THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS...COULD HAVE BEEN MORE

Tuesday in the 4th Week of Lent
Jn 5:1-16

If we were Jesus, would we dare break the Sabbath in favor of healing the man who was sick for thirty-eight years? Perhaps, we would. However, would we not question those who frequent the pool of Bethesda why not one among them dared to help that poor, sick man prior to the Sabbath so that we would not have to break the Sabbath law anymore?

His persecutors were rather quick to accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath rest when He healed the sick man on the Sabbath, but they were totally neglectful of the fact that had they helped that sick man earlier, Jesus would not need to heal him on the Sabbath. Who therefore was more guilty, Jesus or His persecutors? Certainly, His persecutors. His critics were not be guilty of breaking the Sabbath rest but they were very much guilty of neglecting to extend charity to that man who was sick for thirty-eight years.

There are times when we are like those who persecute Jesus. We adhere to the law and obey every detail of tradition, but we are not sensitive to the urgent needs of our brethren. Worse, while we do not immediately help those in need, we even criticize those who help them.

Had Jesus not helped that sick man on the very instance He met him, the suffering of that man could have been a day more. And a day added to his suffering is a day added to the guilt of those who neglect charity to him. Because Jesus healed that man as soon as He met him, the suffering of that man was one day less and those who neglect charity to him were a day less guilty.

When we are insensitive to the needs of our brethren, let us not find fault in the goodness of those who are sensitive to their needs. When we are not ready to help our needy brethren, why be ready to find fault in those who help them? When we cannot be part of the solution, please let us not be part of the problem.

Our brethren may have some needs that are not only great but are also urgent. Some of their needs cannot wait for the Sabbath to end. The longer they suffer, the more we become guilty of our neglect, if not of our indifference.

Let us make the sufferings of any person a day less. It may be a day less but it means so much after their suffering for thirty-eight years.

I am thirty-nine years old now. I cannot help consider that if I had been that man Jesus healed in the Gospel today, I would have been suffering all my life until now had Jesus not dared break the Sabbath. Imagine, THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS! And could have been more.