Mar 31 2025

First reading Isaiah 65:17-21

Be glad and rejoice for ever at what I am creating

Thus says the Lord: 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 29(30):2,4-6,11-13

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.
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.
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.
I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Gospel John 4:43-54

Go home: your son will live

Jesus left Samaria 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 realised 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.

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Believing in Jesus

In today’s gospel, we see the contrast between the lack of faith that Jesus pointed out in the people of his hometown and the court official’s act of faith in Jesus. He came to Jesus not with the attitude of testing Him but with a father’s love and concern for his child. The official humbly looked to Jesus for his child’s needs and put his trust completely in Jesus’ word.

In life, we also carry in our hearts the various needs of the people around us, especially those of our loved ones. Like the official’s child who was at the point of death, there are times when we see how great and urgent the needs of others are. In such moments, let us not lose hope. Instead, we come and bring the needs of those we care for to Jesus in prayer. Following the official’s example, let us believe in Jesus and continue to walk life with faith in life. Seeing our trust in Jesus, may others come to believe in Him also.

Reflective question:
Whose needs am I called to bring to Jesus in faith?

Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.