The first reading from Book of Ezekiel speaks about Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple and its flowing waters. From what is described, the water seemed to be originating from the south side the altar. Further down in the passage we learn that wherever this water flowed there was life and healing.

In the Gospel proclamation, we have a beautiful miraculous experi- ence of our Lord Jesus visiting the Pool of Bethzatha. According to the tradition of that place, the people yearning for a healing lay in the caves and niches that lined the waters, waiting for the waters to be stirred and the first person who jumped in would be healed.
On this particular Feast day of the Jews, which was also the Sabbath, our Lord Jesus made his appearance. What was special about our Lord? Here was the Temple of the God, walking into that place and from his heart was flowing the living waters of life. But the focus of the sick was entirely on the murky waters of the pool. They had so much faith in the pool, the tradition and the waters’ ability to heal them.

Our Lord Jesus knew that for thirty-eight years this paralyzed man had been waiting for an opportunity to jump into the pool but no one had offered him a hand. There are many people in our circle of life who are spiritually paralyzed and there is no one there to help them shift their gaze from the murky waters of various practices to the living waters of our Lord Jesus’ presence. Our Lord asks the paralyzed man a rather silly question – “ Do you want to be healed?’ In other words, the Lord was telling him, this has been the tradition for so many years, but there is a powerful alternative. Are you des- perate enough to be healed? The Lord was saying – Simply come to me the way you are. I am the living waters and from me a powerful healing is being made available for you. No more long queues, pre- cise moments, earthly help or local superstitions. I have the answer. I am the temple of God. When the Lord told him – do not sin again, it meant “Do not go back to the murky waters but come to me for life and healing. I have come that you may have life, life in abundance.

Prayer: Abba Father, we come into the presence of your Son our Lord Jesus who in His mercy comes to us bring the living waters of life and healing. Amen