Claire Smith

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.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

 O God, be merciful to me a sinner. –Luke 18:13

Lent is a time of the liturgical year that requires me to reflect on my journey to becoming the person that God created me to be, my relationship with God and those around me. The readings throughout Lent take us through different aspects of human failings or hurdles, as I like to call them. These hurdles are challenges to growth in our spiritual life. Today’s readings bring us to another hurdle, judgement, and our efforts to recognize our own sinfulness.

In the first reading, the prophet Hosea reminds us of the things that God wants from us. In this reading we hear the love and knowledge of God is worth more than sacrifices and that piety is shallow and fades away quickly. Knowing God through prayer and reflection can be worth more than our Lenten sacrifices. Taking time to “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:11) can do more for our relationship with God than giving up sugar in our tea!

The Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee point out the light and dark sides of humanity. The dark side is described as judging others by our own standards of how we live our spiritual life. The Pharisee rattles off all the tasks that make him a more worthy individual before God than the Tax Collector who is an outcast because he works for the Romans and takes the hard-earned money of the people. The Tax Collector takes on the physical posture of humility. He recognizes that he is a sinner and asks for forgiveness before God. This is also one of the qualities of the Saints. They knew and recognized that they were sinners, keeping their condition at the forefront of their minds every day. This allowed them to have humility and thus be able to open their hearts fully to God.

Humility is not about degrading ourselves. It is about how we think of ourselves in the presence of others. The readings today remind us that humility is one of the goals to have to allow us to enter more fully into the Light of Christ.     

May your Lenten journey be fruitful.

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

Scripture:

Hosea 14:2-10
Mark 12:28-34

Reflection:

The two greatest commandments: Love God and Love our Neighbor!  The first is pretty much a given, loving God who loves us unconditionally is really a no-brainer!  How can we do anything else but be grateful, thankful and blessed to know that no matter how many times we stray from that love, we are always welcome back!  The second commandment to love our neighbor can be more challenging!  It’s easy to love those who agree with us, share our hopes and dreams, challenge us lovingly to be a better person. Most of the time these folks are our closest friends, family, co-workers, people who literally do live next door to us.

Jesus calls us to love all people, especially those we don’t really care for, those who have different views, those who may not even like us! we live in such a fractured world.  It is very easy to get caught up in the infighting on social media or the harsh words exchanged at the dinner table or board room.  We must work to be that light to the world, to be that small flickering sign of Christ’s love for all.

Our parish theme for Lent this year is ‘Return to Me and Be Transformed.  Lent calls us to stay connected to our loving God and see that love and goodness in all of creation.  Truthfully, this is not easy for any of us.  During this Lenten season, may we find it in our hearts to be Christ for all those we encounter. Let us be transformed as we turn our negative thoughts into positive energy as we feed the hungry at the local soup kitchen, organize a call to action to help the poor in our neighborhoods have better access to adequate housing and employment, visit a friend or relative we have been avoiding because their views may not be our views. Let us do all we can to send positive energy into our world.

However you choose to spend these Lenten days leading up to the great celebration of Easter, may you remember the two greatest commandments to LOVE God and neighbor which calls all of us to be a strong witness of Christ’s love to the world, especially in the difficult times.  Peace!

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