A short note on today's Gospel (John 5:1-16)

Jesus has just cured a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years by simply saying:
“Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”;
whereupon the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Later on, Jesus says to the man:
“Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Now what worse can happen to man who has been ill for thirty-eight years?

Well, to be ill for another thirty-nine years or more is much worse, but before that happens, death may likely come first.
Jesus was obviously referring to a much worse fate than being ill for another thirty-nine years.
However fate of the man depends on his will, and that is what conversion and repentance is all about.

Meanwhile, in totally unrelated news:

The Herald Sun (of Australia) has prominently featured a report that a priest (Father Bob McGuire) was setting up a drive-in confessional that would allow penitents to confess by selecting sins from an electronic menu.
“A flashing green light will signal when a driver's sins have been forgiven,” the story said.
Father Bob later admitted it was an April fool's prank.
“Like all parables the drive-through was designed to raise awareness of sin and forgiveness especially during Lent,” he said.
Some Christians however, were not amused at the idea of apparently poking fun at the Catholic sacrament. Fr Bob was quite unrepentant: “I don’t think I’ll be getting a medal from the Church,” he admitted.


Fr Bob, I pray that someday you may truly make many people rise up and walk. Hopefully you will not be too ill to make that happen.
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