. Today, in poor countries, assistance to sick persons
is lacking, people experience the same lack of solidarity. They live in total
abandonment, without help or solidarity from anyone.
• John 5, 1-2: Jesus goes to Jerusalem.
On the occasion of the Jewish festival, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. There, close
to the Temple was a pool with five porticos or corridors. At that time, worship
in the Temple demanded much water because of the numerous animals which were
sacrificed, especially during the great festivals. This is why, near the Temple
there were several cisterns where rain water was gathered. Some could contain
over one thousand litres. Close by, because of the abundance of water, there
was a public bathing resort, where crowds of sick people gathered waiting for
help or to be healed. Archeology has shown that in the same precincts of the
Temple, there was a place where the Scribes taught the Law to students. On one
side, the teaching of the Law of God. On the other, the abandonment of the
poor. The water purified the Temple, but it did not purify the people.
• John 5, 3-4: The situation of the
sick. These sick people were attracted by the water of the bathing resort. They
said that an angel would disturb the water and the first one who would enter
after the angel disturbed the water, would be cured. In other words, the sick
people were attracted by a false hope. Healing was only for one person. Just as
the lottery today. Only one person gets the prize! The majority pays and wins
nothing. Precisely, in this situation of total abandonment, in the public
baths, Jesus meets the sick people.
• John 5, 5-9: Jesus cures a sick man on
Saturday. Very close to the place where the observance of the Law of God was
taught, a paralytic had been there for 38 years, waiting for someone who would
help him to go down to the water to be cured. This facts reveals the total lack
of solidarity and of acceptance of the excluded! Number 38 indicated the
duration of a whole generation (Dt 2, 14). It is a whole generation which does
not succeed to experience solidarity, or mercy. Religion at that time, was not
capable to reveal the welcoming and merciful face of God. In the face of this
dramatic situation Jesus transgresses the law of Saturday and takes care of the
paralytic saying: “Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk around!” The man
picked up his mat and started to walk around among the people.
• John 5, 10-13: Discussion of the cured
man with the Jews. Immediately after, some Jews arrived and criticized the man
who was carrying his sleeping mat on a Saturday. The man did not know who the
one who had cured him was. He did not know Jesus. This means that Jesus passing
by that place where the poor and the sick were saw that person; he perceived
the dramatic situation in which he was and cured him. He does not cure him to
convert him, neither so that he would believe in God. He cures him because he
wants to help him. He wanted him to experience some love and solidarity through
his help and loving acceptance.
• John 5, 14-16: The man meets Jesus
again. Going to the Temple, in the midst of the crowds, Jesus meets the same
man and tells him: “Now, you are well again, do not sin any more, or something
worse may happen to you”. At that moment, people thought and said: “Sickness is
a punishment from God. God is with you!” Once the man is cured, he has to keep
from sinning again, so that nothing worse will happen to him! But in his
naiveté, the man went to tell the Jews that Jesus had cured him. The Jews began
to ask Jesus why he did those things on Saturday. In tomorrow’s Gospel we have
what follows.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Have I ever had an experience similar
to that of the paralytic: to remain for some time without any help? How is the
situation regarding assistance to the sick in the place where you live? Do you
perceive any signs of solidarity?
• What does this teach us today?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
God is both refuge and strength for us,
a help always ready in trouble;
so we shall not be afraid though the earth be in turmoil,
though mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,
and its waters roar and seethe,
and the mountains totter as it heaves. (Ps 46,1-3)
a help always ready in trouble;
so we shall not be afraid though the earth be in turmoil,
though mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,
and its waters roar and seethe,
and the mountains totter as it heaves. (Ps 46,1-3)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét