Claire Smith

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

“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?”.”   -John 5:6

Water, two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The Earth is 71 % water and of the 71% 97% is ocean and 3% is fresh water. The human body is 60% water, and that varies from person to person. The heart and brain are 73%. The Lungs are 83%. Skin is 64% and muscles and kidneys are 79% and bones are 31%. Water is very important to us, both as a resource and for our own survival.

In the first reading, Ezekiel is describing one of his visions where the angel carries him to the “temple of the Lord” and there he sees water flowing from the temple.  As they walk farther and farther downstream, it becomes deeper to the point where Ezekiel has to swim. The angel takes him to the bank of the river and shows him all the trees and plants that use the water to flourish. Also, note that when the water from the temple comes to the sea it makes it fresh water. This water has the power to change salty water into fresh water. It has the power to grow plants and trees where “Their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail”. I found it interesting that the passage did not talk about drinking the water but only spoke of things that could be used as food and medicine — and these would never fade.

So what would be “food and medicine” that we possibly receive from God? Is this the “living water” that Jesus refers to when he speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well?

In the Gospel of John Jesus enters Jerusalem and goes to the pool of Bethesda where people go to be healed by the water when it “stirs”.  Quite possibly it was a hot spring that bubbled occasionally, and the legend said that whoever got there first would be healed. The crippled man tried for thirty-eight years to be healed but always seemed to miss out. Jesus doesn’t offer him water. Jesus offers him healing with his Word: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk”.

I have watched both seasons of The Chosen. This can be found via Google. Season 2 Episode 4 tells a story about two brothers. One becomes a Zealot, and the other is the man at the pool of Bethesda. While the story is not exactly as it is in the Bible it is meant to give the cultural and historical setting for the time of Jesus. The scene where Jesus goes to the pool and heals the crippled man is powerful. It shows that the man does not understand at first what Jesus is saying when he asked him, “Do you want to be well?” When Jesus tells him to rise, he discovers that his legs are healed and can hold his weight. To see what joy the man felt gives us insight into the power of Jesus’ miracles for the people of his time.

While Ezekiel saw all the abundance that came from the water that flowed from the Temple of the Lord, the man at the pool of Bethesda was able to experience the healing power that came from the Son of God. In what ways can we open our hearts to Jesus Christ for healing? What needs to be healed within us?  

May your Lenten journey be fruitful.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

Isaiah paints a hopeful picture of how special Jerusalem will be for all of God’s followers. In John’s Gospel, we are also given the hope that comes with being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ! During this season of Lent, we are called to journey to Jerusalem with Jesus.  This is what the Paschal Mystery is all about!  This is what it means to be a follower of Christ.  Jesus suffered and died for us so that we might enjoy new life with him.

What does the Paschal mystery call you and me to this Lenten season!?  Jesus came to show us how to love, to teach us this great self-sacrificing love and paid the ultimate price for it.  Because of his great love for us, God allowed this sacrifice to take place.  Lent calls us to step back and take inventory of our life and how we are being called to live, love, and die with Christ.  We are a spoiled and blessed people!  We are used to getting what we want, when we want it and living the way we want, sometimes to the detriment of those we love and care about.

The Verse before the Gospel today also gives us hope if we are faithful:

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,         
And the LORD will be with you.

During this Lenten season, I am trying to be more committed to FASTING from indifference and rash judgments to PRAYING for those whose beliefs and actions may be counter to mine, and ALMSGIVING/SERVICE as I focus on becoming more aware of the needs of others including family members, friends and strangers.  Living the Paschal Mystery calls me to fast from speaking too much and listening too little.  Paschal Mystery calls me to pray for wisdom to know how to heal that broken relationship and the courage to plant seeds of friendship.

Paschal Mystery most importantly calls all of us to walk with Jesus along the Via Dolorosa, to embrace his suffering, emotional and physical pain, humiliation and disappointment!  Jesus sought to do good, to eradicate evil, and teach us how to love so that we may enjoy everlasting life in the new Jerusalem.  We are called to do no less!  Let us continue our Lenten journey accepting all that the paschal mystery entails.

Theresa Secord recently retired as a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Reflection:

Thursday morning, I attended a book study with several other lovely women. We were discussing obedience. I remembered a sweet woman to whom I was distributing Holy Communion in a nursing home. Having initially declared her Catholicism, she later shared with a Priest that she was Buddhist. Her thought was that she became Catholic and practiced as an adult, but in later years in her travels, she experienced other religions and had decided to practice Buddhism. She had the Buddhist statue in her room, and another outside her window. She believed that we should embrace other religions, but that her Catholic faith and beliefs would always be there.

Hmmm… In our obedience to our faith, we must be true to our Catholic teachings and beliefs, and exercise and practice those beliefs. We know Jesus suffered and died for our sins – no one else did that for us – not Siddhartha, not John Smith. We believe in his miracles, from the wine at Cana, to today’s scrutiny reading from John chapter 9, where Jesus has made a paste and placed it on the eyes of the blind man, who upon washing it off of his eyes can see. He is a believer who does not doubt, and after multiple attempts of telling his story to the Pharisees and his neighbors, he is obedient and believing to the miracles of Jesus.

Make today the day you show the Lord your obedience through your praise, your worship, and your good deeds. “Lord, I do believe.” 

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

Scripture:

Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14

Reflection:

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

When we have been shown mercy and love, it’s hard to imagine not extending that same mercy and love to others. Yet far too often there is a disconnect between what we have received and what we give in return.

The parable in today’s gospel aptly captures this disconnect. The pharisee somehow thinks his station in life provides him the right to judge others – “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity….” We all have a bit of pharisee in us. For some reason, we want to know that there is someone else worse off than we are, of whom we can say, “Well, at least I am not like that person.”

Maybe it has always been thus, but the dominance of social media amplifies these sweeping, hurtful judgments about others. It might be a petty comment about someone’s appearance or a more serious judgment of someone’s religion or skin color or political party or sexual identity. My parents taught all their children not to participate in gossip. It was not right. It was hurtful. And, they would add, do you want others gossiping about you?

Country singer, Keith Urban recorded a song, “But for the Grace of God.” The refrain might well be a helpful Lenten reflection:

And silently I say a little prayer, yes I do.
But for the grace of God, go I.
I must have been born a lucky guy.
Heaven only knows how I’ve been blessed
With the gift of your love.
And I look around and all I see
Is your happiness embracing me.
Oh, Lord, I’d be lost
But for the grace of God.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 7:23-28
Luke 11:14-23

Reflection:

Being With Christ

Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

We must learn to be with the total Christ.   We must cherish each member of his body the church.  We need not feel jealous of any of his members, rather praise God for His gift to all of us in them.   Although Christ is beautiful and perfect in His humanity He chose as His coworkers, members that are flawed and damaged by past sins.  Perhaps if He only chose perfect people in His Church, they would discouraged sinners like ourselves from joining His body.

A spirit of forgiveness is an extremely important attitude to be with Christ and not against Him.  We live in a culture of tearing down statutes of flawed heroes of our country.   It is a wonder of God’s grace that so much has been done by imperfect people.   Maybe we can learn by looking at the birds of the sky.  They would include the pigeons who decorate our statues!  It is a sign of great spiritual immaturity to dismiss damaged members of His body.  “Every saint has a past (not necessarily good) and every sinner has a future”.  St Augustine   

We certainly do not encourage a sinful life with no felt need to be like Our beautiful Shepard.  The lovely word in the inspired Greek New Testament is kalos in describing Jesus. The basic sense of καλός  “organically healthy,” “fit,” “useful,” “serviceable.” sense of “genuine” or “sterling,”.   In His less than perfect members of His body we should be able to sense what is wonderful.  In our negative judgements against our brothers and sisters don’t forget the beam in our eye.  The church is the Body of Christ on this earth.  I don’t think it is wise to be a critic of God’s elect because “I have come to call sinners”.

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Matthew 5:17-19

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus says to the crowds, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but fulfill.” If we look at the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees and the scribes which we read in the Gospels, we may think Jesus is contradicting Himself. The Pharisees and the scribes often criticize Jesus and the apostles for not faithfully observing this ritual or that, or for doing things forbidden on the sabbath.

In response, Jesus points out to them that they way they use their knowledge of the law goes against what the law was really meant to do. What was the purpose of the law? We get an idea from our first reading from Deuteronomy. In that reading, Moses exhorts the people to observe the statutes and decrees that God has given them “carefully, for thus you will give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations…” Moses also says: “For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”

The purpose of the law was to lead the people to respond to the love God had for them, and to do justice to each other. Jesus was the fulfillment of that purpose! In the Son of God becoming one of us in Jesus, God became as close to us as possible, and went beyond the law to save us and show us the way to love and do justice to each other.

When we get tempted to use the rules and rituals of the Church in the same way that the Pharisees and the scribes used the law – as a cudgel against others, we need to remember what Jesus did for us, and look for ways to love one another as He loves us.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Matthew 18: 21-23

Reflection:

Lord, 

You said that by sincerely being penitent and asking for your mercy, my sins will be forgiven.  However, you made it clear that what I am asking is that You “…forgive us our sins AS we forgive our debtors.” Unstated is that I will be forgiven in the same manner as I forgive my debtors.You meant that I cannot simply say “I forgive you,” but with the spirit of true forgiveness I must cleanse my heart of any meanness or dark feelings that resides there for anyone who has offended me. And I need to forgive others at least as many times as I have to ask You for forgiveness.

At 70 years of age, I’m pretty sure seven times seventy is not going to cover it, Lord. I mean, that only gives me seven forgivenesses a year!That is definitely not gonna cut it.I have held grudges, sought revenge, or shunned someone because of some perceived slight or offense more often than I care to think about.  It’s so much easier to love You than to love some of my neighbors, co-workers, even friends or family.  I have at times, felt hurt because of the actions of others, so hurt that it’s hard to forgive.  I know that I have hurt others as well.  

 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Mark 11: 25

As I must forgive to be forgiven, Father, please teach me how to rid myself of the burdens of anger or resentment so that I may forgive all others. And if I am truly forgiven, please show me how to forgive myself.   I ask this in the name of Your son, Jesus, our Redeemer.   

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for over 45 years. He is a USN Vietnam Veteran, and a 1969 graduate of Mother of Good Counsel Passionist Prep Seminary. Ray currently serves on the Passionist Alumni Council.