The invitation continues
Unlike the man in the Gospel, I have not been sick for thirty-eight years. Like the man in the Gospel, I can be prone to make excuses for myself when challenged.
Jesus asks, “Do you want to be well?” He answers, “I have no one to put me in the pool.” In various ways, Jesus asks me if I will I watch and pray with him, and I respond with something like, “As soon as I finish this book I am reading.” Jesus asks me to welcome the stranger, and I respond with something like, “Can it wait until I have more energy?”
In the Gospel story, Jesus doesn’t quit. He simply says, “Take up your mat and walk.” Luckily, he doesn’t quit with me either. The invitation to watch and pray continues. My prayer this Lent is that I might hear it more forcefully and respond more generously — to stop making excuses.
The call to welcome the stranger is not a one-time thing either. Each day I am confronted with another opportunity to welcome the stranger. No excuses! I can advocate, support, serve, defend, or educate the “strangers” in our midst.
Lest we forget, our church gives us saints to show us the way. Today, March 17, we are invited to look to St. Patrick, the “Apostle to Ireland.” He spent a lifetime responding to the call to evangelize the Irish and those efforts can be summed up in his prayer, often called the Breastplate of St. Patrick:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
St. Patrick has looked at every angle — there are clearly no excuses.
Eileen Reilly, a School Sister of Notre Dame (SSND) serves as the Religious Engagement Associate for the Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national organization working to end the use of the death penalty, advance justice and begin healing.