Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 / John 5:1-3, 5-16
Pictures of places often depict the most ideal and beautiful aspects.
In travel brochures, the pictures of the places look so attractive that it makes us almost want to take a flight there immediately.
But the reality could quite look like the picture, and maybe even better than the picture.
In the 1st reading, the Temple was portrayed with a stream flowing out from under the Temple threshold.
The stream becomes a river and flows into the sea and makes its waters wholesome.
It is a life-giving water, and gives growth to plants and trees and all living beings.
It is a beautiful portrayal of the Temple and the blessings that flow from it.
In the gospel, when Jesus asked the sick man if he wanted to be cured, that man lamented that he couldn’t get into the pool in time when the water is stirred.
Jesus then told him to pick up his sleeping mat and walk, and the man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.
Jesus is the new Temple of God and He is the living water who gives life and healing.
Let us come before Jesus in the Church and let His blessings flow into us.
May the blessings of Jesus give us life and growth, and heal us of all illness and sickness, so that we will go forth and bear witness to the love of God.