Hope
In today's Gospel (John 5:1-16), one man who had been ill for 38 years, was sitting by the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem, unable to get into the pool without any help, to enjoy the healing effects of the water. Jesus came by and asked him, "Do you want to be well again?" We know that the man was healed in this encounter with Jesus.
If Jesus were to direct this question to me, "Do you want to be well again?", my answer would be a resounding "Yes, please!". Don't we all want healing? To be healed of our selfishness, our impatience, anger, envy, pride, indolence, the list goes on...We need not despair. The teachings of Jesus is precisely to help us be healed of all our negativity that separates us from God and from man. There is hope...hope in a loving and compassionate God. Just like the sick man who waited 38 years...for his healing. But it happened the moment he encountered Jesus!
The moment we embrace our loving God and ask for forgiveness of all our wrong-doings, he will help us to begin a new life, with a new set of values. By studying the scriptures, we learn to love and forgive; and in our devotion to Mass and the Eucharistic, we will feel his healing powers over us. In time, with his grace, we will be able to see others through his eyes, and in and through him, we will be able to love them just as he has loved us.
Three things are necessary to everyone:
truth of faith which brings understanding,
love of Christ which brings compassion, and
endurance of hope which brings perseverance.
-St Bonaventure-
The moment we embrace our loving God and ask for forgiveness of all our wrong-doings, he will help us to begin a new life, with a new set of values. By studying the scriptures, we learn to love and forgive; and in our devotion to Mass and the Eucharistic, we will feel his healing powers over us. In time, with his grace, we will be able to see others through his eyes, and in and through him, we will be able to love them just as he has loved us.
Three things are necessary to everyone:
truth of faith which brings understanding,
love of Christ which brings compassion, and
endurance of hope which brings perseverance.
-St Bonaventure-
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