Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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.

“Jesus by the Sea”
by Alexandre Bida, 1850s

 
Readings for Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
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 and discomfort the inflammatory pseudo-tumor (that’s how it was finally diagnosed – it’s another story and my miracle) caused me.
 
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 continue to 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
 

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[1] The picture is “Jesus by the Sea” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[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), 279.