The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to decide to accept the task of transformation that will bring New Life to our journey and change the world in which we live.
The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is a vision of water flowing from the Temple.
* [47:1–12] The life and refreshment produced wherever the Temple stream flows evoke the order and abundance of paradise (cf. Gn 1:20–22; 2:10–14; Ps 46:5) and represent the coming transformation Ezekiel envisions for the exiles and their land. Water signifies great blessings and evidence of the Lord’s presence (cf. Jl 2:14).
* [47:8] The sea: the Dead Sea, in which nothing can live. This vision of the Temple stream which transforms places of death into places of life is similar in purpose to the oracle of dry bones in 37:1–14: it offers the exiles hope for the future.
* [47:10] From En-gedi to En-eglaim: En-gedi is about halfway down the western shore of the Dead Sea; En-eglaim may have been at its northern end. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 46 praises God’s defence of His City and People.
* [Psalm 46] A song of confidence in God’s protection of Zion with close parallels to Ps 48. The dominant note in Ps 46 is sounded by the refrain, The LORD of hosts is with us (Ps 46:8, 12). The first strophe (Ps 46:2–4) sings of the security of God’s presence even in utter chaos; the second (Ps 46:5–8), of divine protection of the city from its enemies; the third (Ps 46:9–11), of God’s imposition of imperial peace. (Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus Heals on the Sabbath.
* [5:17] Sabbath observance (10) was based on God’s resting on the seventh day (cf. Gn 2:2–3; Ex 20:11). Philo and some rabbis insisted that God’s providence remains active on the sabbath, keeping all things in existence, giving life in birth and taking it away in death. Other rabbis taught that God rested from creating, but not from judging (=ruling, governing). Jesus here claims the same authority to work as the Father, and, in the discourse that follows, the same divine prerogatives: power over life and death (Jn 5:21, 24–26) and judgment (Jn 5:22, 27). (John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
Sue Crawford comments that today, Jesus stands in our porticos asking if we want to be healed. Are we in pews each week because we want to be healed, which means change? Or, are we going through the motions of social expectation while seeking comfort and companionship so that we can continue with our lives as we see fit?
Thankfully I had companions who encouraged me in stepping into the ongoing daily spiritual therapy needed to build strength for continued healing. The past four years have been transformative. I am a different person – a more joyful person. Trust and gratitude spur me to do work instead of negative motivations of guilt and shame. I still enjoy gifts that help me do the work I am called to do. I did not dissolve into the lazy lump I feared healing would bring 20 years ago. (Crawford, 2009)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ our physician,” by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.
"Our wound is serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living in evil and sinning, He did not take away your life, but brought you to belief and forgave your sins? What I suffer is serious, but I trust the Almighty. I would despair of my mortal wound if I had not found so great a Physician." (excerpt from Sermon 352,3) (Schwager, 2009)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 comments that these final weeks of Lent are a good time to pray for our brothers and sisters who are preparing to receive the Spirit when they are baptized or confirmed at the Easter Vigil. Pray that they will experience the same refreshment and joy that God promised through the prophet Ezekiel. Pray that they will receive every possible gift and grace from the Spirit!
It’s also a good time to declare in faith, over and over again, that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Like the waters of the Dead Sea, you have been brought to life by the power of the Spirit. His life flows in you, offering you a taste of God’s love and empowering you to share that love with everyone around you.
“Come, Holy Spirit, and well up in me as the great feast of Easter draws closer!” (Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the vision of Ezekiel of the fertility and life that flows from the Temple. Our transformation is also a seed through which mystic energy changes the journey of others and therefore also impacts the world around us. Friar Jude reminds us that our Sabbath is also a time for reaching out and doing good in our environment.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Ghanaian theologian Mercy Oduyoye who calls on future generations to encounter the reality of the earth and our place in it.
The long and short of all this is that if we want to live long, and have a healthy earth with healthy waters, we have to stop being self-centered. Life is stronger than us but life is also fragile and vulnerable in human hands. We are greedy and inconsiderate and so degrade the earth, the waters, and other human beings. If we are to leave a beautiful world for you and your grandchildren, we have to take seriously the fact that creation does not belong to us; we are part of creation. We cannot do what we like with earth, water, and other human beings. God expects us to keep the earth in good condition. The earth takes care of us and we have to take care of the earth and of each other.… (Rohr, 2009)
We ponder the healing we need for ourselves and our environment and invoke the Spirit to give us the truth, goodness, and strength to choose to make the changes that will support this transformation.
References
Crawford, S. (2009, June 3). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/031224.html
Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/47?1
John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/5?1
Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/03/12/911490/
Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/46?2
Rohr, R. (2009, June 3). A World of Beauty. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-world-of-beauty/
Schwager, D. (2009, June 3). Walk and Sin No More. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=mar12
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