Lent is the time to encounter God Who reaches out to us and invites us from our self-absorbed life into a renewed relationship with Him. Prophet Isaiah indicates this in God's promise to the Jews in Babylonian exile of a new heaven and a new earth marked by joy, new life and justice.

This promise is further assured by God's forgiveness. The rising of His Son from the dead, reminds us that death and suffering do not have the last word over us. Anyone in right relationship with Him will practise justice and integrity and will enjoy just rewards of their labour. To cling on to our faith and hope in God helps us go beyond negativity and despair in life, turning grief and sorrows into joy and gladness.

In the Gospel, Jesus inaugurates this new world with the healing of the son of the court official. In the creation story of Genesis, when God says, "let there be..."; creation comes into being. Similarly, just with the words "Go, your son will live", without going to the official's house, Jesus gives new life to the son and brings the court official's family to faith. Let us learn to lean on God's Word in faith, holding on to the assurance that God makes all things new.