Cycle A 5th Sunday of Lent

  Ezek. 37:12-14; Rom. 8:8-11; Jn. 11:1-45 OR Jn. 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

Dr. Shailesh Mehta is a great cardiac surgeon in Baroda and he is quite famous. Once Dr Mehta narrated this story to his friend. He said that a couple walked into his office with a 6 year old girl and the file was given to him. Apparently, there was some serious clogging issue with the little girls' heart. The couple had already consulted some doctors who gave up on her. Dr. Mehta explained the couple that her condition was bad and she need to have an open heart surgery immediately or she will have a maximum of 3 to 6 months. He added that there was only 30% chance that the girl would survive the operation. The couple decided to go ahead with the surgery.

The child was admitted to hospital and the date was fixed. On the date of operation, as the nurses were preparing the girl for operation, Dr. Mehta went to her room. He had already done so many operations and he knew that there was a good chance that the girl wouldn’t make it. 

Dr Mehta asked the girl: “How are you feeling?” and consoled her, “Don’t worry, you'll be alright.” The girls said, “I am good. But I have a question

Cycle A 4th Sunday of Lent

 1 Sam. 16.1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph. 5:8-14; Jn. 9:1-41 or 9:1, 13-17, 34-38

Today's First Reading [1 Sam. 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13] gave us the account of the anointing of David as the king of Israel. Now Samuel was commissioned to go to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint God's newly chosen king. [1 Sam. 16:1] As we heard, all the sons of Jesse who were present in the household passed before Samuel. None of them were chosen by God. While Samuel would have chosen one of them because of his appearance, Samuel was reminded by God that a calling is not based on one's outward appearance. God looks on the heart of the person. [1 Sam. 16:7]

Consequently, Samuel asked Jesse if all of his sons were present. He quickly learned that the youngest one was missing. He was keeping the sheep. Samuel immediately sent for him. [1 Sam. 16:11]

Cycle A 3rd Sunday of Lent

Ex. 17:3-7; Rom. 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn. 4:5-42

There is no more fundamental resource than water, the basis of all life. Water had been a source conflict from the ancient past. Individuals, clans and nations fought for water. Water technologies were developed by a number of ancient civilizations, from Mesopotamia and the Indus valley to later societies such as the Mycenaeans, Minoans, Persians, and the ancient Egyptians. 

 

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to make war on Jerusalem, Hezekiah developed a plan to deny the Assyrians water while maintaining a water supply for the fortified city of Jerusalem. He did this by first blocking all the springs and wells around Jerusalem and then by diverting water from the Gihon Spring via a tunnel to the Pool of Siloam inside the walls. (2 Kings 20:20)

 

Water is fast becoming a key issue in today’s world, too. In 1985 Egypt's then minister of state for foreign affairs; Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned that 'the next war in the middle east will be fought over water, not politics.' This chilling prediction is