Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Jun de Ocampo SVD – Berlin Filipino Community , Germany
Tuesday 4th Week of Lent
Jesus knew that this ailing man of Bethesda had been suffering for thirty-eight long years. But he still asked, “Do you want to be well?” Maybe his inability to get into the healing waters in time led Jesus to see some reluctance to get well. Maybe he had become accustomed to his illness, like us becoming accustomed to our sins.
Reflecting on Jesus’ question “Do you want to be well?” St. Francis de Sales in his Introduction to the Devout Life speaks about two cleansings from sin thatwe all need. The first is through the Sacrament of Confession; the second is a deeper one, a cleansing from affection for sin.
Many people going to Confession surely are disposed never to sin again. And yet, some reluctance to give up the “delights” of sin is real. Perhaps the will renounces the sin but the heart keeps looking back to the delights that attracted the person to it. We succumb to temptation because we can’t give up what attracts us to sin.
It’s like that doctor who keeps telling us to stay away from certain enjoyable foods. We follow instructions at first because we don’t want to die. But not for long because we really don’t want to give up the pleasure of eating such food. The same attitude applies to habitual sins: gossiping, pornography, infidelity, excessive drinking, deception, and many others which carry with them these“delights” that captivate us. Do we really want healing?
Perhaps we can look at our habitual sins or at the faults we decide to attack this Lenten season, and reflect on why they harm us personally and our relationship with God and others. Then we will know the deep healing that can be ours in Christ.
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