The Ones We Don’t See
A Short Reflection on John 5:1-16
This is my Lectio journal reflection for today’s Mass Gospel, John 5:1–16.
Who was lying by the “pool” while I refreshed Facebook or Instagram?
Who was hurting while I crafted the perfect text or email?
Who was hoping to be seen while I avoided eye contact?
I don’t mean to be indifferent. I just tell myself I’m too busy, too tired, too unsure of what to say—or how to say it. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Jesus isn’t asking me to fix them. Maybe He just wants me to see them. To stop. To stay. To kneel beside someone who’s been alone too long.
Thirty-eight years. That’s how long the man in the Gospel waited. Thirty-eight years of being stepped over, forgotten, left behind in a world rushing toward its own miracles.
And Jesus didn’t tell him to believe harder. He didn’t say, Get your act together.
He just asked: Do you want to be healed?
Maybe He’s asking us the same: Do we notice who’s lying there? Will we see them—or will we just pass by... again? Do we want to be healed—so we can help carry someone else to healing, too?
© 2025, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.
I’ve worked for 38 years. Hmmm.