Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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.
A pool
1. A large number of sick people. We live among all kinds of people, and that is especially true within the church. Living together means learning to coexist with people who are different from us; It’s clear that everyone doesn’t have to be just like us, or that we have to change to become like them. Coexistence is a personal choice, and it means recognizing that we each have faults or bad habits we’re working to change. We all have some kind of “infirmity,” a word that etymologically means “lacking firmness” or “weakness.”
2. Do you want to be well? Freedom is always a gift. Because of that, even Jesus presents things to you in a way that respects your free will. Don’t let anyone control your life and definitely don’t let others make your life’s decisions for you. Learn to discover that it’s important to take responsibility for what you want in life. Don’t let others drain you or take advantage of your vulnerability. Someone who uses your weak moments might not be someone who truly cares for you or loves you.
3. Healed. Jesus tells the man He healed not to sin again. We all have a tendency to “trip over the same stone twice.” That’s why, once you manage to get your life on steady ground, you shouldn’t go looking for ways to self-destruct all over again. Keep growing in your faith and learning from your mistakes.
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.
