Tuesday of the Fourth
Week in Lent
(Ezekiel 47:1-9.12; John 5:1-16)
“...I think the river is a strong brown god,” T. S. Eliot
wrote in his majestic poem, The Dry
Salvages. John, the evangelist, would
reverse the idea. The river is not a
god, but God is like a river. In today’s
first reading a river flows from its source in God’s Temple to not only grow
every kind of nutritional and medicinal fruit but also to purify the
oceans. The gospel then portrays Jesus
with even greater healing power than the Temple river.
The paralytic at the Sheep Gate is as sorry a dolt as seen
in the gospels. He cannot arrange a way to
make use of the healing pool in the Temple precinct. When Jesus heals him on
the Sabbath, the man reports the deed to Jesus’ enemies who are looking for something
to indict him. Yet Jesus shows no regret
in taking pity on him.
Nor does he regret showing pity to us. We may be wavering, even unfaithful. We may
take him or put him low on our list of priorities. But he remains ready to forgive, to heal and
to assist us. As Holy Week approaches,
we want to recommit ourselves to follow him closely.
