Claire Smith

Scripture:

Isaiah 49: 8-15
John 5: 17-30

Reflection:

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15

In today’s first reading from Isaiah, the author is speaking to a desolate and destitute people, who have been deported from Jerusalem to exile in Babylon. Their faith and their hope are at a very low ebb, and he does his best to console them by describing the coming liberation and restoration of Jerusalem. He uses beautiful images that were familiar to them, like shepherds leading their sheep to good pasture and away from dangers.

And they are not receiving his message. They respond with: “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”

So, the writer of Isaiah offers perhaps the most beautiful expression of divine love in the Bible:

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15

When times are hard, or when we are discouraged by the evil we see in the world, it is difficult to believe in a loving God. Or we may feel unworthy and small; and it is a big leap of faith to believe that God sees me, loves me tenderly, and will never forget me.  

Once we understand, accept and truly experience this tender love from God, we come to realize that God loves everyone in this same intimate way.

And we want to pass it on.

Having a conversion of heart, we take on the mind of Jesus, who proclaims in today’s Gospel reading His inclusive love:                                                                                                                     
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life. -John 5:24

Being loved by God and loving God, and loving others and being loved by others, leads us into compassion, sharing the tender love of God with those near, and eventually the entire created world.

Compassion begins with solidarity with a suffering world. -The Passionist Way

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She serves on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan. Patty is currently a member of the Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 47:1-9,12
John 5:1-16

Reflection:

Twice I’ve stood close to the power and majesty of large waterfalls—at Niagara Falls and in the Colorado mountains. I vividly remember the enormous volume and thundering sounds of the cascading waters. Water has center stage in today’s readings, much quieter than my experience with the waterfalls but more powerful.

Ezekiel, while being led by an angel around the four sides of the temple, witnesses an increasing flow of water, first as a trickle and ultimately as a deep river flowing to the Dead Sea. He sees an abundant, life-giving, never-ending flow of water bringing life and healing to the sea and river banks. In this reading, water is a metaphor for God’s gift of grace to creation.

Jesus is visiting the temple and encounters a man lying by the pool of Bethesda. Jewish tradition speaks of an angel stirring the water once a year. The first person who touches the water will be healed of their illness. Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed, but the man answers that he has no one to carry him to the pool. Jesus immediately heals him and disappears into the crowd. The following day Jesus finds the man in the temple and tells him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Jesus teaches us two important lessons from his encounter with the sick man. We do not need to be carried to the pool for healing. God’s grace is freely given to us without anyone’s assistance and without any conditions that must be met to receive it. The second lesson is we must lead grace-filled lives. Jesus’ command is that we do not sin anymore. However narrowly or broadly you define sin, we must follow Jesus’ teaching to love God and our neighbor. By following this Gospel message, we will flourish from the life-giving, never-ending flow of God’s grace.

Mike Owens is coordinator of the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission of Holy Cross Province. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

Isaiah 65:17-21
John 4:43-54

Reflection:

The Responsorial psalm in today’s readings captures so aptly today’s gospel:
“I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”

Jesus had reproached the people who followed him with the titillating expectation that he would perform something remarkable, even sensational, before their eyes.  Instead, Jesus demonstrated that the most amazing power comes from his word.

Today’s gospel tells the story of the royal official who approached Jesus in desperation — in a kind of foxhole prayer.  His son lay in mortal illness at home.  He urgently begged Jesus to heal his son.  “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 

In a most unsensational way, Jesus said to the royal official, “You may go,  Your son will live.”  Jesus’ simple declaration was all it took.  ”The man believed in what Jesus said to him and left.”  Undoubtedly, the royal official returned home praising the Lord who rescued not only his son from death, but him from despair to belief.  Indeed, he and his whole household came to believe in Jesus the Christ.

As with the royal official, Jesus challenges us.  Will we believe that the words of Jesus pack  life-giving power for us?  Will we believe that the Word of God is enough to conquer death and lead us to eternal life?

The story of the royal official is our story.  When we received ashes on our foreheads at the beginning of Lent, we heard the words, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

During this Lenten season, we are called to believe the way the royal official believed — and to praise the Lord for he has rescued us.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.