Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent March 7, 2005 Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-21; John 4:43-54 Reflection: In today’s passage from Isaiah we are filled with hope and promise. Suffering is not seen as the end but rather as a passage through which life, at times, takes us. We must look on suffering as a prelude to resurrection. We are told that a new heaven and a new earth will be created and the pain and suffering that we endure will not be everlasting. When Jesus returned to Galilee and the city of Capernaum, he met with a man whom most “religious” people thought had little faith. He requested a favor of Jesus that he was certain Jesus would grant him. This royal official was a true person of faith. In reply, Jesus says, “Go, your son will live.” In utter trust the man returned home and came to find out that at that very hour the fever left the boy. Suggested Action: Let us try today to be aware of the little, seemingly insignificant things that happen in our daily routine that might be the very time and place where we encounter Jesus. And we then must believe! Sr. Mary Ellen Malloy, IHM Silver Spring, Maryland