Tag: healing

“To preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” | Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

“The Apostles” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/48247330176 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:13-19)

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Mark names two reasons Jesus commissioned apostles: to preach and to drive out demons. The reasons seem, at first, to be limited. Of all things an apostle commissioned by Christ might do, Mark mentions only these two. Yet, countless times in the Gospel, the evangelists say that Jesus went throughout the region, preaching and driving out demons. With a word, himself the living Word, Jesus cast out unclean spirits. So in commissioning them to preach and drive out demons, Jesus gives unlimited authority to the Twelve to teach and heal as he taught and healed. The teaching and healing authority of Christ lives today in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church—Mother and Teacher—in apostolic succession, in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and in the sacraments.

God, help me trust in the living succession of faith that Jesus Christ your Son established in commissioning the Twelve. They were the first to sit at the feet of Christ and hear and take in the Word. It’s miraculous that the deposit of faith has been transmitted unbroken from generation to generation. Give me the grace, Lord, to be humble and grateful in receiving your Word as it has been passed down from age to age. What is the truth about Jesus and the foundation of the Church? Glory to you, Lord, this is not shrouded in mystery and lost to the ages; truth is a person, present in the Mystical Body of Christ and boldly proclaimed in the Church.

From the Gospel acclamation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

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.

“Jesus withdrew . . .” | Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

The crowd following Jesus was so large—people from Jerusalem, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon—that he asked the disciples to have a boat ready for him so that, as Mark tells us, “they would not crush him.” Among the crowd were those possessed by unclean spirits, who made known loudly that Jesus was the Son of God. Today’s Gospel begins with the words “Jesus withdrew.” He withdrew so that he could be with his Father in prayer and receive strength from the Holy Spirit to continue his mission. Healing and teaching throughout the region, Jesus perfectly accomplished the will of his Father and his time of fulfillment had not yet come, so he warned the people from whom he drove out demons not to make his divine identity known.

Father in heaven, I want to run in so many directions at the start of each day. Give me the grace to remember to return to you as I can throughout the day, even in brief moments, to withdraw to you in singlemindedness, and remain free from all distress. Then let me know your love and the strength of the Holy Spirit. Help me be an instrument of that love and strength to cure what I can with compassion and be on guard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. Grasp me by the hand today and keep me in your care. “In God I trust,” the psalmist says, “I shall not fear.”

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

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.

“Follow me.” | Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

“The Call of St Matthew” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/29832494395 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:13-17)

Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

About the people who follow Jesus, Mark tells us: “many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples.” On seeing Levi, a tax collector commonly identified as the evangelist Matthew, Jesus invites him to come dine with him with the other disciples. Teaching those who accept his invitation—”Follow me.”—Jesus teaches and heals. Whether they respond, Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is a quiet, insistent invitation for all people to receive forgiveness and healing from the Divine Physician.

God, just as Samuel anointed Saul to lead and free the Israelites, you sent Jesus Christ your Son to liberate your people from the bondage of sin. “Follow me,” Jesus says. Let that invitation to conversion remain in my heart and mind when I know I need his help but especially when I fail to come to that realization. With a contrite heart, give me the grace to receive healing from the Divine Physician, whose mercy and forgiveness frees me to live in the light of his salvation. Grasp me by the hand, Lord; let me hear your call and know how to respond when I hear you say, “Follow me.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.” Saint Hilary of Poitiers, 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.

“We have never seen anything like this.” | Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:1-12)

Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”–he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

In Mark’s account of the paralytic being lowered through the roof, faith is central in understanding the actions of the friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus. Whether by the paralytic’s prompting or by the insistence of his friends, the man is brought before Jesus because of their faith. As Jesus heals the man, the necessity of faith is evident to all onlookers who come to see Jesus, including the scribes who accuse Jesus of blasphemy in saying to the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” As the man picks up his mat and goes home, the people are astounded and glorify God. In his words and actions, Jesus gives glory to his Father; in picking up his mat and walking home, the paralytic is living proof of Jesus’ authority, both to heal and to forgive sins. The people who witness this are amazed, and themselves begin to recognize that in returning home, Jesus demonstrates that he is not only the ordinary son of Joseph and Mary but one whose extraordinary power is from God alone.

God, help me witness you at work in the world today and give me an opportunity to be a witness to those whose lives I touch. I can see it play out so that neither of these happens. For this reason, I ask in faith for your divine assistance; where belief is lacking, help my unbelief. If only it were easy to draw comparisons between the paralytic and the rigidity of my own brokenness and hold that thought. But, Lord, I tend to forget you during the day, so I ask for your aid when even easy comparisons fail to come to mind. In Capernaum, so many came to hear Jesus your Son that there was no room for them. “And he preached the word to them,” Mark says. Help me to hear your word today, take it in, and give glory to you in witnessing to my faith.

From the responsorial psalm: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” Lord, visit me today; heal me and make me whole.

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.

“I do will it. Be made clean.” | Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:40-45)

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

Showing deep compassion for the leper, Jesus reaches out to touch him. By going where no one else goes, Jesus hears the plea of the leper, spoken in humility and absolute trust: “If you wish, you can make me clean.” By divine authority, Jesus cures the leper immediately, a miracle he warns the leper not to share with anyone. Instead, Jesus tells him to be obedient to Jewish law by showing himself to the priest and offering appropriate sacrifices. Not ready to reveal his messianic identity, Jesus goes off to deserted places. But “people kept coming to him from everywhere.”

God, help me follow the example of faith and humility the leper demonstrates. He trusted completely in your mercy and recognized your divine power to restore his physical well-being. In the first line of today’s Gospel, Mark tells us that the leper came to Jesus, kneeling down and begging him. To no person or power on earth should anyone beg as the leper begged. Only before you, Lord, as the magi did at your birth, should all people fall to their knees. This is why the leper is a superb witness to our faith. From Psalm 86: “All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” When I veer today toward ungodly self-reliance, give me the grace to call to mind the scene of the leper approaching your Son Jesus Christ. Be merciful and draw me back, close to you, every moment of this day.

From the responsorial psalm: “Why do you hide your face, forgetting our woe and our oppression? For our souls are bowed down to the dust, our bodies are pressed to the earth. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.”

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.

“For this purpose have I come.”| Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:29-39)

The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Jesus never stops healing and preaching to fulfill his mission, moving in an ever-widening circle. Starting with Peter’s mother-in-law, Jesus heals her of her fever. As the whole town gathers at the door in the evening, he then goes on to drive out demons and cure the sick. Rising well before dawn the next day, Jesus goes off to a deserted place to pray until Peter finds him, saying, “Everyone is looking for you.” Jesus responds by picking up and going “throughout the whole of Galilee.” The servant of servants, he tells Peter, the rock on which he builds his Church: “For this purpose have I come.” Love starts at home and spirals ever outward through God’s grace. As Saint Teresa of Calcutta said: “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do. It is to God Almighty—how much we do it does not matter, because He is infinite, but how much love we put in that action. How much we do to Him in the person that we are serving.”

God, just as Jesus grasped Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand and moments later she waited on her family, grasp me by the hand today to make clear your will. Samuel learns to respond to your repeated calls, finally saying, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” In hearing and responding to you, I move from contemplation to action. In describing the infinite love you give to your people, Saint Teresa repeats twice the phrase “how much love we put in the action.” It’s in that willingness to show extravagant love to those you put in our way that we grasp the love of the Almighty and to serve your Son in serving others. “For this purpose have I come,” Jesus tells Peter. Lord, as you did for Peter’s mother-in-law, do for me today: approach me, grasp my hand, help me up.

From the responsorial psalm: “Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, ‘Behold I come.’ Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”

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.

“I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” | Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:21-28)

In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.

Jesus demonstrates his divine authority in two ways in today’s Gospel passage: in word and action, or in preaching and in healing. In the synagogue as he preaches, a man with an unclean spirit cries out to him, recognizing his identity as true God and true man, the Holy One of God and Jesus of Nazareth. With a word, Jesus commands the unclean spirit to be quiet and come out of the man. The witnesses of the exorcism recognize, amazed, that Jesus, unlike the scribes, is “a new teaching with authority.” In preaching, he expresses the word of God as the Word incarnate; in healing, he liberates all from the oppression of sin and evil.

God, help me understand the scene from today’s Gospel as it relates to my life today. The source of all truth, Jesus teaches with authority and wisdom unlike any human teaching. The unclean spirit recognizes the divinity of your Son immediately unlike many people in Jesus’ time and even today. What the unclean spirit hated to cry out, aware of its imminent destruction, I say with wonder and faith that is easily shaken: “I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” My Lord and my God, strengthen my faith!

From the Gospel acclamation: “Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of 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.

“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” | Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (LK 1:26-38)

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

In today’s reading for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Luke tells us in concrete detail about the annunciation. At a specific time and place in history, through the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit, Mary would conceive and bear the Son of God, Emmanuel. At another specific time and place in history, Mary appeared to Juan Diego. She identified herself to him in relation to God, who transcends all times and all places: “I am the perfect and ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the God of truth through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near us, the Lord of heaven and earth.” God, who entered human history once long ago, never ceases to be present. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have an abundance of God’s gifts so that we are free to respond by living lives full of grace in the presence of the Lord.

God, just as Gabriel found Mary, you find me in the ordinariness of this specific time and place. Help me realize that you are active in my life, that you are with me, and that through your Son I have all I need to receive the fullness of your grace. I have in Mary the example of life lived in complete abandonment to your will; without the stain of original sin, Immaculate Mary experienced the unobstructed fullness of your grace. Help me see in Mary a model for eliminating the things in this life that prevent me from receiving all of the grace you desire to give me for the sake of your glory. Help me always be ready to say yes to you in recognizing your will.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.” Our Lady of Guadalupe, 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.

“Rise and walk.” | Monday of the Second Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 5:17-26)

Jesus knew the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he said to the one who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

As Jesus teaches, some men bring a man on a stretcher who is paralyzed. Because of the crowd, they are unable to bring the man before Jesus, so they go up to the roof and lower the stretcher through the roof. Seeing their faith, Jesus says, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” Knowing the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus poses a question: Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or rise and walk. As Jesus tells the man to rise, pick up his stretcher, and go home, he stands up immediately and went home, glorifying God. Seized with astonishment, they all glorify God, and struck with awe, say: “We have seen incredible things today.” In response to their faith, Jesus demonstrates that he has authority to forgive sins and by that same authority heal illnesses.

God, open my mind to the truth of your healing power. It is not limited either to spiritual or physical dimensions of the person but has at its source your divine authority as exercised by your Son. Let me see the relationship between sin and overall well-being, ready always to go to the sacraments to receive forgiveness, strength, and spiritual nourishment. Those who witnessed the healing of the paralyzed man were amazed and filled with awe, giving you glory. Help me recall the times in my life when I have witnessed in awe your divine authority as a merciful and saving God who comes to strengthen and restore us.

From the first reading: “They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!”

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.

“The Kingdom of God is among you.” | Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:20-25)

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that no one will be able to announce when the Kingdom of God comes and at the same time that “the Kingdom of God is among you.” He says to the disciples: “For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.” The coming of the kingdom is already here and is still to come; it is both. Because Jesus perfectly fulfilled the will of the Father in his passion, death, and resurrection, he is one with him in being beyond space and time.

Father in heaven, you are present now, always have been, and always will be—present eternally. You reign over heaven and earth now and in the Second Coming in the return of Christ. By allowing your kingdom to come in my words and actions, help me today prepare for eternal life. Jesus said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.” Give me the grace, Lord, to long for your Son in my desires and in choices I make. Help me see him today and, having prepared for his return, when he comes again.

From the Gospel acclamation: “I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord: whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” Your word is forever, 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.