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Reading 1
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
Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b
R. (2a) 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.
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.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Isaiah 65:17 – 21
Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness’. I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her; in her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 29(30):2,4-6,11-13
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Gospel John 4:43 – 54
When the two days were over Jesus left for Galilee. He himself had declared that there is no respect for a prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.
He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and, hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ‘Sir,’ answered the official ‘come down before my child dies.’ ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realized that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household believed.
This was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to Galilee.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 4th Week of Lent
From: Isaiah 65:17-21
New heavens and a new earth
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(Thus says the LORD,)
[17] "For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth;
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
[18] But be glad and rejoice for ever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
[19] I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
[20] No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the child shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
[21] They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit."
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Commentary:
65:17-18 Here we have a clear and succinct description of the new state of affairs at the end of time -- "new heavens and a new earth". As at the Creation, God in person, and he alone, will create them; but now they will have a heavenly form, for joy and gladness will be unceasing and eternal. This wording became very influential in Jewish religious thinking as can be seen from apocryphal texts (cf. 2 Ezra 6:16), and even more so in Christian tradition: in the Revelation toJohn, these are the opening words of the vision about the definitive and full establishment of the kingdom of God (Rev 21:1-22:5). And the Second Letter of Peter urges the faithful to transform this world in preparation for the coming of "new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:13). "At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed: 'The Church ... will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ' ("Lumen Gentium", 48).
Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, 'new heavens and a new earth' (2 Pet 3:13; cf. Rev 21:1). It will be the definitive realization of God's plan to bring under a single head 'all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth' (Eph 1:10). In this new universe, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have his dwelling among men. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away' (Rev 21:4)." [...] The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, 'so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just' (St Irenaeus, "Adv. Haer." 5, 32, 1), sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1042-1044 and 1047).
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From: John 4:43-54
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
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[43] After the two days he departed to Galilee. [44] For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they too had gone to the feast.
The Cure of the Royal Official's Son
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[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48] Jesus therefore said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." [49] The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." [50] Jesus said to him, "Go, your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. [51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was living. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to mend, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." [53] The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live"; and he himself believed, and all his household. [54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
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Commentary:
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 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. J. Escriva, "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 kilometers (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. J. Escriva, "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).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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