First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
I saw water flowing from the temple,
and all who were touched by it were saved (see Roman Missal).
The angel brought me, Ezekiel,
back to the entrance of the temple of the Lord,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R./ The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.
R./ The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
R./ The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Come! behold the deeds of the Lord,
the astounding things he has wrought on earth.
R./ The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
Gospel Reading: John 5:1-16
Immediately the man became well.
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
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?”
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.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
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.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’”
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
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.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
Let’s take it step by step. Maybe from the least important to the most. First, let’s point out the intervention of the Jews in this story (in John’s Gospel, the generic term “Jews” refers to the Pharisees mentioned in the other Gospels). They encounter the man Jesus healed after 38 years of illness, carrying his mat, the symbol of his suffering and sickness. And the only thing they can think to say to him is, “Today is the Sabbath, and you’re not allowed to carry your mat.” The statement shows an astonishing narrow-mindedness. They’re standing before a man who has returned to an active life, who is reintegrating into society, and all they can say is that he’s breaking a rule because carrying a load isn’t allowed on the Sabbath. Can you imagine such fixation on minor rules that it blinds them to the wonder of God’s saving, redeeming, and rescuing action? It’s hard for me to think that the Jews’ intervention was out of malice. The Pharisees and other people of that time weren’t evil. They wanted to be faithful to God and keep His law. But by focusing on trivial details, they had lost perspective. They had lost it so much that they couldn’t even rejoice in the good of that man. I hope this doesn’t happen to us! I hope we can rejoice when we see God’s action saving a person, because that’s what matters most to Him: the good of His children. Let’s not get lost in the fulfillment of rules that are sometimes just the product of tradition and culture!
And finally, let’s highlight Jesus’ action. In Him, we see God acting among us. When He approaches the sick man, He doesn’t set conditions. He simply approaches a suffering man, attends to him, accompanies him in his pain, and heals him. He doesn’t tell him he has to convert, follow Him, or go to confession afterward. Nothing. He just heals him. And He pushes him to reenter the flow of life: “Pick up your mat and walk.” Only later, at the end, does He advise him not to sin anymore. But the first thing is to save, to lend a hand, to heal. Without conditions.
The text ends with the Jews still angry. Now because Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Again, they’re caught up in the rules, lost in them. Setting aside what’s most important: the good of the person, which comes above any rule.
Fernando Torres, cmfIntroduction
“Water flows from the Temple and turns the land into a fertile paradise, bringing health and life,” says Ezekiel. “But this living Temple is Christ,” says John. Encountering him means forgiveness, health, and life. These readings on the symbolism of life-giving water and on Christ have been chosen in view of baptism, the Lenten-Easter sacrament: in its waters, we encounter Christ.
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
you have quenched our thirst for life
with the water of baptism.
Keep turning the desert of our arid lives
into a paradise of joy and peace,
that we may bear fruits
of holiness, justice, and love.
Lord, hear our prayer
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
General Intercessions
– For people who are blind to the defects of their hearts and to the needs of their neighbor, we pray:
– For people who are paralyzed by their fears and their lack of courage, we pray:
– For the physically handicapped, those who are blind, lame and paralyzed, that they may move the hearts of people and keep up their trust in God, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
your Son, Jesus, comes among us
in these signs of bread and wine.
May he be for us
the source of living water
from which we can drink
until we are satisfied,
that we may turn this earth
into a hospitable place,
which gives us a foretaste
of your eternal paradise.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord, our God,
we have encountered your Son
in this Eucharistic celebration.
May he say to us, too:
“Pick up your sleeping mat and walk,”
and may we indeed, walk
at the Word of your Son
and go to you in his way
of goodness, justice, and peace.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
“Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks the paralyzed man and us. Of course, we say yes. And like the paralyzed person, say yes, may we find people to help us trust in God and to let him make us better people and better Christians. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
