Yesterday, Father Willy pointed out that we’ve reached the halfway point of Lent as he spoke about the scriptures leading us to focus on encountering Jesus in this second part of Lent.
It reminded me of a commercial for the latest cell phone.
In the commercial, the two men are seated in a car, the one in the foreground is touting how the phone’s camera focuses on him to draw your attention to the more important character and his message. Suddenly, the camera’s focus changes, and the other man is the focus of attention.
While we still practice our discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, our focus, like that of a camera, moves to Jesus, the one we continue to unite ourselves to with each act of prayer and sacrifice.
Today, we encounter Jesus near the healing waters of Bethesda. And like in other times, Jesus meets a man who has suffered for thirty-eight years. And incredibly, the man is so close to the healing waters, but no one has come to his aid.
We might sometimes feel like that man, longsuffering and without anyone who can help us overcome whatever we struggle with whether physical, psychological, or spiritual in nature. This gospel reading shows us that Jesus wants to be the means of our healing.
On this day, Jesus asks each of us, “Do you want to be well?” Every one of us has some part of our lives that needs to be made well, from the youngest to the most senior, single, married, priest, deacon or consecrated. So what is it? Think for a moment, picture Jesus asking you if you want to be made well, what would you say to Him?
As Father Willy mentioned, most of us have had mixed results with our attempts at upping our spiritual discipline this Lent; but in those efforts, we’ve probably been reminded of areas that need healing in both our relationships and our internal dispositions: how we think and act in private.
Jesus shows us that His words can heal, as He tells the man to “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” That man didn’t need the healing waters, for He encountered the healing presence of Jesus in the spoken word.
Later, when Jesus found him in the temple area, He reminded him of what we are to remember at the end of each sacrament of Confession, when He says, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more; so that nothing worse may happen to you.” John 5:1-16
My brothers and sisters, Jesus has come to heal us, no matter how close or far away we might feel from hope. He offers us the grace to listen to His promptings and to respond to Him. Whether it is in the Sacrament of the Sick or Confession, this Mass, or in family prayer, Jesus is calling to you and me, let’s rise and walk with Him to find the healing that we need; so that we can be like that man and tell others of the power of Jesus in our lives, starting in our homes.
May God bless you and your families on this holy day!
