REFLECTIONS TODAY

The shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, as well as the water festivals around the world, remind us of the importance of water in Jerusalem. The Gihon spring, at the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Temple Mount, was for centuries the main source of water for the city. At the time of Jesus, people who were going to the Temple passed by the pool of Bethesda. It is by this pool that Jesus heals the man who had been ill for 38 years. How has he persevered all these years, going to the pool and continually be frustrated? How could he persist with the superstition that he would not be healed, knowing that no one would put him in the water when it is stirred? Jesus is the answer to his problems. It is he who goes to the man; it is he who commands him to rise up. The key to all queries, the one who cures all illnesses is the healing water himself: Jesus. 

Along with the physical healing that I ask from the Lord, do I seek spiritual healing? Do I strive to sin no more when the Lord heals me?
 

First Reading • Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 

The angel brought me, Ezekiel, back to the entrance of the temple of the Lord, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the façade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He led me outside by the north gate, and around to the outer gate facing the east, where I saw water trickling from the right side (…) Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit. Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides. He said to me, “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.