today's Mass readings / Commentary (the flow from the sanctuary / "Do u want 2b well? / sin causes illness / Jesus anger Jews by healing on Sabbath)

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**March 16 2010 **

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 245

Reading I
Ez 47:1-9, 12

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
46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9


R. (8) 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
Jn 5:1-16

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.

.

wonderful things “flow from [God’s] sancturay”… :)All those who spend time in the Real Presence know this… Too bad not many do that … 😦

Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed… .kind of an odd question becaues the man was always at the waters trying to get healed… hmmm… :confused:

its interesting that he says to go and sin no more, so that no other illness will befall him… hmm… i knew sin caused problems in the physical realm… but had forgotten there was a Bible psg about it…

Related one: “The wages of sin is death” (illness is a living death… which is one way some have described Hell…)

The Jews persecuted Jesus because He healed on the sabbath…

… hmm… just like some people to even persecute God … Of course, they may not have known* He was God… but how could u look at what all He did and NOT know?? or at least SUSPECT!! I think they were jealous because he was a spiritual leader (competetion)… :rolleyes: they wanted to be the Big Kahunas… 😃

seriously tho…

All we Christians are “God” also… because Jesus is God… and Jesus said that whatever u do to the least of His brethren you do to (for ) Him… St Mt 25:31 🙂 **
 
I was reading the Gospel Reading today from the Magnificat at lunch time, and two things struck me that for some reason I never noticed before. Here’s the reading:
**From: John 5:1-16
The Cure of a Sick Man at the Pool at Bethzatha
-----------------------------------------------------------------------**
[1] After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [2]
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethzatha,
which has five porticoes. [3] In these lay a multitude of invalid, blind, lame, para-
lyzed. [5] One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. [6] When
Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there for a long time, He said
to him, “Do you want to be healed?” [7] The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have
no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going
another steps down before me.” [8] Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet,
and walk.” [9] And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and
walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. [10] So the Jews said to the man who was
cured, “It is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” [11] But he
answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your pallet, and
walk.’” [12] They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your
pallet, and walk’?” [13] Now the man who had been healed did not know who it
was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. [14] Afterward,
Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more,
that nothing worse befall you.” [15] The man went away and told the Jews that it
was Jesus who had healed him. [16] And this was why the Jews persecuted
Jesus, because He did this on the Sabbath.
The two things that struck me:

[1] There were “a multitude of invalid, blind, lame, paralyzed” people lying by the pool waiting to get healed. Is it significant that Jesus didn’t heal everybody there, but just this one man? This is even more intriguing to me in light of the fact that—

[2] This man didn’t show any faith in Jesus. He didn’t ask Jesus to heal him—he didn’t even know Jesus’ name when the Jewish authorities asked him about it later. Not only that, he runs into Jesus again and [apparently] doesn’t even thank him or ask his name! Jesus just tells him not to sin anymore, after which the guy runs to the authorities and finks on Jesus. What gives? 🤷
 
I was reading the Gospel Reading today from the Magnificat at lunch time, and two things struck me that for some reason I never noticed before. Here’s the reading:

The two things that struck me:

[1] There were “a multitude of invalid, blind, lame, paralyzed” people lying by the pool waiting to get healed. Is it significant that Jesus didn’t heal everybody there, but just this one man? This is even more intriguing to me in light of the fact that—

[2] This man didn’t show any faith in Jesus. He didn’t ask Jesus to heal him—he didn’t even know Jesus’ name when the Jewish authorities asked him about it later. Not only that, he runs into Jesus again and [apparently] doesn’t even thank him or ask his name! Jesus just tells him not to sin anymore, after which the guy runs to the authorities and finks on Jesus. What gives? 🤷
runs to the authorities and finks on Jesus. ?
hmmm… i never looked at it that way… i got the feeling he just explained to them why he was carrying his mat on the sabbath…

maybe Jesus healed him becaue he had been wanting to be healed for SOO long…

which is a good lesson for all of us who have thought God abandoned us and didnt care when certain prayers of ours weren’t “answered” the way we wanted them to be… or in the time frame we would have wanted… I’m reminded of the stoyr of the widow who pestered the unjust judge and he finally gave her what she wanted becaus of her persistence…

that guy tried for 38 yrs go get healed… that is persistence… He didn’t give up…

Thank you SO much for making me think of all this… God bless… 🙂
 
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