Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 5, 1-6
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.
Do you want to be well?
1. Waiting. There are people who are waiting around, but don’t take action. They wait and hope for a miracle, but they don’t look for the means to make miracles happen. You’re a miracle, but don’t throw all the burden on God, you must also do your part. I’m sure you will do many beautiful deeds, many miracles.
2. Dependence. Jesus invites you to freedom. And being free is the greatest gift that God gives to you. But there are people who make their lives dependent on others; this isn’t good. Possession isn’t good and even less when we talk about affective possession that annuls the other person and turns him or her into a puppet. You must have an aim in life, and you must forge your own personality to be happy, and freedom is the key to that. Freedom, not iniquity.
3. The Jews. Here we see these characters who focus on laws and not on the good of the people. We suffer this in our community, in our Church. Those who can do a lot of good and draw brothers and sisters to God can be seen as narcissistic and even as not fitting in. This can put a spoke in the wheel of those people who only seek to do good. Think of Jesus and how he suffered. If you want to do good and help, remember that someone will probably try to complicate things and put pressure on you, because envy and jealousy never rest. But take heart, good overcomes evil and giving joy to people is priceless; don’t give up.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
