Lent - Day Twenty Six - A Deadly Cure

Gospel	John 5:1-3,5-16 ©

The healing at the pool of Bethesda

There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem, there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralyzed – waiting for the water to move. One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.

  Now that day happened to be the Sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while, Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.

We have spent Sunday and Monday at this oasis and the Master does not seem to want to leave today either.  I for one am glad we are getting a few days of rest. Jerusalem grows ever closer and the Master's feet seem to be dragging. 

 I have spent a lot of time in the pool of water here in the oasis where the chill of the spring seems to be taking the pains of my aging body away.  Of course, the effect is temporary. But even temporary relief is good.  I remember in my youth, it seems so long ago now, then I would go into the drugstore and coming out with a shopping bag that contained a large bottle of Bacardi light rum, some Okeydoke popcorn and some Coca Cola.   My buddy and I would order pizza and do what we could do to empty the bottle of rum!  By contrast, today, I go into the drugstore and come out with, capsules, nostrums, and remedies designed to keep this ancient body moving.  So, I could sympathize with the poor guy at the pool of Bethesda. He was there but had no one to shove him into the water once it was disturbed and ready to dispense its healing powers. So, he would always be the bridesmaid and never be the bride as he saw one of his fellow patients collect the cure from the pool.  I felt sorry for the man.  

The Master filled us in on the background of the story.  It seems that when Jesus entered the enclosure where the pool was that He had left the Jewish world and entered the world of the Greeks.  All over the Greek world were pools that were said to have curative properties.  The Greeks believed that the pools were inhabited by spirits that once in a while, when the mood struck them, that they would churn the water up and the first person into the pool would be cured of whatever ailed them.  So, when Jesus entered the area of the pool he was leaving Jewish thought behind and entering the world of Greek superstition.  In doing so and by affecting the cure Jesus was showing that He was the living water and not some spirit that lived in a pool.  It was a challenge to the Greeks and then to top it all off he told the patient to pick up his mat and go home.  When the man did so, the Pharisees caught sight of this man "doing work" on the Sabbath by carrying his mat and they confronted him.  He told them that the person who had healed him had told him to pick up the mat and go home.  They asked him who was the one that cured on the Sabbath?  The former patient did not know because Jesus had slipped away before the man could thank him.  As he was walking, I guess still carrying his mat, he happened upon Jesus and he took a moment to thank Him and asked Him His name.  He then returned to the Pharisees and told them that a man named Jesus of Nazareth had cured them and they began to take notice of this Jesus and the stirrings of a plot against Him began.   

The Master said that when you challenge the culture you are living in just as Jesus challenged the Greek traditions of spirits in the pools you are bound to make enemies.  He pointed out how the  Pro-Life people who prefer life over death and protest the murder of innocent children in the womb are held in special contempt by the people who fight to make it law that the blood of babies can be shed with impunity. These people with the blood of the innocent on their hands are sponsored by the devil who is the author of death and lies.  

Master pointed out that the guilt of the Pro Murder people in the state of New York was greater because of the law that was recently passed that now allows innocent blood to be spilled up until the very moment of birth. Even Hitler and his cronies would not do this. He mentioned how the Catholic governor of the state who was giddy with joy as he signed this bill into law.  

The Master said that He would imagine that the patience of the Father was growing thinner by the day. He said that America was once the crucible of what was good and proper and good has fallen on hard times where the love of truth has been exchanged for New Age practices and thought is good only because that tickles the ears of the people. Justice was becoming something for the rich and the powerful who have lost sight of just who they are and have begun assuming the power of God, taking control of life and death into their hands even though they cannot restore life nor do they understand death and what the shedding of innocent blood is doing to their souls. The fate of these people, unless they repent, will be horrible on the last day.  

He told us no matter what, always side with the right even though it appears that evil has the might. The right will eventually win out over evil because God is righteous and His victory is assured.  Besides, it only took one man, who was sent and empowered by God to Ninevah and by the call of Jonah the great city put on sackcloth and drenched itself in ashes and withered themselves with fasting so that the hand of God would be stayed and the righteous punishment so richly deserved would not come crashing down upon them.   

One voice joined to another and another will eventually be heard. Link hands and form a living bridge against the raging waters of the advocates of death and destruction.  Raise your voice against their plans and  Be not afraid of what you are to say, because what He did for the Prophet Jonah the Spirit will do for you.  You will be given what to say and so the Holy Spirit will speak for you and your voice will be heard. 

A Storm In Bethlehem

Gospel MT 2:13-18

When the magi had departed, behold,                                                          

the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,      
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,  Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.


At the time of the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem was a small and very insignificant town. The name means House of Bread and Jesus was born in a stable and his crib was the manger, the place where the animals would go to get their food. We think of the place as silent, innocent, a great place to be born and raised.  Then enters king Herod, an evil despot whose whole mission in life was to keep his job as king.  You can imagine the rage that built up in him when he realized that the magi were not coming back to tell him where to find the so-called new King of the Jews.  But, he had a solution.  He did not know who, but he did know where.  He dispatched his soldiers and told them to kill every boy-child two years of age and younger.  Herod felt that this would surely end the reign of this upstart who had designs upon his throne.  And so it happened as he commanded.  We are not sure how many boys were killed that day but we know that the child that would one day die for our sins upon a cross was able to escape to Egypt. 

These boys were the first martyrs for they were victims of a persecution against Christ. These children died in place of the Christ child and in doing so saved His life. Herod was satisfied with the blood spilled in that little town and was sure that his reign was safe.  Of course, his rule was never in any danger from the Gentle Child.  Jesus did not come to rule a physical kingdom but rather He came to rule our hearts.  Our hearts must ache when we think of the blood spilled over the ages in the name of Christ. He did not come that we might shed blood in His name, no,  He came that we all may be one as He and the Father are one and learn to live as one people with one God and Father above and heaven as our inheritance. He prayed for this unity at the Last Supper. 

What we learn from the slaughter of the innocents is that we should always be ready to defend and explain our faith and we should do this without thinking of the consequences.  In this world today there are many like Herod who do not want the truth of the Gospel spread and like Herod, they will reach into their bag of tricks and do what they can to stifle the growth of the kingdom.  But we walk into the future, whatever it may hold, secure in the knowledge that God has already won the ultimate victory.  

Lent - The Big Bang Theory

"If God were your Father, you would love me,

for I came from God and am here;

I did not come on my own, but he sent me."

I have to tell you that I am very concerned about the situation we find the world in on this nasty, cold, rainy, windy day.   It is not the lack of bright sunshine that bothers me because I know that above the clouds the sun is shining brightly.  I am concerned because of a little rotund man in North Korea, who is going through life with only seven of his eight cylinders firing in his brain box.  I am also concerned of a despot in Syria who has decided the time to come to murder his people with sarin gas.  I am concerned because of a godless ex-KGB man who sits in Moscow pulling strings here and there simply to increase world tension.  I am concerned because I have a singular lack of trust in our president and his government. It is a scary time.  Events could even as I am writing this, could come to a head and missiles capped with nuclear warheads could start something that no man could stop.   It would be the Big Bang all over again except with us in the middle. 

If it were not for my faith in God I think I would be in a state of depression right now because I know how inhumane man can be to other humans.  But I know that above these dark and scary clouds we have a God that loves us.  We have a home where we will be happy forever.  No matter what, we will live in the bright sunlight.  Praise you, Jesus.  Your Sacred Heart beats a song of love for us.  With you, at our side, we will stand firm.  With you, we will live forever. 

Silent Night No More

Christmas Eve is often memorialized by the song that every Christian loves, "Silent Night."  We romanticize the heck out of the birth of Jesus but let's be honest here, it was not a silent night.  It was not a night where all was calm and bright.  As a matter of fact, the world was in turmoil. People from all over the known world were on the move because the emperor had decided that he needed to make sure that everyone was paying their taxes.  There is nothing worse than to be a despot without having the money to throw wild parties or to send your army to conquer lands that are not yet in your control.  So everyone who did not happen to already be in the town their ancestors came from had to drop what they were doing and go there.  This caused a great deal of inconvenience to the people, not that the emperor cared.  So both Joseph and Mary found themselves on their way to Bethlehem to be counted.  Mary was ready to give birth, but that was not the emperor's problem either.  So the couple set out for  Bethlehem, the town of  David, the king.  Its name meant "House of Bread."   We know what happened next.  They arrived at the town and there was no room for them to stay at any of the places where traveler's rested.  They ended up in a stable, a cave really, and there Jesus was born.  The silence of the night was then broken and the world would never be the same again. 

In the fields there were shepherds watching their flocks of lambs at night, keeping them safe.  It was not cool to be a shepherd as your duties kept you from the temple and you were considered to be unclean.  So the silence of that Silent Night was broken by the sound of angels proclaiming that God had come to earth, that a savior had been born.  The good news was first revealed to those who had no say in the world, shepherds of all people.   They were a simple people, they believed what they had heard and went to see the Child.  

The silence was broken and the world was forever changed because of this Silent Night.  The old world would pass away and this birth of Jesus would usher in a New Way.  We would be taught by God Himself as to how we would live.  The old rules would soon no longer apply.  The silence of the olden days would be broken forever as God fulfilled His promise to send a savior.  

It would be thirty years before Jesus would begin to preach. This time he used to give us an example.  He worked beside his step-father, Joseph., and learned to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.  Here is another fact.  The job of a carpenter was also looked down upon because there was a lack of wood in Judea because it was a desert community.  So, Jesus worked humbly and quietly at his trade.  

Since the Saviour's birth, there can be no more silent nights.  We have to make a choice.  Either He is the Son of God as He says He is or he is a pious fake.  Some people say that he was not the son of God, but he was a good man and a good teacher.  This is not right. Jesus is who he says he is or he is an evil madman.  There can be no other choice.  

So, who do you say Jesus is?  Or will you remain silent?