Tag: healing

“He passed through the midst of them and went away.” | Monday of the Third Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 13:1-9, today’s readings)

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

The people in the synagogue filled with fury are from Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. He had just finished reading the scroll in the synagogue, proclaiming as the Messiah, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” At first incredulous and amazed, they say, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” But as Jesus tells them that no prophet is accepted in his own native place and that their stubbornness is like that of Naaman’s, God’s message will serve people other than Israelites. In the first reading, God healed Naaman, a gentile, of leprosy. Jesus teaches that unless one’s faith is like the faith of the servant girl in the first reading, receiving God’s mercy becomes all the more difficult as we try to grasp what God wants to freely give.

God, help me understand how it is that Jesus passed through the midst of his own townspeople who wanted to hurl him off the brow of a hill. Among the crowd were people who knew Jesus as a child, an adolescent, and as the son of Joseph and Mary. To be a bearer of your message, Lord, sometimes means facing incredulity among acquaintances, neighbors, friends, and even family members. The faith of the little girl in the first reading gives powerful witness to your mercy, when she says “if only” Naaman would present himself to Elisha the prophet to be cured. Jesus passes through the crowd because you have other places for him to go, to people whose soul is “athirst for the living God.”

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.

Tile Mosaic of Jesus, Mary and Joseph at Baptismal Fount and Altar

“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.” | Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 8:1-10, today’s readings)

His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.”

In this passage known as the Feeding of the Four Thousand, the words Jesus speaks are as profound as the miracle he performs. What was left over after the miracle also speaks of God’s abundant mercy—seven basketfuls of fragments. Aware of the physical needs of the crowd following him for three days, Jesus feels great compassion for them, and we hear him say, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.” His care for them extends beyond their physical presence with him: “If I send them away hungry to their homes,” Jesus says, “they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” The great distance they have come is an expression of their desire to be with the Lord, to stay with him. All-knowing and ever merciful, Jesus not only supplies them with food to satisfy hunger but with the fulfillment of our deepest longings.

God, help me trust that you look to the needs of your people at all times with compassion and mercy. What I tend to think I need during the day turns out to be not a need at all but more the fulfillment of requirements I set for myself. Jesus looks out over the crowd and sees what they need and immediately provides for them. Let me put myself in the sometimes uncomfortable disposition to receive your mercy and be fed by you.

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.

Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 7:31-37, today’s readings)

He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

The ears of the deaf man are opened because of the miracle Jesus performs but also because people bring the man to Jesus. Not in isolation, the man experiences the love of others who believe Jesus can restore his hearing and speech. In the first reading, the serpent finds and isolates Eve, effectively dividing her from the union she has with Adam and God and all of creation. In restoring the deaf man, Jesus doesn’t merely undo what the evil one did in the Garden of Eden; he restores the man to wholeness in a foretaste of the new creation, the beatific vision in the life of the world to come. Mark tells us that the man’s speech impediment was removed and that he spoke plainly. The plain speech that drives the evil one away is one word: Jesus.

God, let me see the peace that results from the work Jesus accomplished while on earth and the hope of eternal life in his passion, death, and resurrection. At creation, Lord, you said you found all that you had made very good. Jesus took the deaf man aside, away from others who loved and cared for him, in order to draw him into more intimate union with you. In opening his ears and lips, Jesus restores him to your plan for creation so that all may say of your glory, “He has done all things well.” Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son. Saints Cyril and Methodius, pray for us!

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.

“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” | Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 7:24-30, today’s readings)

The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

Wherever he goes, Jesus cannot escape notice, even among the Gentiles. People come to him from all sides, as the woman in today’s Gospel does for the sake of her daughter. In responding to the woman, Jesus refers to the claim of the Jews that they first receive his ministry as God’s chosen ones. But for the mother who sees the suffering of her daughter, that claim does nothing to hold her back. Jesus gives her the opportunity to demonstrate the depth of her faith expressed in desperate need. Similarly, in the first reading from Genesis, we see the dignity of Adam and Eve standing before God in complete reliance on him, both naked yet feeling no shame. Jesus invites us to come to him with the same dignity, in complete recognition of all he can do for us in his mercy as our Lord and creator.

God, just as the woman approached Jesus, aware of her otherness but in great need, I ask for the grace to do the same. In willing to do anything to restore her daughter’s health, the mother had heard of Jesus and simply fell at his feet on meeting him. Help me today put to work the exemplary persistent faith of the woman and her holy fear and reverence as she knelt before you. At creation, “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.” In humility and childlike trust, let me remember to come to you throughout the day, to come with persistence, and to plead that your will—which is love—be done for me and others. Blessed are those who fear the Lord!

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.

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

From the responsorial psalm: “O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple. As your name, O God, so also your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Of justice your right hand is full. O God, we ponder your mercy within your temple.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Mark describes in detail how Jesus sends out the Twelve to preach, heal the sick, and exorcise demons. He sends them out in pairs with specific instructions for what they are to take with them, which is practically nothing. This turns their reliance entirely to God and to the hospitality of the people they stay with. He says, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.” This line alone contains profound teaching not only for the apostles but for every one of us. To enter into a house and stay means to be at peace in the place you are and not to seek a constant upgrade or rely on another, greater source of security and shelter. To “stay until you leave from there” also means to glorify God in the authority he gives us by being present in mind, body, and spirit in order to carry out his work as disciples.

God, I can only imagine what Jesus would say to people of today as he sends them out to proclaim the Gospel. So much of what I have goes far beyond basic needs. Yet although material things have good, legitimate uses, they are useless if they prevent me from entering in and staying with you. Saint Paul says in the first reading that Moses, on hearing you—”a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them”—was terrified and trembling. How much good there is in putting things down that make noise but don’t speak. Give me the grace, Lord, to stay where I am today and be grateful for the hospitality I receive from others as I witness to your goodness and mercy. Saint Paul Miki and martyrs, pray for us!

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.

Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him, And his justice toward children’s children among those who keep his covenant. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

As Jesus return to his hometown of Nazareth, he receives mixed reactions from people who have known him and seen him grow up in the home of Mary and Joseph. Some of those people who knew him well regarded him with disbelief. What this suggests about faith is that that a lack of it can limit the recognition of and response to divine power at work in our lives. The rejection Jesus experiences in Nazareth is a reminder of our own understanding and discernment of the complexities of faith in light of what is familiar to us.

God, help me understand how thin the veil is that separates the reality of your presence from what I see with my eyes. Often, I go through the day attentive to what I perceive through my senses, yet you are no less real or no less present than the outdoors just beyond my dining room window. Give me the grace to grow in my faith that the same Jesus who lived among his neighbors, friends, and family is the risen Christ alive today at your right hand and truly present in the sacraments. Saint Agatha, pray for us!

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.

Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.

Mark tells us about two intertwined miracles performed by Jesus: the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage and the raising of Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to go to his young, dying daughter. As Jesus makes his way, a woman who has been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years approaches him with a condition that has worsened over time. Believing that if she can just touch Jesus’ clothes, she will be healed of her affliction, she touches his garment and is immediately healed and tells Jesus “the whole truth.” Jesus then goes to Jairus’s daughter and hears that she has already died. He continues anyway, and despite facing ridicule for saying she is only sleeping, Jesus takes the girl by the hand, tells her to arise, and she immediately rises to new life. Jesus heals in two ways: by responding to Jairus’s desperate plea and by restoring the woman through her quiet faith. In both miracles, faith is the key.

Father in heaven, let me remember to come to you today whether for long-held afflictions or for acute, urgent needs. The quiet faith of the woman and the distressed prayer of Jairus both reveal ways to call out to you for your grace and healing. Strengthen my faith, Lord, and let me trust that when I bring myself before you, you already know what I need and will provide.

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.

“All that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” | Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

Following the calming of a storm at sea, Jesus and the disciples arrive at the region of Gerasenes and encounter a man possessed by demons. Living among the tombs and restrained by chains and shackles he smashed, the demon-possessed man meets Jesus at the shore. Night and day, Mark tells us, the man cried out and bruised himself with stones. Recognizing Jesus by name, the demons identifying themselves as Legion, beg Jesus not to torment them. Granting their request, Jesus sends the demons into a nearby herd of pigs, which immediately rush down a steep bank into the sea. The man returns to his right mind, and the witnesses and nearby townspeople beg the man to leave, who first attempts to go with Jesus and then travels to the Decapolis to proclaim what Jesus has done for him. The people are amazed, and word of Jesus begins to spread. Sometimes life would have us living among tombs, possessed by inner demons. If Jesus drove out Legion, he can drive out any of those who name themselves or any who dwell in us in anonymity. “Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.”

God, stay beside me this moment and throughout the day as I meditate on the power of Jesus Christ your Son to name and cast out any evil within me. Thanks be to you, Lord, for the gifts of baptism and reconciliation and the true food and true drink of the Eucharist. Jesus commanded the possessed man to do one thing. Let me open my heart in gratitude to his command and find joy in it: “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” Help me remember your compassion, Lord, as I place my trust in you.

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.

“You are the Son of God.” | Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 3:7-12)

He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him.

People come from many regions to see Jesus and to receive his healing. So great is the crowd that he speaks to them from a boat so that the people don’t crush him. Mark tells us that his power is such that people seek only to touch him to be cured. Even the unclean spirits fall down before him, shouting in recognition of the truth, “You are the Son of God.” The command to them not to tell anyone is an expression of the “Messianic Secret,” which is that Jesus keeps hidden the fullness of his divinity as he does the will of the Father. Just as Jesus reveals his divinity according to the Father’s will, he invites us to do the same in freely choosing to share the Gospel in a way that gives glory to God.

Father in heaven, help me call to mind today’s Gospel as I have the opportunity in encountering others to be an instrument of your love and healing. I often forget to bring the Gospel into key events of the day or, for that matter, any event of the day. Jesus knew where he was. He knew that the need people had even to touch him was so great that they would crush him as they pressed upon him. When I engage with people today, help me remember to look at them and know exactly where I am and who I am—a means of your mercy, even if the only expression of it is a smile or gentle reassurance. Give me the grace to take myself less seriously and return to you again and again in childlike faith in your truth, in the person of truth, Jesus Christ your Son.

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.

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

From the Gospel acclamation: “Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 3:1-6)

He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent.

In the synagogue on the sabbath, the Pharisees watch Jesus closely in order to trap him. Without saying a word, the Pharisees speak from their heart, but the words of Jesus silence them, just as he commands unclean spirits to be silent. Mark tells us that Jesus looked around at the Pharisees with anger and was grieved at their hardness of heart. After the silence, Jesus says one more thing: “Stretch out your hand.” In the stillness that follows, Jesus restores the man’s withered hand. The Pharisees sought a way to take the life of Jesus, stretching out their hand to the Herodians and hearing a legion of voices tell them that by destroying the Prince of Peace, peace will be restored. In the midst of the day, will we take time in silence to seek healing from the Lord, to hear the voice of Jesus say, “Stretch out your hand”?

God, help me reflect on these words of Jesus on this day of prayer for the legal protection of unborn children. Just as he spoke in tenderness to the man with the withered hand, he speaks to everyone who calls on his name and seeks to be restored to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Stretch out your hand,” Jesus says, inviting us once again to be restored to the divine mercy of his Father—our Father—and the promise of eternal life as your children.

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.