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| “Jesus by the Sea” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s |
Reading I: Isaiah 65:17-21
Thus says the LORD:
Lo, I am about to create new
heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall
not be remembered
or come to mind.
Instead, there shall always
be rejoicing and happiness
in what I create;
For I create Jerusalem
and its people to be a
delight;
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of
weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
No longer shall there be in
it
an infant who lives but a few
days,
or an old man who does not
round out his full lifetime;
He dies a mere youth who
reaches but a hundred years,
and he who fails of a hundred
shall be thought accursed.
They shall live in the houses
they build,
and eat the fruit of the
vineyards they plant.
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Commentary on Is 65:17-21
The Prophet
Isaiah envisions the “New Jerusalem” with the return of the captives from
exile. The beatific vision of the
perfection brought forth by the return to God is later echoed as the vision of
the eternal Kingdom
of God
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12a, 13b
R. (2a) I will
praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for
you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies
rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up
from the nether world;
you preserved me from among
those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you
his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy
name.
For his anger lasts but a
moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters
in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
“Hear, O LORD, and have pity
on me;
O LORD, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into
dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will
I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
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Commentary on Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11-12a, 13b
Psalm 30 is an
individual hymn of praise In this
selection we find the singer praising God for deliverance. In the second part bystanders are asked to
join in the hymn and then a return to thanks and praise in the final strophe.
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Gospel: John 4:43-54
At that time Jesus left [Samaria ] for Galilee .
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor
in his native place.
When he came into Galilee , the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he
had done in Jerusalem
for they themselves had gone
to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee ,
where he had made the water
wine.
Now there was a royal
official whose son was ill in Capernaum
When he heard that Jesus had
arrived in Galilee from Judea ,
he went to him and asked him
to come down
and heal his son, who was
near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs
and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to
him,
“Sir, come down before my
child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may
go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus
said to him and left.
While the man was on his way
back,
his slaves met him and told
him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began
to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him
yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just
at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole
household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign
Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea .
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Commentary on Jn 4:43-54
This selection
from St. John’s Gospel is the story of Jesus’
arrival in Cana in Galilee and the second
sign. Here we find the life giving word
of Jesus being displayed as the officials faithful response to Jesus challenge
provides the setting as Jesus tells him “You
may go; your son will live.” This statement coincides with the healing
that occurred some distance away.
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Reflection:
Today we pray for the Church; our shepherd has laid
down his staff and takes his well-deserved rest. We await a new shepherd and pray for the
College of Cardinals who will select him.
My they be truly guided by the Holy Spirit and excel in their duty to our
Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. Amen
We
have seen the need for on-going conversion throughout this Lenten season. We
are constantly reminded that we need to have faith and that faith; we are told,
can do amazing things. The lack of it can also be devastating.
A
few years ago an old friend who has a parish in the Lansing area called me and
asked if I could run over and see the son of one of his parishioners who is
gravely ill at the University of Michigan Medical Center. The man, in his early
50’s was suffering from hepatitis and his liver was failing. In short, without
a liver transplant, his prospects were grim. He was divorced and had a young
family with 3 sons ranging from 8 to 15 years old who lived with him.
When
I got to his room it was clear he was in trouble. Not just because his illness
was really causing him discomfort, but because he was alone, and I don’t mean
because there was no one in his room. You see this man had, many years ago,
lost his faith and did not have anything to support him now. I asked him how he
was doing and his first words to me were; “I am afraid.”
I
need to tell you, I was taken aback. Some of you know that several years ago I
was diagnosed with lung cancer. I went through many tests and ended up in the
operating room at the same hospital where I visited the liver patient. I can
tell you truthfully the one emotion I never felt, even when two very senior
docs at the university told me my prospects were not good, was fear. I felt
regret, I even felt some anger – I figured that it was my pipe smoking that had
gotten me there and I was angry that I had not quit years ago. But, I was not
afraid. You see, in spite of my constant battle to find faith, when I was
confronted with an overwhelming situation, it was just… there. God buoyed me
up. He gave me the strength to be an example to others, even as I struggled to
overcome the weakness the inflammatory pseudo-tumor (that’s how it was finally
diagnosed – it’s another story and my miracle) cause me discomfort.
I
was at peace. I was confident that, whatever happened, it would be God’s will.
It was this sense of peace I tried to give the man at the hospital that night
(and again the following morning). I told him, in much the same way the Lord
told the official in Galilee , that he needed
to let go of his fear and give it to God. God was there with him, just as
surely as I was there with him. Michael (that was his name) told me that, while
he did not go to church, he talked to God all the time. But it was clear from
his state of mind that talking to God is not making a commitment to God and
that talking to God did not mean listening to what God had to say to him.
We
pray for Michael. He miraculously got his transplant and made a good recovery.
However, two years later, that same man lost two of his three sons in a car
accident. God tests the faith he gives.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Jesus by the Sea” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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