3rd TUESDAY OF LENT - Gospel (John 5:1-3a.5-16) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
FIRST READING - Ezk 47:1-9, 12
"Where these waters flow they refresh; everything lives where the river goes."
A reading from the Book of Ezekiel
[a] 1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and there! I saw water flowing out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east. The water flowed out toward the right side of the temple to the south of the altar. 2 He brought me by way of the north gate and around the outside to the outer gate facing east; there I saw water trickling from the southern side. 3 When he continued eastward with a measuring cord in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water; it was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and once more had me wade through the water; it was up to the knees. He measured another thousand cubits and had me wade through the water; it was up to my waist. 5 Once more he measured off a thousand cubits. Now it was a river I could not wade across. The water had risen so high, I would have to swim—a river that was impassable. 6 Then he asked me, “Do you see this, son of man?” He brought me to the bank of the river and had me sit down. 7 As I was returning, I saw along the bank of the river a great many trees on each side. 8 He said to me, “This water flows out into the eastern district, runs down into the Arabah and empties into the polluted waters of the sea[b] to freshen them. 9 Wherever it flows, the river teems with every kind of living creature; fish will abound. Where these waters flow they refresh; everything lives where the river goes.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Jn 5:1-3a, 5-16
"Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you."
✠Tin Mừng Chúa Giê-su Ki-tô theo thánh Gio-an.
5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath. 10 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.” 11 He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. 14 [a]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.” 15 The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.
3rd TUESDAY OF LENT - Gospel (John 5:1-3a.5-16)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear people of God,
Today's Word of God recounts how Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath.
After healing him, Jesus said to him: “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
This suggests that his paralysis was the consequence of his many sins.
When he sinned repeatedly, it was the opportunity for Satan to enter and torment his body, waiting for the right moment to seize his soul. He was controlled by the devil for 38 years, a very long time. The devil can do anything except giving life. They can cause people illness, inflict suffering on the soul and body, and lead to death. They triumph over humanity when people do not live rightly, do not follow the teachings of God, and do not walk in the light and truth of God.
Today's Gospel also shows us that when God wished to heal the paralyzed man, He respectfully asked him: “Do you want to be made well?”.
God desires to save and heal humanity, but He always respects and grants human beings their freedom. Therefore, those who wish to be healed by God must cooperate and unite with Him. Yet, people today do not wish to cooperate with God, and He grants them that freedom.
Therefore, anyone is facing illnesses that cause pain to both soul and body, and if they wish to be healed by God and desire a life of peace and happiness, they should run to God, the merciful Father, to ask for healing and guidance, so that they may do everything according to God’s direction, so that Satan will no longer have the opportunity to attack the human soul and body.
The Word of God in today’s Gospel reading also speaks of how the Jewish leaders observed the law in a purely formalistic way.
God is the Lord of the Sabbath. When He came to heal the souls and bodies of people, bringing peace and love, He was condemned by the Jewish leaders.
When the paralyzed man, who had suffered for so long in soul and body, was finally healed by God and freed from the shackles of Satan, these leaders did not rejoice but instead condemned their brother, saying: “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat!”
The very mat that had been with him throughout his paralysis.
They used the law in a formalistic way to forbid, condemn, and exclude their brother.
This is a misguided way of observing the law that is not pleasing to God the Father.
Today, God also grants the grace of exorcism and healing to those He chooses, so that they may help cast out demons and heal the sick of all ailments of soul and body.
Yet, these good deeds are condemned, forbidden, and excluded by some members within the Church.
Such people are not different from the Jewish leaders of old: they also condemned and forbade Jesus from healing on the Sabbath, and forbade the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years from carrying his mat on the Sabbath after Jesus had healed him.
Those who hold thoughts or perform actions inconsistent with God's way of observing the law should examine their own conscience, looking deep into their hearts to see if they have truly kept the law of love: to love God above all things and their neighbor as themselves.
Have we lived in a way that is pleasing to God?
God loves humanity, and so He is calling upon those who are being tormented by Satan in soul and body:
to run to God the Father, for He alone has the power to heal and cast out demons.
to return and reconcile with Him, walking the path of light that God teaches.
to resolve to abandon sin and convert your life, and you will be healed by God in both soul and body.
not to sin anymore, as Jesus instructed the paralyzed man long ago, and as He teaches each of us: “Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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