Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
When I got sick growing up, my mom (a nurse) would let me drink juice or Sprite or Gatorade – things that I wasn’t allowed to have on a regular day. Not only would she let me have delicious drinks, she would insist on it. When you are sick, she would say, you need fluids to get better.
Being allowed to have otherwise frowned upon drinks was one of the very few upsides of being sick as a kid. The worst part of getting sick? I couldn’t do all the fun things I wanted to do. The fun stuff had to wait until I was healed.
Whether we are kids or full grown, we always need healing – healing that allows us to live life the way God wants us to live.
Today’s reading in Ezekiel is about water. The angel is showing Ezekiel water flowing from the once-destroyed temple. In fact, the whole city of Jerusalem had been destroyed. With this water, the plants can grow and provide food and the people have water to drink. With this water, the people of Jerusalem can start to heal from destruction and begin a new life.
In today’s Gospel, we meet a man who has spent years struggling with illness. The waters of the pool of Bethesda provide him with hope for healing…if only he can make it there. On the way, he meets Jesus. Jesus understands the man’s suffering and offers healing - physical, emotional and spiritual. What joy it must have been for this man to be healed and experience renewed life. Jesus offers us the same hope for healing and new life every day.
Jesus, heal us, renew us, give us fullness of life that can only be found in you.
- Kassie Stangel