Tag: healing

“Your faith has saved you.”| Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:11-19)

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed.

In today’s Gospel, Luke relates the account of Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers. Although healed immediately, only one of the ten returns to Jesus to thank him and give glory to God. Luke tells us that he glorifies God in a loud voice and falls at the feet of Jesus in thanksgiving. As foreigners, and considered by Jews to be impure because of their religious practices and beliefs, Samaritans were looked on as inferior. In recognizing the miracle Jesus performed, the Samaritan gives witness to the importance of recognizing that God’s healing and unifying presence manifested in Jesus’ act of love and mercy.

Father in heaven, help me see with the eyes of faith beyond the physical limitations of sight. The leper Jesus healed came back to him glorifying you in a loud voice, an expression of his complete faith in you. Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Give me the grace first to recognize your healing presence and also to be a witness to others in giving you thanks in your saving power.

From the responsorial psalm: “In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Christ, have mercy on 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaVQ82g2C4

“Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” | Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 14:1-6)

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.

After Jesus dismisses the man, he says: “‘Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?’ But they were unable to answer his question.” Luke tells us that Jesus dismisses the man after healing him and only then addresses the Pharisees. On his way and free of his illness, the man who suffered no longer suffers, but the Pharisees and scholars of the law are unable to answer, silenced in the hypocrisy they are bound by. The answer to the question Jesus asks them is in the affirmative. But they are unable to affirm what they know is true. Jesus heals the suffering man and invites the Pharisees to be healed in the truth of his mercy.

Father in heaven, help me understand today’s Gospel. In the darkness that sin casts over me, I am not far off from the scholars of the law and the Pharisees when I place strict observance over mercy or remain silent when I hear your voice. Help me live in your truth, in truth itself in the person of Jesus your Son. “I speak the truth in Christ,” Saint Paul writes. “I do not lie.” Let me do the same. Give me the grace of Christ’s healing presence in the Eucharist, and dismiss me today with a heart to love you and hands to serve you in knowing your truth and doing your will.

From the responsorial psalm: “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.”

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.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 15:21-28)

Jesus said to the Canaanite woman, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

The Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel is an example of faith and persistence through prayer and petition. This statement may appear harsh, referring to Gentiles as “dogs,” people who were considered outside the Jewish covenant. But despite initial rejection and apparently discouraging responses from Jesus and the disciples, the Canaanite woman perseveres, displaying unwavering trust in Jesus’ ability to help her. And Jesus commends her for it. From that hour, Matthew tells us, the woman’s daughter was healed. Jesus’ response to the woman demonstrates that salvation is not limited to a particular group or ethnicity but is universal. Salvation is for all people.

God, help me come to you with the same perseverance and trust as the Canaanite woman. By calling Jesus the Son of David, the woman acknowledged your Son’s lineage and was aware of the ideological and religious differences between them. But she persisted despite that for the sake of her daughter. For those times when I feel that there is a great gulf between us—when I have doubts or am skeptical of your ability to reach me or others—give me the grace to persist until you bridge the chasm between us. Help me see your activity in my life through prayer, through your word, in the sacraments, and in the Blessed Sacrament as your way of making yourself always available.

From the responsorial psalm: “May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!” Lord, let your face shine upon 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.

Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 12:24-26)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that unless a grain of wheat dies to produce fruit, it remains just a grain of wheat. Held on to for its own sake, life results in life lost; if it falls, though, it sprouts, takes root, and goes on to produce abundant fruit. Jesus then tells the disciples how this comes to be. In following and serving the Lord, the present life is lost in the love and service of his will. In that, the present life for its own sake is given up in love of the Father, who preserves us for eternal life.

God, you alone know what the words “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies” mean to me. Hearing that makes me reflect on the brevity of life and the sorrow of growing older, losing life bit by bit. Yet, you are the master of time and space; it is subject to your word. When Jesus says “whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life,” it is his body that is the grain of wheat, his dying that destroys death, and his rising that brings eternal life to all. Through participation in the Eucharist, the Mystical Body of Christ is life itself laid down and brought to eternal life through his resurrection. I die in this life to be brought into eternal life through taking the body and blood of your Son, the medicine of immortality.

From the responsorial psalm: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life, says the Lord.” Lord, let the light of your face shine upon me. Saint Lawrence, 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.

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 15: 21-28)

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”

The woman in today’s Gospel comes to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter. Matthew describes how Jesus says nothing to her on her first request. The disciples ask Jesus to send her away, but she persists in calling out to him. As a Canaanite, she is an outsider, not one of “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus says to her in reply: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” But the woman says to him, “Lord, help me.” And then Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was immediately healed. Jesus came to heal and heals still regardless of nationality or background. The woman’s faith is an example of trust in God’s mercy.

Lord, help me. Let the words of the Canaanite woman be my prayer today. Help me seek to make my will conform to yours. In trust and persistence, let me come to you for what I need with childlike faith. Help me see you, know you, and follow you, and let me be free from any fixed conceptions of you that would keep me from asking even for little things. You alone are God; you alone know what I need.

From the responsorial psalm: “Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.” Lord, hear my prayer today; in persisting, let me hear your voice.

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.

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

In today’s Gospel, people bring Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. With the words, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven,” Jesus cures him. The scribes believe Jesus is blaspheming by saying that his sins are forgiven. But Jesus, whose word make reality present, says to the scribes: “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk'”? Despite the skepticism and opposition Jesus faced from the religious leaders of the time, this reveals Jesus’ power to both heal and forgive as the Word incarnate.

God, thank you for calling me to you as Jesus called the paralytic to take heart and receive his forgiveness. Whether Jesus says “Rise and walk” or “Your sins are forgiven,” that same reality is made present in his words. Reconciled to you in trust, the paralytic was able to rise and go home. Thank you, Father of mercies, for the sacrament of reconciliation. Through it, the reality of your forgiveness is made present today in repentance and in the absolution of the priest who absolves sins by saying, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Lord, stay with me today as I recall 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.

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!”

Today’s Gospel follows immediately after the Transfiguration and takes place as Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John. A man brings his possessed son to Jesus’ disciples, but they are unable to heal him. Jesus arrives and asks the father how long the boy has been possessed. The father responds that the possession has been ongoing since childhood and pleads with Jesus to help if he can. Jesus replies, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith” to which the father responds with a request for help in his own faith, crying out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” Jesus then commands the unclean spirit to leave the boy, and after throwing the boy into convulsions, he is healed. The disciples ask Jesus why they were unable to heal the boy, and he tells them that this kind of demon can only be driven out by prayer.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel in light of my own experiences. Although I have not been a witness to such a dramatic possession or healing as Mark describes, I can think of areas of my life that only prayer to the Father can heal. There are moments in life when, like the boy’s father, I cry out, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” God, when I feel hopeless and dead to your Spirit and goodness, help me with my unbelief and take me by the hand to raise me up.

Lord, thank you for the gift of your presence. Stay with me today and keep me from all that might separate me from 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.

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