Not As Obvious

“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.’”

John 5:6-7

Have you ever been in a situation where what at first seemed obvious turned out to have several more layers to it? For example, a young child at school is not paying attention in class and does not get much work done. One of the first thoughts might be “This kid is lazy. He just wants to play.” Since the child repeatedly got out of his seat during the morning and hardly any questions on the in-class worksheet, his lunch recess is being taken away. The child is not happy and does not listen to the teacher during his time in and so a note is sent home for the parents to read, sign, and schedule for a phone call or in-person meeting. The next day the child comes to school without a signed note and the teacher had just had about enough.

After talking with the family, the teacher found out that the parents are going through a divorce and the child has been staying at several places throughout the week and the only time he ever has the chance to play and interact with friends his age is at school. After referring the child to the school psychologist it was determined that he actually has a specific learning disability. So, it is not that the child did not want to pay attention in class and learn, but because he did not even have the most foundational necessities, every other part of his life was affected.

In the Gospel today we hear about the encounter between Jesus and a man who had been ill for 38 years and who for all those years have lain there waiting for someone to put him in the pool of healing waters. Jesus asked him “Do you want to be well?” The man answered with an excuse — no one had helped him in the pool. But that wasn’t Jesus’ question. He asked if he wanted to be well, not why he was lying there. Jesus commanded him to rise, take up his mat, and walk. He did. When Jesus encounters him again later, he tells him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” There is mention of sin not physical handicap. Perhaps it was not a physical handicap that kept the man ill for 38 years but a spiritual and emotional one that weighed him down, manifesting a physical handicap. Jesus saw this, and He knew what the man needed. He didn’t need someone to help him into the pool, he needed his sins to be forgiven, and only Jesus could do that for him.

Brothers and sisters, sometimes what we need may not be as obvious, and sometimes the problems that bring us frustration and anxiety might be about something much deeper. Bring all this to prayer and let the Lord who alone knows the depths of our hearts reveal all those things to you so that you might answer the Lord when he asks, “Do you want to be well?”

Time to Celebrate

“He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”

Luke 15:31-32

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is known as “Laetare Sunday,” similar to “Gaudete Sunday” during Advent. It is a reminder and an invitation to rejoice in the midst of the penitential season of Lent. Why are we to rejoice during Lent? Shouldn’t we be solemn and steadfast in our practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? Yes, but for what? We are solemn and penitential not just because it is “what we do.” We observe this penitential season for a reason, a reason that ultimately leads us to joy.

In our Lenten practices, and with really anything, we must have the end in mind. For Lent, it is the renewal of our baptismal promises and the Resurrection. So today we rejoice because of the defeat of sin and death, the Resurrection, and the promise of eternal life. It is indeed an occasion for celebration! The Church calls us to rejoice today because of the great love God has for us.

Perhaps one of the most well known parables in the Gospel is that of the Prodigal Son. The story about the inter- and intra-relationships between the father and the sons and within each individual. The younger son asked his father for his share of the inheritance, left his home, and squandered every penny he received from his father, effectively communicate his father being dead to him. After finding himself in such a state, he works for foreigners at such a low wage that he had to contend with the pigs for food. He finally came to his senses and decided to go back home. The father welcomes him with a loving embrace and throws a feast to celebrate his son’s return. Out in the fields the older son hears the commotion and learns of the news. He was furious. The older son refused to enter the home and celebrate. So, the Father comes out and pleads with him, saying that now was the time to celebrate because his brother who was lost has been found, who was dead has come back to life. The older son was unable to celebrate with the father because he heart has been hardened.

When we lose sight of who we are and whose we are, our hearts may become hardened. Our actions and decision may become routine, forgetting the ultimate end towards which we first embarked. When we take our eyes off of God, we celebrate the wrong things at the wrong times. We celebrate because God has loved us so much that He became man and died for us. We celebrate because this death was not the end, but only the beginning. We celebrate because sin has been conquered and death no longer has the final say. We celebrate today because we too are invited to partake in this victory. The Father is calling out to us to celebrate with Him. Will we enter the celebration or will we stand outside the door?

Never Alone

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means ‘God is with us!’”

Isaiah 7:14

As mentioned in a previous entry, feast days are usually not celebrated as such during Lent except generally for two solemnities that occur during the Lenten Season: St. Joseph and today, the Annunciation of the Lord. Although very commonly mistaken, this solemnity is not about Mary being conceived but rather the day when Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

After refusing to ask the Lord for a sign as He had told him to, the Prophet Isaiah told King Ahaz that the Lord Himself will give him a sign: a virgin will bear a son whose name will be Emmanuel, “God is with us.” A little over 700 years later, the Angel Gabriel went to a young woman by the name of Mary who lived in a little town in Galilee called Nazareth and greeted her with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

In the Gospel of Luke we see the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken of by Isaiah to King Ahaz. King Ahaz was told the child will be named Emmanuel meaning “God is with us” and the first words the Angel said to Mary reiterated it, “The Lord is with you.” At the Annunciation, God became man, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This dwelling is further illustrated by the “overshadowing,” recalling the cloud imagery in the Old Testament where God encountered Moses and the cloud descending upon the “Holy of Holies” in the temple where the Ark of the Covenant is, signifying the presence of God. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant for Jesus is the New Covenant. God dwelled within Mary and when it was time Jesus who is God-with-us came into the world making His dwelling among all of us. God’s presence is here.

Today we are invited to be bearers of Christ who has made His dwelling within us, knowing that we are never alone because God is with us. May we say a prayer of thanksgiving today for the great love God has for us, to the point of becoming one of us, taking on our human nature so that He might redeem us from its deathly effects. Because Jesus assumed a human nature, we now dare share in His divine nature. In Christ we are never alone. Even when all seems dark and hopeless we only need to remember the Angel’s words, “The Lord is with you.” God has made His dwelling among us, what or whom should we fear?