Do you want to be healed? (HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT

Homily for Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent 

Ezekiel 47:1-9,12. Psalm 46:2-3,5-6,8-9. John 5:1-16.

How patient can we be with God in the midst of trials and tribulations? The Responsorial Psalm tells us that: "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold." The miracle of Jesus in today's is a testimony to the fact that the Lord is with us and the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The man healed by Jesus in today's Gospel received his healing after thirty-eight good years of making efforts to be healed. When Jesus said to him: "Do you want to be healed?" He answered, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another step down before me" (Iohn 5:6-7). This has gone for thirty-eight good years, and yet, the man kept trying. His patience resulted in his encounter with Jesus in today's Gospel, and he was healed not only physically but also spiritually. Without recourse to the water from the pool, Jesus cured the man by his words.

Seeing him again in the temple after the man's encounter with the Jews, Jesus said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you" (John 5:14). This does not mean his sickness is due to sin but a warning to the man that sin is even more dangerous to physical ailment.

The best way we can show love for the favours received from God is to detest and avoid sin. Like the patience of this man, we too should show positive signs of wanting to be healed so that Jesus can heal us physically and spiritually. The healing we receive from Jesus makes us new and fresh, like the water flowing from the temple in the first reading, when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, causes the water to become fresh.

May God heal us of all our iniquities through Christ our Lord. Amen.