20190402
DO
YOU WANT TO BE WELL AGAIN?
02 APRIL, 2019,
Tuesday, 4th Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 ©
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Wherever the water flows, it will bring
life and health
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The angel brought me to the entrance of
the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed
eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right
side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and
led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed
out on the right-hand side. The man went to the east holding his measuring line
and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the
water reached my ankles. He measured off another thousand and made me wade
across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another
thousand and made me wade across again; the water reached my waist. He measured
off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream
had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross. He then said,
‘Do you see, son of man?’ He took me further, then brought me back to the bank
of the river. When I got back, there were many trees on each bank of the river.
He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing
into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all
living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for
wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river
flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with
leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit
every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will
be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
45(46):2-3,5-6,8-9ab ©
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The Lord of hosts is
with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in
time of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth
should rock,
though the mountains fall into
the depths of the sea.
The Lord of hosts is
with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The waters of a river give joy to God’s
city,
the holy place where the Most
High dwells.
God is within, it cannot be shaken;
God will help it at the
dawning of the day.
The Lord of hosts is
with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
The Lord of hosts is with us:
the God of Jacob is our
stronghold.
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has
done on the earth.
The Lord of hosts is
with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps50:12,14
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Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
A pure heart create for me, O God,
and give me again the joy of your help.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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John 5:1-3,5-16 ©
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The healing at the pool of Bethesda
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There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building,
called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were
crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the
water to move. 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 this
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 there before me.’
Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at
once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.
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 mat and walk.”’ They
asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man
had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled
the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are
well again, be sure not to 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 persecute
Jesus.
DO YOU WANT TO
BE WELL AGAIN?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 47:1-9,12; PS 46,2-3,5-6,8-9; JOHN 5:1-16 ]
In the gospel, there was
this man who was paralyzed for thirty-eight years lying at the side of the pool
hoping that he could get into the pool when the water was disturbed so that he
could find healing. Yet
it is significant that when the Lord saw him, the question He asked was, “Do
you want to be well again?” The man did not respond to the Lord.
Instead, he was more focused on wanting to get into the pool so that he could
walk again. “Sir, 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 there before
me.” And this is true also for most of us. Many of us are more
concerned about our physical health and financial well-being than our spiritual
health and personal relationships with God and our fellowmen. We think
that spiritual and affective needs are secondary when they are critical in
living a purposeful and meaningful life.
That was why the Lord
asked the paralyzed man whether he wanted to be well again. For Jesus, to be well extends
beyond the ability to walk again. It means living an authentic life of
integrity and holiness. Hence, after healing the paralyzed man, we are
told: “the man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked
away.” He did not seem to be transformed in his heart or
interiorly. He was healed physically but perhaps not spiritually.
He did not show gratitude to the Lord or even ask for His name. It was
only later when he was questioned why he was carrying the sleeping mat on a
Sabbath that he found it necessary to lay the blame on Jesus who healed him of
his illness and that it was because of His instructions that he was carrying
the sleeping mat. In other words, he wanted to exonerate himself from
breaking the Sabbath Law. So when he found Jesus, instead of
protecting Him, he went to report Him to the authorities. “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 persecute Jesus.”
Consequently, when the
Lord met him in the Temple, He said, “Now you are well again, be sure not to
sin anymore, or something worse may happen to you.” Truly, more unfortunate than physical
illness is the sickness of the heart and of the soul. Many who are
physically sick or immobile are much happier and at peace within themselves
than those who are supposedly healthy and able to move about. Happiness
in life is not whether we are able to take care of ourselves, or how healthy we
are, but whether our hearts are at peace and whether our minds are pure,
thinking positively of others, and that we have a beautiful relationship with
God and our neighbours. So long as we have a clear conscience and a heart
of love and compassion, we can be happy in whatever state we are in and in
whatever situation we are found.
Indeed, the scripture
readings today urges us to prepare ourselves to be renewed in the cleansing
waters of the sacrament of baptism at Easter so that we can be well again, not
just physically but spiritually. The pool is a symbol of the baptism font. The
water in the pool reminds us of the sacrament of baptism. St John
Chrysostom taught that whereas the pool of Bethzatha cured physical ailments,
Baptism cures those of the soul. Furthermore, at Bethzatha only one
person was cured whereas in the pool of baptism, many are cured of their
illnesses and most of all, their sins. We read in the first reading that
the flowing water that exits from the threshold of the temple and flowed east
brought life to both plants and fishes. “Wherever the river flows, all
living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for
wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river
flows. Along with the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree
with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new
fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit
will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.” God’s healing grace comes
to us through the waters of baptism.
Indeed, the sacrament of
baptism brings about new life through the forgiveness of sins which is the
deepest form of healing.
With forgiveness from God, we are able to forgive those who hurt us and then
forgive ourselves for the wrongs we have done to others and to ourselves.
Forgiveness is the deepest form of healing that we need before any other forms
of healing could take place.
Thus, the season of Lent
prepares the Elects for baptism at Easter. That the healing of the paralyzed man took place on
a Jewish festival indicates that it happened either at Passover or Pentecost,
both of which are related to the Christian celebration of the Paschal Mystery,
the Passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord. The forty days of praying and
fasting help the Elects commit themselves to Christ at baptism. It
reminds us of the story of Noah when the entire human race was deep in
sin. God allowed the flood to purify the people. The season of Lent
similarly is an occasion for sinners to be washed clean of their sins and be
saved. Water, too, is not just related to baptism but to Pentecost
because flowing water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit
dwells in us, we live in truth and holiness.
Hence, we must take our
growth in holiness seriously.
It is not enough to seek baptism but to be baptized means that we intend to
grow in holiness. St John Paul wrote, “It implies the conviction that,
since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation
into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to
settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow
religiosity. To ask catechumens: ‘Do you wish to receive Baptism?’ means at the
same time to ask them: ‘Do you wish to become holy?’ It means to set before
them the radical nature of the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). (Novo Milenio Ineunte, 31)
Indeed, we must avoid
falling into the same mistake as the paralyzed man who resigned himself to his
paralyzed state.
He was lamenting to himself and engaging in self-pity when he said, “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 there before me.” This is the case of many
Catholics and people who are living in misery and pain. They are not
making efforts to get out of their miserable state of life. They are
bitter with their current lifestyle that is meaningless, but they are not
making efforts to come out of it. They wallow in self-pity. Instead
of being creative and taking risks to make the changes, they are just sitting
by the pool waiting for a miracle to happen. Hence, Jesus told him in no
uncertain terms, “Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.” In
other words, stop living in self-pity. Get up, pick up your crosses and
start walking.
Some of us fall into the
state of mediocrity because of routine. That was the case of the
religious leaders.
They were not happy that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. They were simply
contented to obey the laws meticulously, slavishly and blindly. They did
not know how to apply the laws to their lives creatively as Jesus did when He
saw the greater need to heal the paralyzed man than to keep the Sabbath Law
which forbade work. When we become slaves to tradition and laws, we practise
them out of routine rather than out of love and compassion. For Jesus, He
healed out of compassion for their suffering, even at the cost of being
misunderstood and even persecuted for doing good.
By growing in holiness,
our souls become healthier and better, as does our physical health. A sound mind produces a sound
body. Jesus in the gospel reminds us, that “every good tree bears good
fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.” (Mt 7:12-20) When we ask for physical and
material things, worse things could happen to us because we use our health and
resources to do evil rather than to do good. We cause harm to ourselves
and to others when we have a bad and guilty conscience. We are distressed,
anxious and restless. That is why we need to take care of our soul and
our heart as much as we take care of our physical body. This is what
holiness is all about.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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