Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
(Ezekiel47:1-9.12; John 5:1-3.5-16)
Stories of the first computers may can help one understand
what the readings today are proposing.
In the 1950s and 1960s computers about the size of a large cabinet
performed complex mathematical operations quickly. Numbers entered the systems through punch
cards about four by nine inches. People
marveled then about the effectiveness of these computers, but they were like
counting beads compared to what a laptop can do today.
Today’s first reading illustrates the graciousness of God’s
Temple. Water is pictured flowing from
its sides bringing healing and health.
The paralytic in the gospel wants to be healed by soaking himself in its
pool of water. But he always arrives too
late to take advantage of the stirred-up waters. Then Jesus cures the paralysis without the
man’s entering the water. Jesus is shown
as a more powerful source of life than the Temple and its waters. In this respect he is like the contemporary
computer.
Faith in Jesus produces blessing upon blessing. We may not see miraculous cures, but we can
attest in our own lives benefits from prayer.
As much as ever, we want to stay close to Jesus in the trying times of life
today.
