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| “Jesus by the Sea” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
During the Fourth Week of Lent (especially in
cycles B and C when the Gospel of the man born blind is not read on the Fourth
Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are
offered.
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 to be a joy
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. It is not by human ingenuity that this is
accomplished but by the will of God.
"Sacred Scripture calls this
mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, 'new heavens
and a new earth' (2
Peter 3:13; cf. Revelation 21:1). It will
be the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single head 'all
things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth' (Ephesians 1:10). In this
new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. He
will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things
have passed away' (Revelation
21:4)." [4]
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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, others are asked to join in
the hymn and then there is a return to thanks and praise in the final strophe.
The image of resurrection is clearly evident in the first strophe: “O Lord,
you brought me up from the netherworld; you preserved me from among those going
down into the pit.”
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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 at the feast;
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 of
his messianic identity. Here we find the life-giving word of Jesus being
displayed. Jesus challenges the official asking for his aid: “Unless you
people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The official's
faithful response provides the setting. Jesus tells him: “You may go;
your son will live.” This statement coincides with the healing that
occurred some distance away.
We note that of the 37
miracles documented in the Gospels (not including the conversion of
St. Paul documented in the Acts of the Apostles), this occurrence and the
healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician Woman (Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30) are
the only healing miracles done at a distance. This is important in that
it shows that Christ’s will is omnipresent, that is, he can direct the love of
God to any place he chooses.
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Reflection:
We have seen the need for on-going conversion
throughout this Lenten season. We are constantly reminded that we need to have
faith, and 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 was 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, many years ago, this man had 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 was fear, even when two very senior docs at the university told me
my prospects were not good. 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 a potentially devastating
situation, faith 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) caused 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
[1]
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 republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4]
The Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002,
p.279
