First Reading
Ezekiel 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
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
John 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.
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
TITLE: FOREVER MORE
"Give up your sins so that something worse may not overtake you." –John 5:14
Being sick for thirty-eight years is certainly a terrible suffering. To stay sick for most of one's life is a tragedy. However, after healing this man, Jesus told him: "Remember, now, you have been cured. Give up your sins so that something worse may not overtake you" (Jn 5:14). What could be worse than being sick for thirty-eight years? Being separated from the Lord, refusing to accept His love, and being in hell forever would be worse.
We must never become so burdened with the bad as to forget the worst. Likewise, we should not become so preoccupied with the good as to forget the best. For instance, when the apostles were rejoicing in their victory over demons, Jesus told them: "Do not rejoice so much in the fact that the devils are subject to you as that your names are inscribed in heaven" (Lk 10:20). Likewise, Paul proclaimed: "I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us" (Rm 8:18).
Although we maximize rather than minimize the significance of our present sufferings and blessings, we are to be "intent on things above rather than on things of earth" (Col 3:2). Our present is overshadowed by Christ's future and final coming. Our earthly life is a stepping stone into eternal happiness. Our time will give way to the timeless, the eternal. "God has put the timeless into [our] hearts" (Eccl 3:12), so think often of eternity. There is more – much more. We haven't seen the worst or the best. There is life after death, heaven and hell, and eternity.
PRAYER: Father, may this Lent be a time when I see everything in the right perspective.
PROMISE: "Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary." –Ez 47:12
PRAISE: Terry repented of the sin of committing homosexual acts.
..may the good Lord bless His holy words in our hearts...
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