Daily Gospel Reflection
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April 2, 2019
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?”
The sick man answered him,
“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”
He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,
‘Take up your mat and walk.'”
They asked him,
“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you.”
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
It is striking that the healed man didn’t even know who had just performed the miracle that would completely transform his life. He only found out later, when he went to the temple.
Jesus is a master of hiddenness. He remained hidden throughout his childhood and most of his life: God lived as an ordinary man. Today, Jesus remains humbly hidden in the Eucharist, which is the greatest miracle of love that we can experience every day at Mass. St. Augustine says that, “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues.” The very mystery of the Incarnation is inherently linked to the humility of a God that becomes man and dies for us.
Jesus had compassion on this man, who had waited for healing for years, and yet had not lost hope. When the man finds Jesus to thank him, Jesus does not take credit, but rather instructs the man not to sin but to live a life of virtue, which will preserve his spiritual health.
In what ways has Jesus healed us, and performed miracles in us that we haven’t even noticed? How can we be awakened to those miracles, small and large, as a call to live in virtue? I grew up in a very dysfunctional family. Children from backgrounds like mine often carry psychological wounds similar to survivors of wars. And yet I’m unscathed, I have no trace of trauma, and I have been able to accomplish many of my goals in life.
In difficult times, I’ve run to the Sacraments, not knowing where else to go. Over time, it’s become a habit to seek a comfort in faith, hope, and love. And, through the Sacraments, Jesus came to heal me without me even realizing it.
Prayer
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the healing power of your Son was made manifest through signs and wonders during his earthly ministry. Open our eyes to the ways of grace at work among us in these Lenten days. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Mary of Egypt is a famous saint of the early church, whose passionate conversion to Christianity led her to the Judean desert. Her story is read on the fifth Sunday of Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church.
Most of the information we have about her life comes from St. Sophronius of Jerusalem, who recorded her biography in the seventh century. The legend begins with the story of a fourth-century monk called Zosima who travels to a monastery outside Jerusalem, searching for an elder who can teach him to follow the Lord with his whole heart.
While staying at this monastery, he is led into the desert and encounters a strange figure, who flees from him. Zosima feels sure this figure is a spirit of great holiness. He runs after her, calling out in the name of God to stop. She halts, but she commands him to look away, as she is not wearing any clothes. Zosima provides her with his cloak so they can converse.
The figure is Mary of Egypt, and, now clothed, she begins to speak with Zosima. Holiness radiates from her. Zosima begs her to tell him how she came to be there, imploring her to tell the whole story and not let her modesty or humility prevent her. Mary of Egypt begins to tell the story of how she ran away from her home at a young age to the bustling metropolis of Alexandria. Consumed by her overwhelming lust and passion, Mary lived on the street of Alexandria as a prostitute, but often did not even accept money from her clients. She was completely devoured by her desire for love, for fulfillment, which led her, she says, to the depths of depravity.
She falls in with a group of men setting out on a sea voyage to Jerusalem, where she hopes to find even more potential customers in the crowds of pilgrims gathered for the great feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Curious, Mary follows the crowds of pilgrims to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. But, as she approaches the doorway, she finds that an invisible force prevents her from entering. Three times, she tries to enter, and she begins to weep, frustrated and desperate to enter. She begins to understand it is her impurity and her sin that is preventing her from entering. Calling upon Mary for assistance, Mary of Egypt beats her breast and begs for forgiveness for her sins. She prays that the Mother of God might allow her to enter the church and pray in front of the Cross of Christ.
Suddenly, Mary is able to enter the church, and she makes her way to the foot of the cross, where she asks pardon for her sins. A voice instructs her to go across the Jordan into the Judean desert, and so Mary obeys. With just a few loaves of bread, Mary lives for seventeen years in the desert, purifying her body and soul, learning to rely entirely on God. Zosima is in awe of her wisdom and holiness, and Sophronius movingly recounts the tender reverence between the two holy figures. Zosima comes back to meet her one year later. The next year, Mary has died, and Zosima buries her body with the help of a lion.
St. Mary of Egypt is the patron saint of converts and chastity, of those with great desires who wish to bring their desires to the light of God. She is also the protector against skin diseases and fevers, as she surely had to deal with both in the desert!
St. Mary of Egypt, who followed Christ's call into the desert—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Mary of Egypt is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
