“Healing Waters” by Colleen O’Sullivan
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?” 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. (Ezekiel 47:6-9, 12a)
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. (Psalm 46:2)
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:1-6)
Piety
Healing waters flow over me.
Study
Pool of Bethesda
Thirsting for home, for the sounds, the sights, the smells, all the old ways left behind. Memories and longing were all that was left to God’s exiled people in Babylon. However, the prophet Ezekiel knew that there was hope that God would one day lead them home. Ezekiel uses the image of a life-giving river to comfort the exiles. God shows him waters powerful enough to transform even the Dead Sea into a place where life abounds, where fish can flourish, and fruit trees of every kind can grow on its shores.
For many people worldwide, the past year has been a time of suffering and loss, and for others, a long exile of sorts. People are dying alone in hospitals, deprived by COVID’s contagious nature of family or friends’ comforting presence. Social distancing preventing even family gatherings from taking place. Children are staring at computer screens in their living rooms instead of being with friends in their classrooms. Churches are limited in the number of people who can be together for worship or any other activity. Businesses closed, leaving workers unemployed—more hungry people in need of groceries than ever before. Yes, Lord, I pray for those healing waters to flow over all of us. Wash away the isolation, the grief, the need to stay distant from family and friends, the unemployment, and increased hunger.
In the Gospel reading, we hear about another kind of healing water. We see the people gathered on the porticoes of the pool at Bethesda, waiting for the moment an angel stirs up the waters, believing that the waters heal the first person in after this. Jesus, the Healer, comes along and sees a man just lying there all by himself. The Lord asks him if he wants to be well? It seems a little odd that the paralyzed man doesn’t immediately respond with a “yes” but instead gives Jesus several excuses why he’s there, still paralyzed after 38 years. Jesus doesn’t react to the reasons. He doesn’t even offer to lift the man into the waters. He simply tells him to take up his mat and walk. There is no need for the pool because Jesus is the source of all healing.
Action
These readings are full of hope. Hope is different from optimism. We don’t know how things will turn out any more than the people exiled in Babylon did. Maybe God will not fulfill every one of our desires. But, because we are people of faith, we can be sure that God loves us and is working for our good and the good of all creation.
What we can take to prayer today is Jesus’ question: Do you want to be well? Every day people ask God for healing of many kinds – physical healing, emotional healing, healing of relationships, etc. Even with God’s help, recovery usually requires something of us, and we need to ask ourselves if we’re willing to do our part. For example, if we are ill and praying for healing, are we willing to follow our doctor’s advice – take the medication, get more exercise, go to physical therapy, etc.? If we’re praying for help with a relationship, are we willing to make any changes ourselves, or do we think only the other party needs to do that? That paralyzed man lying by the pool for 38 years could always have asked family or friends to spend time with him there so they could help him into the water when the angel had stirred it.
If you’ve been praying for healing for anything, Jesus’ question is a good one to ponder.[i]
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