JUBILEE YEAR

I can never forget what today's reading meant to me. I was just new in the Charismatic Renewal when I had a dream or vision of water coming from all directions. It was the night before the day when I went to mass and found out that it was the 1st reading for the day. These are only a few of the several experiences I had right after my baptism in the spirit. It kept me inspired and always on fire for the Lord. I was told that it was the so called honeymoon stage with the Lord. Yesterday I was just sharing about the degrees or levels of faith and today I am reminded by today's 1st reading of my 1st degree, level or stage of faith experience. Just like all other stages we have to step up or move up the ladder and reach the peak. We have to mature and look beyond the spiritual highs and still keep up with the faith as we go through an all time low, a plateau or the so called spiritual dryness. It is when we can really prove our loyalty to God. As scriptures say, just like gold we are tested through fire. In this journey of life we need to go through a process where we all hope and aspire to bring out the best in us and be the person God has all meant us to be. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
1 Then he brought me, Ezekiel, back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the facade of the temple was toward the east; the water flowed down from the southern side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He led me outside by the north gate, and around to the outer gate facing the east, where I saw water trickling from the southern side. 3 Then when he had walked off to the east with a measuring cord in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water, which was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand and once more had me wade through the water, which was now knee-deep. Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade; the water was up to my waist. 5 Once more he measured off a thousand, but there was now a river through which I could not wade; for the water had risen so high it had become a river that could not be crossed except by swimming. 6 He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?” Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit. 7 Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides. 8 He said to me, “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. 9 Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. 12 Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

In whatever situation and stage in life we are in, we ought to keep in mind that these are all variables. Just like any variable they continue to come and go in our lives. What we need to hold on to is the constant and not the variable. At this point we need to be sure who the constant is. By this time we should have made it clear the the Lord our God is our constant. Amen. Hallelujah!

P S A L M

Psalms 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
R: The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.
...There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. 5 [6] God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed; God will help it at the break of dawn...

This season of Lent should be taken advantage to make the grace of God a mighty river of grace. We should see the source of the grace, Jesus Himself. The grace is not just a vague force. In today’s gospel we see the man waiting for the pool to be stirred. This is a very big pool in fact to this day, 2 churches were built inside the pool to commemorate the very miracle that took place in it and even pagans go there for healing. We find that Jesus does not take the man to the water. It’s the word of Jesus and His authority that heal the man. He is the source of grace that brings about the healing. The man does not come across to be particularly bright because he said that there’s no one to put him in the water. He did not even bother to ask who healed him and has no idea as he doesn’t go looking for Christ. It was Christ who looked for him. It was a sort of ungrateful way to deal with the healing. Jesus not only heals him physically but addresses the state of his soul as He told him to sin no more. He knows the depths of what’s inside of us. We are told also in a way to sin no more, so nothing worse is going to happen. We want that river of grace to flow from Jesus Christ to us so we pray, abstain and fast to intercede for the grace to come to our culture. We need to use our time to seek the word of God and know the gospel better and better so we have the word that heals to bring to our culture. We bring a word of Christ and its power. Not by our own but we bring that grace by the power of Christ. We bring healing to the dryness and deadly state of our culture. In this way the Lord uses us to help transform a culture of life. In a way this connects to this vision of Ezekiel in the 1st reading. This is part of the Holy year of the Jews, a year of God’s jubilee celebration for Jerusalem after 25 years of exile. This is a vision of hope at that time because Jerusalem is still in ruin and the temple is a mess. People can’t offer sacrifice for even the priest was in exile. This huge amount of water gushing forth in a land that’s very much desperate like a desert but later on have trees grow there. This jubilee vision shows how God heals the land of its desert status. It is not only to bring water but to become a permanent spring. The dead sea is 9x as salty as the ocean, meaning it is 27% salt and anyone can die if we drink it. To heal those waters is a great sign of Jubilee. We need an outflow of grace into our culture where so much spiritual life does not grow due to materialism and attitude of people who don’t expect to find God anymore. The grace of God would flow through it and bring about new growth of Christianity. The saltiness of the dead sea is a great symbol that we can see in our culture in which no one idea is any better than another. Christianity is just one idea among many and we see strong forces in our culture. People are trying hard to evangelize and make a revival of paganism and worship of witchcraft. These forces are active and aggressive. In fact it becomes institutionalized as we see a campus minister that practices witchcraft or Satanism. We have to be alert of its salt which is deadly. The good news is that the grace of God is more powerful than they are. The grace that flows from God is more powerful if we are willing to cooperate to fight these forces they can be defeated. Amen. Hallelujah!

John 5:1-16
1 There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. 3 In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. [4] 4 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was a sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. 14 After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 16 Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.