Monday of 4th Week of Lent
“Jesus said ’Go home, your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and went on his way home.”
7th march 2016
Is.65,17-21 Ps.29 Jn.4,43-54
"On his arrival, the Galileans received Jesus well; having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended. Jesus said ’Unless you see signs and portents you will not believe!’ ’Lord’ answered the official, ’come down before my child dies.’
After having spent two days with the Samaritans, Jesus left for Galilee. He himself had vouched for the fact that a prophet was not welcomed in his own country.
So he came to Galilee where the Galileans gave him a very good welcome.They had all seen what he had done during the Paschal celebrations, since they had also gone to the celebration.
Once again, Jesus is in Canna of Galilee where he had done the first miracle of the conversion of water into wine. Here he does a new miracle from a distance : the healing of the son of royal civil servant. The first miracle, when Jesus changed water into wine, had been spectacular, but this one draws our attention, as Jesus comes to the help of a human life and he will heal from a distance.
Jesus is reminding us that we can do much good from a distance, without us having to be in the place where our generosity is being solicited.
We can give a great joy to people from a distance, through a letter, a phone call, a message. God never stops doing prodigious signs through us and we are called to believe it! ’The royal official said to him, ’Lord, come down before my son dies!’
“Go home,’ said Jesus, ’Your son will live’. The man believed what Jesus and said and went on his way home ; and while he was still on the way his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy began to recover. They replied ’The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”
’It is by an act of faith in Jesus : ’the man believed in the Word of God", that the marvels of God come about.
Jesus invites us to join our daily life in order to welcome salvation there, he is at home with us. In his country God does a work of peace and of healing.
Soon it will be Easter time, we ask Jesus for our conversion, asking to be given a new regeneration of our existence.
Jesus didn’t go to Capharnaum in order to heal the sick person directly, without moving from Cana, He gave him back his health : ’Go home, your son will live!’
Jesus replies to us to believe even greater, Jesus is always in our lives and so we can say to Him, ’Lord, I can’t stand it any more! it ’s far too difficult! Lord, this cause is so hopeless, take another look at this situation!’
By believing in this child of God drowsing in us, we awake and intensify our spiritual life. ’For I am creating a Jerusalem of joy, a people of happiness. I shall find my happiness in Jerusalem, my joy in my people.’ This deep joy comes from our faith, it is the only joy that does not pass.
"The father realised that it was at exactly the time when Jesus had said, ’Your son will live’ and he and all his household believed. This new sign , the second, Jesus performed on his return from Judea to Galilee.
The father believed, with all the people of his house, that distance is no problem when it ’is time to be generous, for generosity comes out of the heart and goes beyond frontiers. We can believe that God’s marvels come about in our daily life, and we can recognise them in our lives.
Very often we are in the impossibility of being physically present in places where there are urgent necessities.
Jesus can do a miracle. The Paschal mystery is given to us each day in the life of the Lord! We need to come back to the source of our life so as to take heart, to take up strength with contact with the word of God and with the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ ’in order to believe’.
Conversion spreads out to the whole community. Each one comes to drink at the source of salvation and the community finds comfort in it. Faith gives to the community a renewal of the gifts of hope and of Love.
We ask Jesus for the grace to increase our faith.
Monday 16th March 2015 “Jesus said ’Go, your son lives.’ The man believed Jesus ’word and went on his way.”
Fourth Week of Lent :Monday of Fourth week of Lent
“Learning that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,, he went and asked him to come and cure his son, as he was at the point of death. Jesus said t him ’Unless you see signs and portents, you will not believe!’ ’ Sir, ’ answered the official, come down before my child dies.’”
Jesus is once again in Cana in Galilee where he had performed the miracle of changing water into wine. Here he performs another miracle at a distance : the healing of the son of an official. The first miracle had been something quite spectacular but this one draws our attention also. Jesus comes to the aid of human life , he will heal this child from a distance. Jesus reminds us that we can do much good from a distance without being in the place where our generosity is called forth. We can help the poor of regions on the outskirts through what we bring to institutions, without even putting a foot inside them. We can even bring great joy to people far from us, through a phone call, a letter or message. God too, never stops giving us prodigious signs for us to believe in! The official said to Jesus, ’Come down before my son dies!’ “”Jesus said to the official, ’Go home, your son will live’. The man believed what Jesus had said and went on his way home; and while he was still on the way his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. They replied ’The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’ "
It is through believing in Jesus-’ the man believed in the word of God’- that God’s marvelous works come about. Jesus invites us to get into contact with our daily lives in order to welcome his Salvation. He finds His home in us. In the area he comes from, Jesus does works of peace and of haling. Soon we shall be
celebrating Easter, so we ask to be converted to Jesus , to be regenerated in the deepest part of our being. Jesus had not gone to Capernaum to directly heal this sick person, he gives him back health without moving from Cana. “Go, your son will live!” By this we are invited to believe even more that Jesus responds to us, Jesus is endlessly present in our lives, we can say to him : ’Lord, I can’t put up with this any longer, it’s far too hard! Lord, this cause is so hopeless, take another look at this situation! ’ It goes the same for each one of us, through our faith, the child of God who is drowsing within us awakens, and in this manner our spiritual life intensifies. “For I create a new Jerusalem to be ’Joy’, a people to be ’Gladness.This deep joy comes from our faith, it is the only joy that does not go away.”The father realized that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said,’ Your son will live; and he and all his household believed. This new sign, the second, Jesus performed on his return from Judaea to Galilee.“Distance is no problem when it is time to be generous, for generosity comes from the heart and goes beyond any frontiers. Saint Augustin said :” Whoever possesses charity in his heart always finds something to give.“We could believe that God’s marvels happen outside of our daily life and that we have difficulty seeing them in our lives. Very often, we find excuses to be physically present in places where there are urgent needs. Jesus did not look for an excuse : he performed a miracle. The Paschal mystery is given to us so that each day we find life in the Lord! We
need to come back to the source of our life so as to take heart, to gather strength through contact with the Word of God and through the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ,”so that we believe.“The man of the gospel did believe, along with all his whole household. Conversion spreads throughout the whole community. Each one comes to drink at the source of salvation and the community finds comfort here. Faith brings to the community the gift of the renewal of gifts of hope and love.” Look, I am creating a new Jerusalem to be ’ Joy’, and my people to be ’Gladness’.