The Gift of Faith, Hope and Love

“…[B]ecause of the hope reserved for you” is the reason St. Paul ascribes to the Colossians’ faith in Jesus and their “love for the holy ones” ((Colossians 1: 1-8).  This is the same hope and faith in Christ Jesus that motivated Simon and his companions, in today’s Gospel, Lk 4: 38-44, to ask Jesus to intercede for Simon’s mother-in-law, who was afflicted with a severe fever. Jesus “stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.”  It was faith, hope, and love in the hearts of people who, that day at sunset, came to Peter’s house bringing “people sick with various diseases.” Jesus “laid hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.”  Jesus worked all night, healing the people who were brought to him. “At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.”

Like the people in today’s Gospel, we, too, need to present our “diseases” and “demons” to Jesus. As He  walked the earth in Palestine, Galilee, Capernaum and other mid-East cities, towns, and villages, healing all who came to Him, so, too, today does He walk among us, healing us and casting out our demons, working in the darkness of our lives.  You may object, saying “I’ve begged Jesus to heal my mother, mother-in-law, son, daughter, my wife/husband, my friend and nothing’s happened!  He doesn’t pay any attention to me.”  It may seem that way. However, Jesus sees the whole picture—He sees what healing really needs to occur and which needs to be withheld for a deepening of our faith, hope and love to which  our physical seeing may be blind. And when we are left in the darkness of our “nights,” God is always at our side.  Darkness is not dark to Him, so He will lead us by the hand and secure our wobbly, doubting steps.

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mk 9:24).

Jesus: our Mediator before the Throne of God

Yesterday, we reflected briefly on Paul’s reminder in Heb. 10: 32-39, that we endure “a great contest of suffering” as we journey through life.  The sufferings we endure could be because of our own mistakes or the mistakes of others, our own selfishness or the selfishness of others, our own sins or the sins of others.  Suffering enters our lives also because of perceived pain or misinterpretations of the behaviors of others.  Or, we could become victims of natural disasters or accidents we cause or are caused by others. There are repeated “Newtowns” and Aurora theater massacres, Columbines and Synagogue attacks, and other violent incidents that inflict severe pain upon people throughout the world. There are wars being raged in faraway countries in which we are involved or in our own country, our own cities and towns, our own homes. 

 

In today’s second reading, Heb. 2: 14-18, Paul reminds us that Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, “had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.  Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”   Jesus knows. Jesus cares. Jesus intercedes for us as we journey through this vale of tears to the Promised Land of eternal life where there will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more violence, no more sin.  And when I am the victim or perpetrator of any of these, I can count on Jesus’ intercession for me before the throne of God. I can know Jesus’ power to make right the wrongs I have inflicted or that have been inflicted upon me. As the psalmist tells me in today’s responsorial psalm,  Psalm 24, “the Lord is mighty in battle.” And He fights for me and for you so that we will know redemption, our own and that of others.

Revealing the Compassion of God

In today's Gospel, Luke 7: 1-10, we are given the story of the Roman centurion whose slave is seriously ill. He sends elders to ask Jesus to heal him, reminding Jesus that this dying man is deserving of divine intervention. He also tells Jesus that he is "not worthy that Jesus enter under his roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed."  The centurion shares his own experience with Jesus as a man with authority: I say "Come," "Do this," "Go," and my servants listen.  In effect, he is saying: Jesus, you have authority. Whatever you say will be done. As Master of the Universe, You do not need to be physically present to heal my servant. "Only say the  word..."

What faith! And the centurion is not even a Jew! Jesus is amazed and he tells the crowd: "...not even in Israel have I found such faith!"

Who am I in this story:  the slave who is seriously ill, the centurion asking for Jesus' intervention, the elders who bring the centurion's message to Jesus, those in whom Jesus finds no faith or a dwindling, smoldering, flickering faith with little or no life left in it?