MONDAY IN THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT READINGS AND REFLECTION:
THE CURE OF THE ROYAL OFFICIAL’S SON
(Jn 4:43–54).
MONDAY IN THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT
MASS READINGS
1st Reading Is 65:17–21
Responsorial Psalm Psalms 30:2 AND 4, 5-6, 11-12A AND 13B
Verse Before the Gospel Amos 5:14
Gospel Jn 4:43–54
READING I
Is 65:17–21
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; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying; no longer shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime; he dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years, and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed. They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me
I will extol you, O Lord, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
“Hear, O Lord, and have pity on me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL
Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.
GOSPEL
Jn 4:43–54
At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.
GOSPEL REFLECTION
- The royal official was a pagan, but he had faith in Jesus, a faith perhaps which is still imperfect but nevertheless sufficient for him to travel 30 kilometers from Capernaum to Cana begging our Lord for help with humility and perseverance; a faith sufficient enough to believe in Jesus’ words and return to his house.
- As Christians, we are expected to believe in Jesus much more than the pagans…but do we have such faith as the royal official had?
- The royal official did not only stop at acknowledging that a miracle occured at Jesus’ word. He went more than that: he and his family became believers, showing us the importance that the head if the family, the parents, should do what they could to bring their household to the true faith, the Catholic faith.
- On the contrary, as St Paul says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8).
- Do we realize our responsibility in assuring that all our family members come closer to God and live their Christian faith through our prayer, example, cheerful patience, and opportune advice?
Let us keep on praying for the relief of the sick, all who are suffering especially in war-torn areas; the salvation of the dying; for peace… God bless.
Stay safe and God bless, Fr. Rolly Arjonillo
COMMENTARY FROM THE NAVARRE BIBLE, ST. JOHN (with permission)
- 46 St John is speaking about a royal official, probably in the service of Herod Antipas who, although he was only tetrarch or governor of Galilee (cf. Lk 3:1), was also referred to as king (cf. Mk 6:14). The official, therefore, would have been someone of high rank (v. 51), who lived in Capernaum, a town with a customs post. This is why St Jerome thought he must have been a palatinus, a palace courtier, as the corresponding Greek word implies.
- 48 Jesus seems to be addressing not so much the official as the people of Galilee who flock to him to get him to perform miracles and work wonders. On another occasion our Lord reproaches the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for their disbelief (Mt 11:21-23), because the miracles he worked there would have been enough to move the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, and even Sodom itself, to do penance. The Galileans in general were more inclined to watch him perform miracles than listen to his preaching. Later on, after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, they will look for Jesus to make him king — but they are slower to believe when he tells them about the Eucharist (Jn 6:15, 53, 62). Jesus asks people to have a strong, committed faith which, though it may draw support from miracles, does not require them. Be that as it may, in all ages God continues to work miracles, which help bolster our faith.
- “I’m not one for miracles. I have told you that in the Holy Gospel I can find more than enough to confirm my faith. — But I can’t help pitying those Christians — pious people, ‘apostles’ many of them — who smile at the idea of extraordinary ways, of supernatural events. I feel the urge to tell them: Yes, this is still the age of miracles: we too would work them if we had faith!” (St. Josemaria, The Way, 583).
- 49-50 In spite of Jesus’ apparent coldness, the official keeps trying: “Sir, come down before my child dies”.Although his faith is imperfect, it did bring him to travel the thirty-three kilometres (twenty miles) between Capernaum and Cana, and despite his important position here he was, begging our Lord for help. Jesus likes the man’s perseverance and humility; he rewards his faith:
- “‘Si habueritis fidem, sicut granum sinapis!’ If your faith were the size of’ a mustard seed!…‘What promises are contained in this exclamation of the Master!” (St. Josemaria, The Way, 585).
- The Fathers compare this miracle with that of the centurion’s servant, contrasting the amazing faith of the centurion — from the start — with the initially imperfect faith of this official from Capernaum. St John Chrysostom comments: “Here was a robust faith [in the case of this official]; therefore, Jesus made him the promise, so that we might learn from this man’s devotion; his faith was as yet imperfect, and he did not clearly realize that Jesus could effect the cure at a distance; thus, the Lord, by not agreeing to go down to the man’s house, wished us to learn the need to have faith” (Hom. on St John, 35).
- 53 The miracle is so convincing that this man and all his family become believers.
- All parents should do what they can to bring their household to the faith. As St Paul says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8). Cf. Acts 16:14, where we are told that Lydia brought her whole household along with her to be baptized; Acts 18:8 mentions Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue doing the same thing, as does the prison warden (Acts 16:33).
VIDEO COMMENTARY:
TOPIC: WHEN YOU PRAY, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL GIVE YOU WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU?
In today’s gospel reading, a royal official asks Jesus to come to his house to heal his son. Jesus’ reputation of doing miracles has spread far and wide. Jesus comes back to Cana where he performed his first miracle and this official traveled 26 kilometers, from Capernaum to Cana, to meet Jesus. Today, we reflect on our situation and our need for God’s miracles to turn our lives for the better. Do we believe and trust in a God who will respond to our pleas and cries? If yes, we must not feel disappointed or discouraged when, after praying, we do not get what we want.
Stay updated: subscribe by email for free TO OUR NEW WEBSITE www.catholicsstrivingforholiness.org (PUT YOUR EMAIL IN THE SUBSCRIBE WIDGET).
We are also in www.fb.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness. Kindly help more people in their Christian life by liking our page and inviting your family, friends and relatives to do so as well. Thanks in advance and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo