Reflection for March 17 Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent: John 5:1-16

Gospel: John 5:1-16

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” 

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. 

Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’“ They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 

The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.

+ + + + +  + +

Reflection:

Imagine that Jesus is standing right in front of us and gently asking this question: “Do you want to be well?” How would we respond? Surely, from the depths of our hearts we would say, “Yes, Lord, we want to be well!”

But suppose Jesus then tells us, “Go and humble yourselves before me in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” What if we reply, “Some other time, Lord. We are busy right now.” Then the days pass, our schedules fill up, and before we know it, we have forgotten His loving invitation to come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Many of us truly desire to grow closer to Jesus. We long to be healed by Him and to experience His peace in our hearts. Yet, oftentimes, we hesitate to take the humble step of approaching the healing Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this sacred encounter, Jesus heals us from the spiritual sickness caused by our sins. And sometimes, without us even realizing it, through the Lord’s infinite power we may also receive healing from many of our physical ailments.

When we humble ourselves through this sacrament, we allow Jesus to wash away our sins—no matter how serious they may be. We place our trust in His boundless mercy and love. As Pope Saint John Paul II once said:

 “Confession is an act of honesty and courage—an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.” 

In today’s Gospel, the man who had been sick for thirty-eight years experienced an instant healing when Jesus commanded him to rise. Despite it being the Sabbath—a day of rest for them—he obeyed the Lord without hesitation. What mattered most to him was responding in faith to the command of Jesus.

In our own lives, Jesus continues to ask us the same question: “Do you want to be well?” His invitation to healing is still open to us, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The question for us now is this: If we truly desire to be healed and restored by Jesus, are we willing to humble ourselves and come to Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation—or will we continue to postpone His loving call?— Marino J. Dasmarinas