8-Mar-16

Gospel JN 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:
"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?'”
Jesus Christ is not intrusive; He will not force Himself into our affairs.
But, a desire to change is essential to ignite Christ's desire to heal.
Seeking to determine whether the crippled man had a desire for change, Jesus asks, "Do you want to be well?"
Elsewhere in the Gospel, Jesus also asks a blind man, "What do you want me to do for you." Mark (10:51)
A person must have a desire for change if they are to move beyond that which prevents them from improving their lives. Unless an addicted person has a desire to "be well," there is little anyone can do to help them.
At My Brother's Keeper, well meaning people often tell us that they know a person who needs a bed or other essential items. They ask if we can help.
We always reply, "Of course." We give them our number and tell them to have the person call us.
Often their reply is, "Oh, they would never ask."
We take our cue from Jesus. Although we always stand ready to help, we do not intrude into the life of others.

"Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you...." (Rev. 3:20)