April 1, 2025

In contemplative prayer, you can be present in the moment, and this moment also touches the eternal. One might say “the eternal now.”  It is paradoxical, but it is so.  There is peace in this eternal presence of God, and this can be a comfort to us when markets crash or war rages and bombs fall, this eternal peace is always there. 

John 5:1-16

In today’s reading, Jesus sees a disabled man at the temple who has been sick for 38 years. Jesus asks, “Do you want to be well?”  The man replies that he can’t get to the temple pool because others get there faster. Jesus tells him to rise up, take his mat, and walk. The man immediately became well.

This happened on the Sabbath, and when the Jews figured out it was Jesus who performed this healing and told the man to pick up his mat (which was considered work and thus banned on the Sabbath), they began to persecute him over this small transgression. 

In this story, Jesus’ compassion prevailed over the rigid rules of the Sabbath, yet for a tiny transgression the reaction was severe.  Does this remind us of current events?  A student co-authors an article in the school paper; she is abducted by masked men and imprisoned far from home.  Jesus is the ally of those who are persecuted. Amen.