Homily

"Do you want to be healed?" That is the first thing Jesus says to the paralyzed man. "Do you want to be healed?" The Gospel tells us that Jesus knew the man had been ill for a long time, and, in fact, he had been unable to walk for 38 years. So it seems like a strange question to ask him. Even if he was only paralyzed for a day, wouldn't he want to be cured?

The man could have answered sarcastically: "Why do you think I'm here?" But instead he explains he has no family for friends who can help him get into the healing waters at the right moment, perhaps hoping that maybe Jesus will help him now that he has shown an interest in him and his condition. So I imagine this man, struggling, crawling on his arms and dragging his useless legs behind him, desperate to get to the pool when the waters are troubled. He's not only handicapped, he is also completely alone. It's not hard to imagine the compassion Jesus must have felt for this man.

St. John Chrysostom says we should be amazed at the perseverance of the paralytic, as he lay there waiting, time after time, trying to get to the waters, only finding that every single time someone else beat him to it, because they walk, and he could not. Yet he never gave up. He kept coming back, again and again on those days when it was said the angel would stir up the water.

Chrysostom asks,

"Shouldn't he have learned from past experience that it was impossible to get to the waters by himself before someone else did? He cam back again and again for 38 years and never gave up hope that this time he might succeed."

And Chrysostom continues,

"He did not fail because of his own carelessness or a lack of desire. He failed because others were quicker and faster. And still he did not give up. Let us be ashamed then at our own laziness. For we — we might persist in prayer for something for ten days or so, and if we have not gotten it, we are too lazy to continue on with the same energy this man had. And yet, we will wait forever on our fellow human beings, fighting for something from them, or suffering hardships to get something from them, doing even menial tasks in the hope of getting what we want. All done in the hope of gaining something that, in the end, fails to meet our expectations. But when it comes to our Master, from Whom we are sure to obtain a greater reward than any work of ours could ever expect to see, we show very little perseverance in waiting on Him."

Ouch! That is so true! We can work long and hard indeed for what we want, and that can be a very good thing if we are working for what is truly worthwhile. But we can also work long and hard for things that may not be good for us, or for things that are not truly worth the effort we put into getting them.

Consider the people running in the marathon this morning. Could I ever run 20 some miles? I don't think so, but it would depend on who was chasing me. All the energy and effort and persistence used to either win the race, or have a good time outcome, or even just to say you finished the race. All of that for an honor or a boast, or sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that quickly fades — although you do get a tee shirt. But even that, after some washings, will also fade.

St. John Chrysostom says we might pray for something for even ten days and if it doesn't happen, we give up. But St. John who deeply understood the great compassion that Jesus has for all of us, the same deep compassion He had for the paralyzed man, St. John knows that for reasons we may not understand and because it may not be good for us, Jesus may not give us what we are asking for. He would never give us something that would deliberately harm us. But even if we do not receive it, St. John implores us to keep on asking for it if we believe it is good. He says, "Even if we do not receive it from Him, isn't the very fact that we are able to continually converse with Him, talk to him, the source of 10,000 blessings?" The Lord might even say to us, "Do you want to be healed?" And how shall we answer? For it is so very easy to see Christ as a kind of vending machine Who dispenses favors when we deposit our prayers, and we give up putting our prayers in if it seems the machine is out of order, and not providing what we want. Let us strive to see Him as He truly is, full of compassion and tender care for us even if we find it hard to walk, even if we feel all alone. He stands there, for us. And we shall not end up disappointed.