Tuesday March 29, 2022

Tuesday of 4th Week in Lent

 

The Waters of Paradise

Water flows from the Temple and turns the land into a fertile paradise, bringing health and life, says Ezekiel. But this living Temple is Christ, says John. Encountering him means forgiveness, health, and life. These readings on the symbolism of life-giving water and on Christ have been chosen in view of baptism, the Lenten-Easter sacrament: in its waters we encounter Christ.

 

First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-10; 12 

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.

He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.

He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?”

Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river.

He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.

 “But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

 

Gospel: John 5:1-16 

Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”

 But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”

They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.

 A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”

The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.

 

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. Amen.

 

Reflection:

29 March 2022
John 5:1-3,5-16
I want to be healed, but…
The Gospel today speaks about the miracle of Jesus at the pool of Bethzatha on a Sabbath Day. Some Bible scholars think this passage is an allegory. Today’s liturgy makes us reflect on water as a sign of salvation.

The sick man stands for the people of Israel. The five porches represent the five books of the law. In those porches the people lay ill. The law could show the people their sins, but could never redeem them from their sins; the law could uncover people’s weaknesses, but it could never cure them. The law, like the porches, sheltered the sick souls but could never bring healing. The 38 years could be explained as the 38 years in which the Jews wandered in the desert before they entered the Promised Land; or for the number of the centuries people had been waiting for the Messiah. The stirring of the waters stands for the baptism. In early Christian art, baptism was presented with a man depicted as rising from the baptismal waters, carrying a bed upon his back.

The initiative for healing in today’s gospel comes from Jesus and he asks: “Do you want to be healed?” And the answer is interesting: he doesn’t say yes, but he complaints about having no one to help him! “I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed. While I’m about to go there – I’m about to make the decision to go – another gets down there before me.” The answer should have been, “Yes, I want to be healed!” But in his case, the response to Jesus’ offer to heal is a complaint against others. And so, 38 years complaining about others. And doing nothing to get better.

Jesus healed him, although he did not really ask for it. But his indecisiveness would continue. The author of the Gospel does not say whether he was happy or sad about his healing. Unlike other healing stories, here he does not show any signs of happiness. Instead he continues to complain. “The one who healed me said to me. Take up your mat and walk.” And later he would go and tell the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him.

This happens in our lives too. People perceive only what they want to perceive. We are sometimes too preoccupied with our prejudices and convictions and refuse to appreciate the goodness and beauty in the people around us. Are we too critical of those who are more popular and successful than us, and find faults with the situations and circumstances around us? Perhaps it is time for us to appreciate a colleague for a good job done, instead of criticizing him or her for being late in completing the assignment.

 

Video available on Youtube: I want to be healed, but…