March 16, 2015

[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.

Lenten Reflection

The Gospels of Lent offer many accounts from the life of Jesus that contain strong and clear lessons on the meaning of salvation.  Occasionally, there are stories that contains more than one of these lessons, and it can be the less obvious ones that sometimes make the more powerful point.

For example, in John’s narrative on the royal official who asked Jesus to heal his son, many readers focus on Jesus’ brusque response to his request. Was Jesus testing the man’s sincerity? Was he speaking to the crowd around him as they gawked and jostled to see what he would do?  Either way, Jesus is admonishing people’s lack of faith, and this is usually the significance that we give to the narrative. However, often lost in the story is what brought it to that point: the significance of the official and what he had just dared to do.

During Jesus’ time, someone referred to as “a royal official” was almost certainly a member of the king’s court. In this case, he would have been from the court of King Herod Antipas, hardly an assembly that looked favorably upon either Jesus or his ministry. For one of its members to risk ridicule or possibly worse by publically approaching Jesus and begging for a miracle could only mean that the official had chosen a radical path. He had broken away from the close-mindedness and arrogance of his contemporaries and chosen to believe that God was indeed coming to him in this ordinary day laborer turned preacher. This faith would save his son, and also serve as an example of what it looks like to welcome God’s salvation into one’s life.

As we take time during this Lent to reflect on our need for God, we, like the royal official, might realize that God is not bound by our image or expectations of him. God is with us in his own way and his own time, surprising us every day with his grace. It takes an open and humble heart to accept this.  “Above all else,” wrote theologian Meister Eckart, “know this: Be prepared at all times for the gifts of God and be ready always for new ones. For God is a thousand times more ready to give than we are to receive.”

Prayer

Eternal Father, your Son came that we might have life and have it in all of its fullness. During this holy time of Lent, strengthen our faith and hope so that we may know how to accept his gift of salvation. May we do with open hearts whatever you ask of us and come to share in the life that you promise. Be our light now and always, free us from sin, and help us to be, through our care and vigilance for those that you have entrusted to us, the compassion and justice that is your Kingdom. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts forever.