15 Mar 2010, Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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.

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.

Meditation: John 4:43-54

This was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea. (John 4:54)


A nod. A sore throat. A red sky at night. It’s an odd assortment, and yet all these things share something in common: They are signs telling us something beyond themselves.

In John’s Gospel, a “sign” means a wondrous deed of Jesus and it points to realities far weightier than tomorrow’s weather or the onset of a cold. John could have called these actions “miracles,” but he wanted to highlight their greater purpose. Not only were they meant to reveal Jesus’ mission and identity, they were meant to call forth faith in those who saw them.

This call to faith is evident in the structure of John’s Gospel, which falls into two major sections: the “Book of Signs” (John 1:19–12:50) and the “Book of Glory” (13:1–20:31), where the signs are fulfilled. The “Signs” section gives special attention to seven of Jesus’ miracles. In today’s Gospel (sign number two), he heals a boy by simply speaking a word, without even having to set eyes on him. The other signs include two more healings (a man who couldn’t walk and a man born blind—5:1-15; 9:1-41), miracles of wine and bread (2:1-11; 6:1-15), and a demonstration of Jesus’ power over the forces of nature (6:16-21). This section culminates in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1-57). Could the message be any clearer? Jesus is the Word of Life, Living Water, Bread of life, Light of the World, Lord of Creation, Lord of Life!

The Book of Glory makes all this explicit. There, in the greatest sign of all, the One we remember in every Sign of the Cross, Jesus gives his life for us. Lifted up for all to see, he is revealed as Lord and God.

In John’s Gospel, we see Jesus working to reveal the Father to ordinary people with ordinary hopes and needs. This Jesus is among us today, still working signs, large and small, to get our attention and draw us to himself. What signs has he given you? How is he inviting you to believe in him? And how will you respond?

“Jesus, you reveal yourself to me in so many ways. Help me to recognize the signs of your love and presence in my life. I do believe! Help me to love and follow you, and lead me into your glory.”