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.
Do you want the Lord Jesus to make you whole?
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 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 Holy Spirit purifies, heals, and transforms us in
Christ's image
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 asks for his pardon, mercy, and healing.
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 asks 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 13, 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. Excavations have uncovered the Bethesda pool with its five porticoes 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 unable to walk in your grace.
Tuesday 13 March
2018
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12. Psalm 45(46):2-3, 5-6, 8-9. John 5:1-3,
5-16.
The mighty Lord is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge—Psalm
45(46):2-3, 5-6, 8-9.
Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.
The man could have decided to stay as he was. After all, he had
been disabled for 38 years and had become used to the life of a helpless
person, dependent on others. He was defined by his illness. People knew him as
the man who could not walk. On encountering Jesus, he picked up his mat and
walked away into a totally different life. He had to learn to live
independently, work and make life choices.
Sea-change and tree-change stories describe people who decide to
take charge of their lives. There are many encouraging tales of people who stop
complaining about their jobs and take steps to follow an earlier dream. It can
take reflection on difficult life experiences to discover a deeper sense of
vocation. The encounter with Jesus can put all our life in its true
perspective.
Saint Leander of Seville
Saint of the Day for March 13
(c. 534 – March 13, 600 or 601)
Saint Leander of Seville’s Story
The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of
today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the
practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the faith
of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied
the divinity of Christ. By the end of his life, Leander had helped Christianity
flourish in Spain at a time of political and religious upheaval.
Leander’s own family was heavily influenced by Arianism, but he
himself grew up to be a fervent Christian. He entered a monastery as a young
man and spent three years in prayer and study. At the end of that tranquil
period he was made a bishop. For the rest of his life he worked strenuously to
fight against heresy. The death of the anti-Christian king in 586 helped
Leander’s cause. He and the new king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy
and a renewed sense of morality. Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian
bishops to change their loyalties.
Leander died around 600. In Spain, he is honored as a Doctor of
the Church.
Reflection
As we pray the Nicene Creed every Sunday, we might reflect on
the fact that that same prayer is not only being prayed by every Catholic
throughout the world, but by many other Christians as well. Saint Leander
introduced its recitation as a means of uniting the faithful. Let’s pray that
the recitation may enhance that unity today.
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 5,1-16
Lectio Divina:
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Season of Lent ✝
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 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.
3) REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel describes Jesus curing
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! Faced with 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 people 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 required 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 – a superstition. Healing was only for one
person. Just like the lottery today. Only one person gets the prize! The
majority pays and wins nothing. In this situation of total abandonment, in the
public baths, Jesus meets sick people.
• John 5:5-9: Jesus cures a sick man on
Saturday. Very close to the place where the observance of the Law was taught, a
paralytic had been waiting for 38 years for someone who would help him to go
down to the water to be cured. This fact 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 experience
solidarity or mercy. Religion at that time was not able 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 the Sabbath. 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
noticed the dramatic situation in which the man found himself and cured him. He
did not cure him to convert him, neither so that he would believe in God. He
cured him because He wanted to help him. He wanted the man to experience 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.” In that age, 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 the Sabbath. In tomorrow’s Gospel we
have what follows.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• If I were the cured man, and told not
to say anything, would I be silent or not?
• By proclaiming what had been done for
him, despite his instruction, did he sin again?
• 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
see any signs of solidarity?
• Do I show the same compassion and help
others without expecting a return and in a significant way every day?
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)
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