Healing and Discipleship

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to ponder our healings and share our transformation through Grace as followers of Jesus.

A Wonderful Stream

The Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel presents The Wonderful Stream.

* [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 proclaims the security of God’s presence.

* [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 third sign involves Cure on a Sabbath.

* [5:1–47] The self-revelation of Jesus continues in Jerusalem at a feast. The third sign (cf. Jn 2:11; 4:54) is performed, the cure of a paralytic by Jesus’ life-giving word. The water of the pool fails to bring life; Jesus’ word does.

* [5:1] The reference in Jn 5:45–46 to Moses suggests that the feast was Pentecost. The connection of that feast with the giving of the law to Moses on Sinai, attested in later Judaism, may already have been made in the first century. The feast could also be Passover (cf. Jn 6:4). John stresses that the day was a sabbath (Jn 5:9).

* [5:2] There is no noun with Sheep. “Gate” is supplied on the grounds that there must have been a gate in the NE wall of the temple area where animals for sacrifice were brought in; cf. Neh 3:1, 32; 12:39. Hebrew: more precisely, Aramaic. Bethesda: preferred to variants “Be(th)zatha” and “Bethsaida”; bêt-’eśdatayin is given as the name of a double pool northeast of the temple area in the Qumran Copper Roll. Five porticoes: a pool excavated in Jerusalem actually has five porticoes.

* [5:3] The Caesarean and Western recensions, followed by the Vulgate, add “waiting for the movement of the water.” Apparently an intermittent spring in the pool bubbled up occasionally (see Jn 5:7). This turbulence was believed to cure.

* [5:4] Toward the end of the second century in the West and among the fourth-century Greek Fathers, an additional verse was known: “For [from time to time] an angel of the Lord used to come down into the pool; and the water was stirred up, so the first one to get in [after the stirring of the water] was healed of whatever disease afflicted him.” The angel was a popular explanation of the turbulence and the healing powers attributed to it. This verse is missing from all early Greek manuscripts and the earliest versions, including the original Vulgate. Its vocabulary is markedly non-Johannine.

* [5:14] While the cure of the paralytic in Mk 2:1–12 is associated with the forgiveness of sins, Jesus never drew a one-to-one connection between sin and suffering (cf. Jn 9:3; Lk 12:1–5), as did Ez 18:20. (John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. George Meze, SJ, comments that in 1986, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, an apology for the incarceration of Japanese Americans. While fear is understandable, acting on fear to dehumanize fellow human beings is never justified. Dehumanization marginalizes everyone, including the oppressor, because dehumanization is our vocation.

In contrast to fear is love. Commitment is a necessity for love. According to John Futrell S.J., Christian discernment “involves choosing the way of the light of Christ and living out the consequences of this choice… and actions are demanded to follow Christ here and now.” In this commitment to do good, God heals our fears and blesses us to live a human vocation. (Meze, n.d.)

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, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the account of the vision of Ezekiel from Babylon of the river expanding symbolizes the grace of the liturgy. The liturgy is for all even those outside who can sense goodness. We bring that goodness to others. Jesus encounters the paralytic at Bethesda, where post WWII archaeologists searching for the pool found five porticoes. The pool of the men was separated from the pool for women. Next door was the shrine of a pagan god of healing and the sign of doctors today. ( note the difference in the Caduceus (left) and the Staff of Aesculapius (right))1  Jesus says to the cripple for 38 years “Do you want to be healed?” We are sometimes hesitant to utilize a gift of grace because the old things are familiar and the new may be a cause of fear. The Jewish authorities declared that healing on the Sabbath is prohibited unless someone is at the point of death. Jesus was not going to make him wait another second. Jesus exhorts the man not to sin anymore unless something worse happens. Friar Jude identifies this healing as prior to the fourth sign in John which is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, prefiguring the Eucharist.

1Bohigian G. The Caduceus vs. Staff of Aesculapius - One Snake or Two? Mo Med. 2019 Nov-Dec;116(6):476-477. PMID: 31911724; PMCID: PMC6913859.

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 5:1-16  comments that this man’s story is a cautionary tale for all of us. Jesus wants to answer our prayers, but he also wants to change us. He wants to heal us: to tell us to take up our mat and walk (John 5:8), but he also wants us to “not sin any more” (5:14). Of course, he knows we’re not perfect, but he does want to see us take up the life of discipleship and obedience to him. And for that, we need to listen to his word and try our best to live out that word.

You don’t have to wait a full thirty-eight years to enter the promised land that Jesus has in store for you. It’s available to you right now. Will you take up your mat and walk, determined not to “sin any more”?

“Jesus, thank you for setting me free! Help me to follow you wherever you lead.” (Meditation on John 5:1-16, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Theologian Yolanda Pierce who grew up in a church that offered her a sense of belonging. She grieves that churches often fail to follow Jesus’s example of welcoming and including everyone.

So it grieves my spirit that so many churches, so many religious spaces, have been sites of humiliation and shame for individuals and groups. I mourn that a place that taught a little Black girl that she could go to a college no one had ever seen before is the same place that tells someone else they are going to hell for who they love or who they marry. I lament the private and public humiliations suffered by those whose truths and identities are mocked from the pulpit. I grieve with those whose humanity, vocational calling, or salvation seems under debate by way of narrow-minded sermons and poor biblical exegesis….

These hierarchies, in which those with power and privilege—or those who simply wield the microphone—shame and blame others and reinforce their “superior” social standing, diminish the radical equality God promises in places like Galatians 3:28. These hierarchies fail to recognize that we are all one in Christ Jesus and that our work as Christians is to exalt God, not to shame our neighbors…. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the grace of the Spirit as we are thankful for our ongoing transformation and affirmation of our faith in our mission to bring faith, hope and love to the people we encounter daily.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/47?1 

John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/5?1 

Meditation on John 5:1-16. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/17/1520292/ 

Meze, G. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. On line Ministries. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-17-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/46?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Walk and Sin No More. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Wonder and Worship

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, remind us of the connection of worship to special places where people congregate and experience God.

Lateran Basilica in Rome

The Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel describes The Wonderful Stream.

* [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. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 46 is a song of confidence in God’s protection of Zion.

* [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.)

The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians praises diverse functions in the service of the community.

* [3:10–11] There are diverse functions in the service of the community, but each individual’s task is serious, and each will stand accountable for the quality of his contribution.

* [3:17] Holy: i.e., “belonging to God.” The cultic sanctity of the community is a fundamental theological reality to which Paul frequently alludes (cf. 1 Cor 1:2, 30; 6:11; 7:14). (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus initiates cleansing of the Temple.

* [2:13–22] This episode indicates the post-resurrectional replacement of the temple by the person of Jesus.

* [2:13] Passover: this is the first Passover mentioned in John; a second is mentioned in Jn 6:4; a third in Jn 13:1. Taken literally, they point to a ministry of at least two years.

* [2:14–22] The other gospels place the cleansing of the temple in the last days of Jesus’ life (Matthew, on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem; Mark, on the next day). The order of events in the gospel narratives is often determined by theological motives rather than by chronological data. (John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Rashmi Fernando, SJ, concludes that the Feast of the Lateran Basilica, therefore, calls us to the truth that we are not just visitors to the temple; we ourselves are the temple. The real dedication celebrated today is not of stones and marbles, but of hearts ready to welcome the Divine.

Our task, then, is to let the living water of God’s grace flow from us — into our relationships, communities, and the wounded world around us. When we live as God’s dwelling, our words heal, our actions nourish, and our presence brings peace. Hence, today’s feast is a timely reminder for us to examine the “marketplaces” within ourselves— the distractions, inordinate or disordered attachments, addictions, and compromises—that turn our sacred spaces, both physical and spiritual, into places of transaction rather than transformation. The same Christ who overturned tables in Jerusalem wants to overturn whatever clutters the inner temple of our lives today, so that the Spirit can dwell freely in us, and our communion with God becomes fuller. (Fernando, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus cleanses the temple - his Father's house,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).

"But why did Christ use such violence? He was about to heal on the sabbath day and to do many things that appeared to them transgressions of the law. However, so that he might not appear to be acting as a rival to God and an opponent of his Father, he takes occasion to correct any such suspicion of theirs... He did not merely 'cast them out' but also 'overturned the tables' and 'poured out the money,' so that they could see how someone who threw himself into such danger for the good order of the house could never despise his master. If he had acted out of hypocrisy, he would have only advised them, but to place himself in such danger was very daring. It was no small thing to offer himself to the anger of so many market people or to excite against himself a most brutal mob of petty dealers by his reproaches and the disruption he caused. This was not, in other words, the action of a pretender but of one choosing to suffer everything for the order of the house. For the same reason, to show his agreement with the Father, he did not say 'the holy house' but 'my Father's house.' See how he even calls him 'Father,' and they are not angry with him. They thought he spoke in a more general way, but when he went on and spoke more plainly of his equality, this is when they become angry." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 23.2) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 invites us to consider the significance of this building, the Lateran Basilica in Rome. This was the first place where God’s people could assemble publicly and testify to Jesus’ presence in the celebration of the Eucharist. Here, and at every Mass, Jesus himself is present under the appearances of ordinary bread and wine. He comes to us in this humble way so that he can be with us in the ordinary circumstances of our everyday lives. This tremendous miracle is a consoling reality and a spiritual stronghold for each of us: Jesus is present, in lowly Eucharistic form, in every tabernacle in the world!

This is why we design churches to be beautiful sacred spaces: to mark them as fitting dwellings for Jesus and to remind us that he is always with us. He dwells among us and offers himself to us every day.

Today, let’s thank God for all the astounding things he has done. But above all, let’s rejoice in his constant faithful presence among us! And let’s open our hearts to receive and adore him, present in the Eucharist.

“Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of your Body and Blood. You are my stronghold, Lord, and you will never leave me.” (Meditation on Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler explains that Ezekiel was in exile in  Babylon when he envisions a river from the Temple changing everything. Our worship in the Church has cosmic consequences. Something of the goodness of our gathering is communicated and changes the entire universe. Paul gives the idea that we are the Temple of God and we should treat ourselves in a holy way. We listen to God within our hearts. In John’s Gospel, Jesus cleansed the temple at the beginning of His ministry. The Roman coins the people brought needed to be changed but a marketplace had become dominant. Friar Jude notes, In John, Jesus is speaking about His Body as the Temple, to be raised and built up in three days.

Jeff Cavins joins Fr. Mike Schmitz to introduce the Gospel of Luke and highlight the distinctive aspects of this synoptic Gospel. We learn that the Gospel of Luke uniquely captures the humanity of Jesus, the role of women, Jesus' frequent engagement with individuals on the margins, and the mystery of the Ascension.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on creation as sacred and alive with God’s presence. 

Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century theologian and Doctor of the Church, put it this way: 

God brought things into being in order that God’s goodness might be communicated to creatures, and be represented by them; and because God’s goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, God produced many and diverse creatures, that what was wanting to one in the representation of the divine goodness might be supplied by another. For goodness, which in God is simple and uniform, in creatures is manifold and divided. [1]  

If we scale chronological history down to the span of one year, with the Big Bang on January 1, then our species, Homo sapiens, doesn’t appear until 11:59 PM on December 31. That means our written Bible and the church appeared in the last nanosecond of December 31. I can’t believe that God would have had nothing to say until the last nanosecond. Rather, as both Paul and Thomas Aquinas say, God has been revealing God’s love, goodness, and beauty since the very beginning through the natural world of creation. “God looked at everything God had made and found it very good” (Genesis 1:31). Everything is sacred! (Rohr, n.d.).

We are blessed with “Sacred Spaces” that have long histories of bringing us close to the Divine and the reality beyond our five senses that is relationship with God.

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/47?1 

Fernando, R. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-november-9-2025 

John, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/2?13 

Meditation on Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/11/09/1425798/ 

1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/3?9 

Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/46?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-dignity-of-attention/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Zeal for the Father's House. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/