Stretch Out Your "Withered" Hand

“Stretch out your hand.  He did and his hand was restored,”  we read in today's Gospel, Mark 3: 1-6. Is my hand withered, as was the hand of the man in today’s Gospel?  Is it withered in the sense of not reaching out to the poor and oppressed, to a neighbor in need, to a family/community member who needs my love? Is it withered for lack of use in doing the good that needs to be done? Is it withered as the result of not engaging in disciplines that promote my well-being physically, that is, do I fail to live a healthy lifestyle, finding excuses for not exercising, for unnecessary snacking and eating unhealthy foods? Is my “spiritual” hand withered as the result of not taking time for prayer each day, not reflecting upon the Scriptures, seeking God’s will and allowing God to challenge my behaviors and attitudes that are not in sync with His?  Has my spiritual well-being  been drained of “nutrients” by virtue of engaging in gossip, being dishonest, jealous, envious, unkind, impatient, proud, slothful, gluttonous for power, prestige, control? Am I withering spiritually because I am assuming a critical view of life rather than looking for solutions to that about which I am critical and about which I have an opportunity to improve?  Is my hand withering because of unhealthy relationships or apathy toward social realities that I have an opportunity to change for the better?

“Stretch out your hand” to the well-spring of grace and mercy. Be healed of that which causes any part of you to wither: your spiritual life, your intellectual life, your physical life, your social life, your emotional life. Today may you and I be graced to do one thing that improves our lives on all these levels!