Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 48:10-21 The Daily Manual Labor

Mass: Ezk 47:1-9, 12; Resp Ps 46; Jn 5:1-16

The astounding things the Lord has wrought on the earth.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE, 

PRAY FOR US.

I have been thinking this morning about the man in today's Gospel; the man who had been ill for 38 years (Jn 5:4), yes, a long time. Some of my reflections have emerged from a little book I am reading by Frederick Buechner, Crazy, Holy Grace: The Healing Power of Pain and Memory (Zondervan, 2017).  We don't know exactly what afflicted this poor fellow for so long. It could have been a physical ailment, or perhaps it was an emotional ailment, such as grief, sorrow, anger or bitterness that was conveniently forgotten, only to be buried deep inside him and that subsequently accumulated year after year. Whatever his illness, he just couldn't manage to get to the healing pool before someone else got ahead of him. So there he was when Jesus appeared. Do you want to be well?, asked the Divine Physician. I wonder what really kept this man on his mat, from taking his place in the healing water. Was it fear of what may happen next? Did he think that it was better just to stay comfortable there and continue to complain that no one would put him in the pool? What is it that keeps us from moving on, or sincerely asking God for help? Jesus is continuously asking each of us if we want to be well. However, we really have to want to be well. In the words of Servant of God Luigi Giussani, "It is essential to accept the help of Jesus Christ offered to us and to collaborate actively with Him." We have to play our part and ask God for the grace to move through our fears and anxieties and get ourselves into those healing waters. We may even have to push and shove to be the first in line! And it is not unlikely that we will need someone else to help us. Once we have done it though, and it may take years, or maybe not, Jesus says: Rise, take up your mat, and walk (Jn 5:8). And just listen to what comes next: "Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked" (Jn 5:9). O God, come to my assistance; O God, make haste to help me.

But I think that the price that one pays by dealing with your pain by forgetting it, by stuffing it aside, by not looking at it, is that some part of you doesn't grow.

(F. Buechner, Crazy, Holy Grace, p. 18)

Today's photo: This little gem greeted me on my first trip to the compost bin this morning. Rise and shine and bring God your glory! What marvelous things the Lord has done, let us rejoice and be glad.

© Gertrude Feick 2022