From the responsorial psalm: “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. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:1-16)
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.
In Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, Jesus sees a man who is blind, lame, and crippled, and has been ill for thirty-eight years. Nobody assists him to reach the healing pool of Bethesda, which means “house of mercy” or “house of grace.” When Jesus first encounters him, he asks if he wishes to be well and then tells him to pick up his mat and walk. “Immediately,” John says, “the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.” Jesus then slips away through the crowd as Jews witness the man carrying his mat on the sabbath. When they are able to identify Jesus as the one who told the man to pick up his mat, they begin to persecute Jesus for profaning the sabbath. There are things worse, Jesus suggests to the man he cured, than being ill for decades. Worse than that is sin and its burdens; worse than that, those who reject and persecute Jesus, the very one who has the power over sin, illness, and death.
God, just as Ezekiel witnesses the life-giving water flowing from the sanctuary and its healing effects, the man by the pool experiences divine restoration and healing through the command of your Son: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” More than divine marching orders, Jesus’ command is a response to the question he poses: “Do you want to be well?” In your initiative, Lord, you quietly invite me with the same question to receive your healing. Give me the grace today to answer honestly, Do I want to be well? I would do well to accept all you offer from your house of mercy.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.