At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law from her fever, cured sick with various diseases, and expelled demons. At daybreak, Jesus went to a deserted place until crowds found him and tried to prevent him from leaving them. Jesus told them that in order to fulfill his purpose, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.” Luke’s account of this day in the life of Jesus presents the divine physician, capable of healing any illness and various diseases.
God, help me understand that, as in so many other accounts of Jesus healing people, it takes effort on the part of the people being healed to show themselves to him. Just as doctors diagnose and heal the sick when they present the illness to them, Jesus sees and heals those who come to him for the sake of being healed. In the account of Simon’s mother-in-law, who was sick with a severe fever, Luke says that they interceded with Jesus about her. Intercessory prayer, then, is also a means of bringing others to Jesus for healing. And how does he heal? Jesus, the Son of God, creator of the universe, heals them by laying his hands on them.
The people who knew of Jesus went looking for him, bringing to him all who were sick, so much so that they tried to prevent him from leaving. The crowds found him, and he laid hands on each of them. What a gift we have, then, in the Eucharist, where Jesus is truly present! There, we encounter him face to face and body and soul—not as if he were present but present in flesh and blood. How could I doubt for a minute that the same Jesus Christ who cured the sick with the touch of his hands lives in me through the sacraments and the Eucharist? Divine physician, here I am; heal me of every illness and let me desire to be healed.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.