If it had been me, when Jesus asked the sick man “Do you want to be well?” I would have had some kind of snarky remark. “Well, duh, of course I want to be well.” But then on further reflection, I realize that almost every morning when I look in the mirror I think, “I want to be skinny again.” The problem for me, and apparently the sick man in the Bible story, was that the wanting to be well was not enough to motivate the kinds of changes that would make him and me well. Simply wanting something without doing what is necessary achieve what one wants is futile. I have a cartoon on the bulletin board in my office. Two monks are walking in the cloister and one says to the other, “I could be a saint if I really wanted to.” Actually that is true for all of us. We all have the potential to be saints. However, we get complacent with being decent and don’t do what is necessary to attain the dedication to God and the people of God that make for sanctity. During these last weeks of Lent we can examine ourselves to see if we are willing to pay “the cost of discipleship,” which, as Jesus reminded us, requires taking up our cross each day.
