Ephesians 5:15–21 & John 4:46–53
Feria Secunda infra Hebdomadam XX post Octavam Pentecostes
“See therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
— Ephesians 5:15–16
“Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.”
— John 4:48
✠ Walking Wisely in Evil Days
The Apostle speaks with apostolic urgency: “See therefore…” — a word of immediate command. St. Paul, writing to the Church of Ephesus, urges the faithful to walk circumspectly, that is, with careful watchfulness, aware of the snares of the enemy and the seductions of the world. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, exhorts:
“It is not enough that we do not sin; we must also walk with all care, in every virtue. For many, even if they do no evil, yet they do not do good either. This too is blameworthy.” (Hom. on Eph. 18)
How pertinent are his words today, when indifference and tepidity often wear the guise of harmlessness! To walk as wise means to measure each moment in light of eternity. The “days are evil,” not because God’s grace is absent, but because men reject it. The time must be redeemed — redimere tempus — like a captive bought back. We are called not to drift through life but to purchase the moment, to invest every hour with acts of love, penance, and fidelity.
St. Paul continues: “Be not drunk with wine… but be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Here again, Chrysostom observes:
“He does not say, ‘Be not drunken,’ but ‘Be not drunk with wine,’ showing that he condemns not the thing itself but its abuse.” (ibid.)
Instead of excess and folly, the Christian fills his soul with the Holy Spirit through sacred song, psalms, and thanksgiving. The liturgical rhythm of the Church — its Masses, Hours, feasts and ferias — becomes the sanctuary where the time is redeemed.
✠ Faith Beyond Signs
The Gospel draws us to Cana once again — the scene of Christ’s first miracle. But now another nobleman, likely in Herod’s service, comes in desperation, not for wine but for his son’s life. Our Lord’s words seem harsh:
“Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.”
St. Gregory the Great reflects:
“He reproves the desire for signs in the same way that He sometimes provides them — not to encourage curiosity but to strengthen faith.” (Hom. on the Gospels, 29)
Christ reads the hearts of men. The nobleman’s faith is tested and purified. He had come for a visible cure, but he receives a word alone — “Go, thy son liveth.” His response is the great turning point: “The man believed the word which Jesus said to him.” It is the very pattern of Christian faith: not sight, but hearing — fides ex auditu. St. Augustine writes:
“This man believed before he saw; and so his faith was born not of sight but of obedience.” (Tract. in Ioan. 16.2)
This contrasts with the people who seek signs to believe — and even then may remain unmoved. The nobleman’s journey home is emblematic of the soul’s journey: from seeking visible proofs to resting in the word of Christ. When he learns that his son was healed at the very hour Jesus spoke, faith deepens into awe. He believes — not only in the miracle, but in the Miracle-Worker.
✠ A Lesson for Our Times
The two readings together teach a single truth: The Christian must walk by faith, wisely and watchfully, amid evil days. He must not demand signs to believe, but must conform his will to the truth he has received from Christ through the Church. The rhythm of grace in daily life — sobriety, prayer, thanksgiving, submission — all mark the soul that walks wisely.
And where is this life lived most deeply if not in the sacred liturgy of Holy Mother Church? For as the Apostle commands: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles… giving thanks always for all things…” This is the daily bread of the Church’s faithful: the chant of the Divine Office, the silent offering of the Mass, the patient following of the seasons of grace.
Let us then, in these evil days, “redeem the time” by returning to the source of our strength: Christ truly present, not in signs only, but in the Holy Eucharist — the sign that contains what it signifies.
✠ Prayer
O Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to believe without seeing, to obey without questioning, and to walk wisely in this present darkness. May Thy Spirit fill our hearts, and may our lives be an offering of praise and thanksgiving in all things. Amen.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom — pray for us.
St. Augustine, pray for us.
St. John Chrysostom, pray for us.
St. Gregory the Great, pray for us.