march 16, 2021 (tuesday in the fourth week of lent)

For today's readings, click HERE.

by Emma Friend

When reading the gospel for this day, the lesson I gleaned was that finding supportive communities is vital to our wellbeing.

​In our current world, the concept of helping yourself and others is a relevant one. Especially with the rise of COVID-19 and other growing difficulties and injustices in the world, it’s important to find communities we can trust. The man in the Gospel who had been sick for thirty-eight years was not helped by the people in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate. He did not have a supportive community there. But he eventually found that, and found the help he needed, when Jesus came.

One of the biggest things I like to preach is the importance of mutual aid. Simply put, mutual aid means giving what you can when you have extra, and in return, your community will give to you what they can when you have need. The “what” can be time, money, service, items, food, or many other things. I propose we let this reading motivate us to intentionally create the supportive communities that the sick man did not have, ones that thrive on mutual aid to help our neighbors, family, friends, and strangers when they are struggling or sick.