March 12, 2013

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
Lectionary: 245

Reading 1EZ 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.

Ezekiel was having a vision of the heavenly Temple.  As you can see, the Temple is full of water, which I believe is living water which is an image of the Holy Spirit.  It may also be an image of grace being poured out to the world.

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.

The image of the water coming out of the Temple begins describing it as a trickle.  Just a drip of water.  But the trickle has become a river.  This symbolizes the grace which God is pouring into the world.

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.”

So, the grace of God will water the earth.  And those who come close to God will receive this living water and flourish and live forever. 

Responsorial PsalmPS 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. 

God is with us, He is our protector.  He rescues us when we need help.  Therefore we are not afraid.

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. 

Living water flows through the city of God.  God is in the City and it will never be harmed.

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. 

God is with us, no one can be against us.  God is our strength and our salvation.  Come and see what God has done throughout the world! 

GospelJN 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.

Jesus came to Bethesda, in Jerusalem, where the invalids came to be healed in the Pool there.  Jesus saw there a man who had been ill for thirty 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 asked him, "Do you want to be healed?"  The man replied, "I have no one to help me in the pool when the healing power comes.  Someone always gets there first."

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Jesus said to him, "Get up and take your mat and walk."  The man did so for he was cured.

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.” 

The Jews noticed the man carrying his mat and since it was a sabbath, they reprimanded him.

He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.’“

He replied, "the man who cured me told me to take my 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.

So they asked, "who is this man?"  The man did not know who it was that had cured him because Jesus was not there anymore.

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.”

Jesus found him later and said to him, "You are well now, therefore do not sin anymore."

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.

The man then went and told the Jews it was Jesus who made him well.  From then on the Jews began to persecute Jesus, because He had cured someone on the Sabbath.