Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 / John 5:1-3,
5-16
Jesus cures a man: The man never gave up
hope.
Two frogs accidentally
tumbled into a bucket of cream. They thrashed about for an hour, trying to make
it up the side of the metal bucket. Exhausted, one of the frogs gasped, “It’s
no use!” With that, he gave up and drowned in the cream. The second frog,
however, struggled on. He thrashed and thrashed and thrashed about. Then,
suddenly, he found himself sitting safely on a lump of butter. It was this kind
of perseverance that the man in today’s gospel showed. For 38 years he sought
to be cured. He never gave up.