Reflection for Monday, April 1, Fourth Week of Lent; John 4:43-54

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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Reflection:

How deep is your faith in Jesus? Is your faith limited to what you can perceive and see? Or your faith is not bounded by what you can perceive and see?

 Sometimes it’s hard to have faith if we don’t see something concrete that would reinforce our faith. But faith that is dependent on what we can see is shallow. Deep faith is something that we hold in our hearts even without visible manifestation.

The royal official in our gospel has this deep faith. He believed what Jesus told him even without any visible manifestation. He simply believed in the words of Jesus. When Jesus told him to go back home for his sick son will live, he left without asking any question. He held close to his heart the very words of Jesus that his son would live. And upon arriving home his son was indeed healed the very same time that Jesus uttered the miraculous words to him.

There will come a time that our faith in Jesus will be tested, say for example a severe sickness. What are we going to do when we reach this point of no return? What are we going to do if for example the doctor would tell us that we only have a few months to live?

We must hold on tightly to our faith in Jesus and never give up no matter what our present circumstances are. This is for the reason that our faith in Jesus is much bigger than any trials or problems that we may face. Our faith in Jesus is far stronger than any sickness that could kill our bodies but not diminish our rock-solid faith in Jesus. 

How strong is your faith in Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas