Isaiah
65:17-21 / John 4:43-54
Jesus saves a
man’s son:
The man trusted Jesus.
Years ago, there
was a movie called Quo
Vadis. Starring Deborah Kerr, it dealt with the persecution of
Christians in ancient Rome. One day after a dangerous filming session, a
reporter asked Deborah, “Weren’t you afraid when the lions rushed you in the
arena?” Deborah replied, “Not at all! I’d read the script and I knew I’d be
rescued.” This is the kind of childlike trust that the royal official had in
Jesus’ promise: “Your son will live.”
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What kind of trust
do we put in the promises of Jesus—promises like “Ask and you will receive” and
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him on the last day”? Luke 11:9, John 6:54 “If I keep a green bough in my
heart, the Singing bird will come.” Chinese proverb
*****
It is often easier
to talk about concepts and ideas rather than to talk about reality and
experiences. This may sound strange but for those of us who are in the teaching
and presentation business, we find it easier to talk about lofty and high-flown
concepts and ideas. To talk about reality and the human experience would
require some thinking and reflection in order to find the right expressions. In
the gospel, Jesus seemed to be talking about the lofty ideas of faith and
belief rather than to give the people the signs that they need. But the court
official begged Him with these words: Come down, before my child dies. But that
phrase "come down" was not to tell Jesus to stop talking up there in
the air.
Rather it was an open invitation for Jesus to come and reinforce the
faith that the court official had in Jesus. The court official too had to
"come down" to the essentials of his faith and believe in Jesus, and
to obey Jesus to go home and believe that his son will live.
Even the 1st reading of the promise of the new heavens and new earth are
expressed in the human longing for joy and gladness.
The season of Lent is to help us to renew our faith in God. A renewed
faith in the power of Jesus can bring about in a renewed faith in the wonderful
and amazing things that God will do for us. A renewed faith combined with the
powerful love of Jesus can indeed bring about forgiveness and healing, which is
so much needed in our world.
****
****
Monday of 4th
Week of Lent
FAITH IN THE
FUTURE
Introduction
For people who
believe, the golden age lies in the future, not in the past, says the third
section of the book of Isaiah. Before the exile, the Jews and their prophets
looked to the beginnings, to the past, as the golden era from which humankind
had declined. Now the prophet turns to the future. For the believer there is a
new world to be built as a sign of the new heaven. Life lies in the future. The
building up of this new world began seriously in Christ. His word renews
people. Faith in him brings life and healing, something to live for and joy –
now and even more so in the future: a new world, a new relationship with God, a
new People of God.
Penitential
Rite:
-For his anger
lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will, LHM
-At nightfall,
weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing, CHM
-You changed my
mourning into dancing; O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks, LHM
Opening
Prayer
Lord our God,
almighty Father, you want us not to turn to the past to regret it and to mourn
over it but to hope in the future, in the new earth and the new heaven. Give us
a firm faith in your Son Jesus Christ, that notwithstanding the shortcomings of
our time we may have faith in the future, which you want us to build up with
your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
With a very
earthbound vision of end-time blessedness, Isaiah today sees a long life as a
sign of divine favor. In Jesus’ time it was life itself that was cherished. In
today’s Gospel it is the restoration to health of the royal official’s son. It
becomes one of the “signs” in John’s “book of signs.” Before Jesus gives the
parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel, the question is posed to him,
“Who is my neighbor?” The parable gives the answer. The Samaritan passes near
the man who had been badly beaten and abused and immediately offers assistance.
The question is answered. My neighbor is anyone in need. In today’s Gospel,
Jesus proves himself to be a neighbor to a royal official. The story has a
familiar ring; it may well be another version of Matthew’s centurion’s son
(Matt 8:5-13) or Luke’s servant (Luke 7:1-10). As a royal official, the man is
either not a Jew or a Jewish appointee of Roman authority. He is clearly not a
believer but becomes one at the story’s conclusion. If we are selective in our
charity, we may be on the track of loving others because they love us. But
being willing to extend ourselves to anyone who needs us brings the Christian
ideal to life. At one point, Francis of Assisi was incensed when three
robber-beggars were hungry and were turned away by the friars because of their
poor reputation. He gave the order for them to be found and fed. Years ago a
priest pastor in New York’s lower Manhattan was well known for giving something
to everyone who knocked on the door. A friend once chided him, saying that he
had been taken advantage of more times than he probably realized. His reply was
simple: “God is never going to ask me about that. But he will bring up the one
person who was in need and was turned away.”
Points to
Ponder
My response to
the person in need The joy of doing good The agent of love: an instrument of
peace
Intercessions
– Lord, speak
only your word and we shall be healed, we pray:
– Lord, touch us
with your grace and we shall become new and courageous people, we pray:
– Lord, give us
yourself again, and you shall make us capable of giving ourselves to others, we
pray:
Prayer over
the Gifts
Lord our God,
these are our gifts: no more than a little bread and wine, ordinary bread, a
simple drink of joy, but they become among us the signs of a great future. Give
us faith, Lord, a faith strong enough to believe with absolute certainty that
everything becomes possible, that we can build up a new heaven and a new earth in
and through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after
Communion
Lord, God of our
future, we believe in your Son Jesus Christ, who has been with us in this
Eucharistic celebration. On account of him we are convinced that even death
leads to life, that there are no barriers to what you can do with us, unreliable
as we are at times, that all our dreams can come true beyond all our
expectations in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Every year the
Church gives us this Lent as an opportunity to become the kind of followers of
Christ we were meant to be: courageous, close to God, thinking again of others
rather than of ourselves and our own petty interests. Continue to let the Lord
renew you, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit.
