These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Now there is in Jerusalem a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?" (Jn 5:1-16)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040125.cfm
As the catechumens prepare for baptism and the rest of us prepare to renew the vows of our baptism at Easter, our readings today are filled with images of water. The Lord, who freely offers Living Water, the Water of Eternal Life, puts the question to us, "Do you want to be well?”.
Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create. (Is 65:17-21)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033125.cfm
A new heavens, a new earth. Given the state of the world and the complete mess we’ve made of it, the hope of a new heavens and a new earth makes no sense whatsoever without a whole new us. And that is exactly what God promises. We will be God’s joy and delight. No more weeping, no more crying, no more homelessness, no more hunger. So what’s the catch? We have to leave our past ways of war, greed and injustice, and choose to be the people God creates us to be.
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Lk 15:1-3, 11-32)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is best understood in the context where the gospel writer puts it: the Eating and Drinking with Sinners. The charge against Jesus, welcoming sinners and eating with them, is one of the earliest memories we have of the Eucharist. Who is welcome at the Table has become a burning question in some church circles, but Jesus answered that question long ago.
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former. (Lk 18:9-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032925.cfm
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector calls into question the hypocrisy of us church folks. Perhaps that is why the ancient fathers and mothers of the church always recommended the “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mk 12:28-34)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032825.cfm
Love neighbor can never be separated from Love God. In one sense they are the same commandment and “the first of all the commandments.”
