https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031224.cfm
From Addiction to Walking
Over 20 years ago, I had a shoulder replacement. The first day was pain-free, primarily thanks to a nerve block. Wow! I needed something to help with the pain when the nerve block wore off. The doctor prescribed a painkiller and told me to stay ahead of the pain.
When I returned home, a wise nurse told me how to get off the painkiller so I don’t become addicted. “Every four to five days,” she said, “add two hours before your next pill. I did, and by the 12th day, I was up to 12 hours before I needed one. I went to twenty hours for the next four days and was pain-free. Thank you, kind and wise nurse.
A man in the gospel was lame for 38 years, sitting by a healing pool of water. In the gospel, a man who had been lame for 38 years sat by a healing pool of water. No one helped him get in when the waters stirred to heal. Jesus saw him and said, “Pick up your mat and walk.” It was probably the first thing he did for himself.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and sin no more unless something worse happens to you.” It would be easy for the man to fall back into a sense of helplessness, and it is easy for us to fall back into a pattern of sin after a good confession. Sin is like the painkillers. It anesthetizes the pain sin causes us until the bottom falls out.
What strikes me about this scene is that Jesus approached the paralyzed man. He asked the man, “Do you want to be well?” “Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up? He didn’t know yet that the only help he needed was a word of healing from Jesus. “Rise, take up your mat and walk.”
Gospel Challenge:
How often does Jesus ask you and me, “Do you want to be well?” What occurring illness or sin is keeping me from walking with Jesus every day? Take a moment with the Lord and keep hearing Him ask you, “Do you want to be well? Let those words soak in until you are free from every excuse in the book, “Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool.”
Love Your Neighbor:
Please join me in praying for all baptized Catholics to be faithful to Jesus in the Holy Mass every weekend. Hail Mary, full of grace…
Mother Mary, “I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you, I always want to belong completely to Jesus.” The Surrender Novena – InHeartland. https://inheartland.com/pages/the-surrender-novena
Peace be with you.
Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
www.bscchurch.com
