WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:08.130 Some years ago, I attended a clergy gathering 00:00:08.130 --> 00:00:18.550 and was pleased to attend. The weather was magnificent. 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:27.190 And so when I arrived at the church, I greeted 00:00:27.190 --> 00:00:32.810 my clergy colleagues. by saying, what a heavenly 00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:39.289 day it is. And a deacon, a recently ordained 00:00:39.289 --> 00:00:42.869 deacon said, Father Michael, let's not talk shop. 00:00:46.969 --> 00:00:52.189 Well, this morning I'm going to talk shop. And 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:56.810 I'm using the text found in the fifth chapter 00:00:56.810 --> 00:01:05.359 of John. It's a text that has many levels of 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:11.859 interpretation. It's one that we could easily 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:20.040 overlook. You may not have noticed, but since 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:27.599 Pascha night until Pentecost, all of the readings 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:35.939 are taken from the fourth chapter of the fourth 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:47.180 gospel, meaning John. There are some visible 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:55.640 descriptive images in every one of these Sunday 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.700 readings. There is only one exception to that 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:04.519 and that was last Sunday when we read from Mark's 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:11.020 Gospel. And so throughout those readings we have 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:17.840 these descriptions or references or images of 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:26.449 Christ. He is called the Word, the Messiah. the 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:32.810 light of the world, grace and truth, and in the 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:40.629 words of the Apostle Thomas, my Lord and my God. 00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:52.110 In these images, Christ is clearly revealed as 00:02:52.110 --> 00:02:57.650 the one who came to seek, And to save. The least. 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:09.569 The last. And the lost. I want to quote from. 00:03:12.189 --> 00:03:24.810 Today's gospel. The fourth verse. In these. lay 00:03:24.810 --> 00:03:31.569 a great multitude of invalid folk, blind, halt, 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:37.569 withered, and waiting for the movement of the 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:46.009 water. On one occasion, as Jesus went by this 00:03:46.009 --> 00:03:50.530 famous pool, referred to as the Pool of Bethesda, 00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:57.569 there were a multitude of people, invalids as 00:03:57.569 --> 00:04:05.030 the evangelist God calls them. But out of the 00:04:05.030 --> 00:04:09.550 multitude of people, Christ focuses his eyes 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:18.290 on one individual, an invalid, a paralytic, who 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:25.259 for 38 years lay in this Hopeless and helpless 00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:31.220 condition. And Jesus asked him this question. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:38.500 Do you want to be healed? That sounds like a 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:45.240 very naive and even insensitive question. Of 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.339 course the man wanted to be healed. He's been 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:50.939 there for 38 years waiting for someone to take 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:54.589 him into the pool. So that when the water bubbles, 00:04:54.850 --> 00:05:01.230 he could be made well again. I can only imagine 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.889 the reaction of this paralytic when Christ asked 00:05:05.889 --> 00:05:12.410 that question. However, there is a deeper meaning 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:17.850 involved behind the question that our beloved 00:05:17.850 --> 00:05:23.730 Lord asked. I would like to elaborate on the 00:05:23.730 --> 00:05:32.689 issue. But as usual, time constraints limits 00:05:32.689 --> 00:05:39.329 me to saying that Jesus is suggesting to this 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:46.170 individual that there can be no healing if a 00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:56.220 person does not want to be healed. part of any 00:05:56.220 --> 00:06:03.579 healing process is the powerful, strong desire 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:12.800 to be healed. Give an illustration. A teacher 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:18.920 can help and challenge a student in not only 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:22.899 in an academic way, but other ways by providing 00:06:22.899 --> 00:06:30.870 the student With a good challenge. But the student 00:06:30.870 --> 00:06:34.310 has to respond to that challenge if there is 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:37.949 to be growth and maturity. Now the same principle 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:41.189 holds in our relationship to our beloved Lord. 00:06:42.509 --> 00:06:48.029 The scriptures tell us that God became man in 00:06:48.029 --> 00:06:57.350 Christ to seek and to save. to heal and to forgive. 00:06:59.129 --> 00:07:05.750 However, absolutely nothing can ever happen if 00:07:05.750 --> 00:07:10.709 one does not respond and reach out to Christ. 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:23.709 Do you recall that scriptural teaching on Zacchaeus? 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:34.100 He took the first step to salvation by desiring 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:40.800 to see Christ. No obstacle stood in his way. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:46.920 Now we are told by the evangelist Luke that there 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.240 were hundreds and hundreds of people who surrounded 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:58.769 Christ, touched Christ. But our Lord only focused 00:07:58.769 --> 00:08:03.389 on this one individual sitting up on the sycamore 00:08:03.389 --> 00:08:12.470 tree. Christ said to him, Zacchaeus, come down 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:18.149 from the tree. I want to spend an evening with 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:24.480 you. You know the results. You know that he was 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.259 changed in that encounter with Christ. He was 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:31.500 changed from head to foot and from foot to head. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.179 He was willing to give half of his stuff away. 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:44.279 The stuff he stole, of course. And if he misappropriated 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:48.240 anything, he would give a fourth of it back. 00:08:54.509 --> 00:09:00.149 Now with regard to this whole issue of the paralytic 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:08.909 and suffering and pain and grief and sorrow, 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:17.210 Solzhenitsyn said this, you can give up, you 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:23.740 could give in, or you could go on. But in the 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:28.159 light of the Christian faith, there is more to 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:33.179 this suffering than suffering. It can be destructive. 00:09:37.179 --> 00:09:42.779 It can destroy an individual. It can be totally 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:50.860 meaningless. But it could be totally meaningful. 00:09:52.740 --> 00:10:01.759 Because behind every cross there follows a resurrection. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:10.940 Behind every cross. It may not be that clear 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:16.539 to us at the moment. But that's the way God works. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:27.220 He works through love. The love sometimes we 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:34.899 can't understand. You see, nothing can happen 00:10:34.899 --> 00:10:43.200 without faith. Absolutely nothing. The door lock 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:49.340 of our heart is from within. And we can only 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:55.340 open it from within. Not from without. God coerces 00:10:55.340 --> 00:11:02.559 no one. So in this unique story of the healing 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:11.379 of the paralytic, Jesus is asking, do you want 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:20.500 to experience the joy of a new life? Then put 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:31.799 away your spiritual doubts. Rise. Look at me. 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:43.279 Live a life of faith. Rise. Quit being paralyzed 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:56.769 by fear. Rise. Get up. Get up of your bed. And 00:11:56.769 --> 00:12:01.710 get rid of those worldly and crippled ideas that 00:12:01.710 --> 00:12:06.549 the world is promoting. Walk with me in faith. 00:12:09.789 --> 00:12:12.570 Love me, serve me, and I will lead you to the 00:12:12.570 --> 00:12:17.350 kingdom of God, to everlasting love. Because 00:12:17.350 --> 00:12:20.230 if you love me, Jesus said, you'll keep my commandments. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:31.279 Now back to the question Jesus asked the paralytic. 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:39.019 Do you want to be healed? Yes, he responded. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.100 Of course I do. But I have no one to help me 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:47.320 to get into the pool at the time the water is 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:55.279 troubled. Do you notice Jesus never suggested 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:59.070 he would help him? Get back into the pool. Never. 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:03.909 Jesus said stop looking at the pool and look 00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:11.549 at me. Stop wasting your life and waiting for 00:13:11.549 --> 00:13:17.649 the right time. The right circumstances. Rise. 00:13:17.649 --> 00:13:23.409 Take your eyes off the pool problem. And lift 00:13:23.409 --> 00:13:33.700 up your heart. in thanksgiving to God. What do 00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:36.000 we hear throughout the year during the liturgy? 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:45.620 As the father pities his children, so the Lord 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:57.120 pities those who love him. The word rise is found 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:02.200 in both today's Gospel reading and in the Epistle. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:08.039 And in the ninth chapter of the Acts of Apostles, 00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:18.279 the Apostle Peter says to a paralytic, Aeneas, 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:29.139 Jesus heals you. Rise up. Take your mat. And 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:35.340 in the same chapter, the same apostle tells to 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:45.440 Tabitha, a woman active in the church who fell 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.879 asleep in the Lord. He said, Tabitha, arise. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.759 rise. And she sat up and they gave her something 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:06.360 to eat. And Jesus said to her, paralytic, rise. 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:12.220 Take up your mat and walk. But that's something 00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:16.840 he couldn't do for 38 years. But he did it. He 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:23.240 did it. By the power of divine grace, he was 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:33.940 changed. A great and important message is found 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:42.500 in that four -letter word, rise. That word is 00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:47.580 filled with dynamis. As the Greeks would say, 00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:53.340 dynamite. It expresses the power of the resurrection. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:59.460 The good news of the gospel is that in Christ, 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:09.779 our Lord tells us, we do not need to carry our 00:16:09.779 --> 00:16:14.899 past luggage and burden. Or burdens. Whatever 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:22.120 they may be. Cast them before the cross. Before 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:30.279 the cross. Joy has come into the world. Our Lord 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:36.000 said. I have come. In order that you may have 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.740 life. And have it more abundantly. Christ is 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:41.120 risen.