The Joy of the Risen Lord changes everything about us.  His transforming presence transfigures all of our sadness into Joy, all of our grief into comfort, all of our disappointment into fulfillment.  Yet many times, we choose to reject this ever offered healing in Jesus Christ's resurrected presence.  Thus, our Lord intentionally asks the paralytic, "Do you want to be healed?". 

The question is a valid one.  We, as human beings, are creatures of habit.  Even if the path we walk is a painful one--do we not still maintain it?  Better the known evil than the unknown, right?  Better to walk in sickness than to run into a healthy unknown.

While this might sound rather silly to many of us, the healing offered by our Lord is not one without consequence.  Christ's healing is freely given... but it requires us to relinquish our control.  It is a healing that requires us to allow Him to change and transform our very core.  It is a healing that enables a spiritual earthquake shaking up the very foundation of our sinful nature.  It is a healing that shatters our weakness like a potter's vessel and rebuilds it into a strong and new one.

The healing presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ requires us to leave everything else that is of the world to unite ourselves to Him.  The paralytic lying beside the pool of Bethesda did just that.  Christ confronts him with the question, "do you want to be healed?"... And he resoundingly answers yes!

He turns from his way of looking out only for himself, and begins to live for his neighbor.  No longer is he focused on his infirmity, but on taking it up (in the form of his bed) and going home.  No longer does he identify himself as his sickness/sinfulness.

And we are called to this very healing!  We are called to this shattering and core shaking love through a relationship with the Risen Lord.  We are called to identify ourselves as Christ's--not as our infirmities. 

Now is the time for us to join our Lord.  Now is the time for us to say, " Yes! " to his healing presence in our lives.  Now is the time for us to make our relationship with Christ our primary priority!

May the Joy of our Risen Lord grant us a fuller understanding of His Healing Presence in our lives, enabling us to live in a deeper awareness of His love for us, uniting us to His Eternal Father and His Life-giving Spirit for all time!

Written by Fr. Chris Rocknage