Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 11th Mk. 1: 21-28 Alleluia Verse: “Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.”
Jesus commands an unclean spirit to come out of a man, and with a loud cry the bad spirit obeys! The people are astounded! They ask, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” Jesus came to heal us as well!
There are Two Parts for our Meditation today:
Part One: JESUS OUR HEALER by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Part Two: What particular VICE am I ready to be healed of this year???
PART ONE:
JESUS OUR HEALER by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
One of the principal activities that Jesus exercised in His Public Life was that of Healer! Jesus, the Healer, the Divine Physician of our lives came into a wounded, suffering, broken world.
RECOGNITION…
There is no way any one of us can be healed unless we first recognize that we are wounded and in dire need of healing. The Spanish have a saying: “No hay peor ciego que no que ver; no hay peor sordo, que aquel que no quiere oir.” Translation: “There is no worse blind man than the one who does not want to see; no worse deaf man than the one who does not want to hear.” Sad to say, many of us are willfully blind and deaf, and we fail to admit this reality!
JESUS HEALED THE WOUNDED WHO TRUSTED IN HIM…
Time and time again in the Gospels, we witness Jesus healing the sick, the diseased, and the wounded. However, there were conditions! They were especially two: recognition of their wounded state, accompanied with unlimited trust that Jesus the Divine Physician could heal them.
For our meditation, let’s look at a few examples. The Blind Bartimeus to whom Jesus gave sight to his eyes when he implored the Lord in humility and trust: “Lord I want to see!”
Then, there is the woman with the bleeding or hemorrhage. Her desire for healing and her faith in Jesus was so great that she believed if she could only touch the hem of His garment, she would be healed. Her healing was immediate corresponding to her faith.
The Centurion’s servant was healed due to one thing: the faith of the Centurion. This healing was spectacular. The faith of the Centurion was so great that he felt himself unworthy for Jesus to enter his home. However, if Jesus would only utter a word, a mere word, the Centurion trusted that his servant would indeed be healed. And so it happened! Jesus healed the servant from a distance by His word alone. Of course this healing depended on the limitless faith of the Centurion, who was not even a man of the Jewish faith.
There are so many examples of Jesus healing, but one more:
The paralytic carried on the mat. This case is interesting because the healing came about by team effort. Obviously the paralytic could not move by himself and thus had to be moved by his friends. We do not have the number, but maybe four. In any case, all five trusted that Jesus, the Divine Physician, could heal this paralytic. The house where Jesus was engaged in preaching was packed to the gills. Unable to enter through the front door, with incredible ingenuity, the friends decided to cut an opening through the roof (we can only imagine the reaction of the owner of the house!) and lower him through the roof towards Jesus. Rejoicing immensely at the creativity, persistence, and perseverance of these men, Jesus said the man’s sins were forgiven, and then Jesus healed him of his physical condition of paralysis. Once again, healing came about through faith, confidence, and in this case perseverance.
WHAT ABOUT US? DO WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE’RE WOUNDED?
Jesus earnestly desires to heal all of us, not in a crowd, but individually. However, this all depends on our willingness to admit that we are wounded, as well as having total confidence in Jesus the Healer, Jesus the Divine Physician.
SPIRITUAL WOUNDS
Among all of the wounds that we experience, spiritual or moral wounds are the most serious; these are the wounds that are present in the very depths of our soul.
The very origin of these wounds goes back to the first fall that we call Original Sin. Due to Original Sin all of us are wounded in mind, in soul, and even in body due to sicknesses. Only Jesus and Mary did not have this original wound. Jesus because He was God; He was the “Holy of holies”. Mary was preserved due to a unique privilege that we call The Immaculate Conception.
JESUS AWAITS US… TO HEAL US OF OUR MORAL WOUNDS, OUR MORAL SICKNESSES.
The arms of Jesus are open, we see this from the cross, to heal us of our moral wounds. The Father of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32) is waiting with his arms wide open to receive us home, irrespective of the many times we might have failed him. Saint Paul reminds us: “Where sin abounds, the mercy of God abounds all the more.”(Rom 5:20)
WHEN IS THE TIME?
Now is the time, the hour of salvation. The wounds of your soul can be healed as soon as you desire! This can happen today. God calls you now; better not put it off until tomorrow because, to be honest, tomorrow may not come. Who knows if we will have a tomorrow? That depends upon God’s providential will!
BUT HOW MAY WE BE HEALED?
Jesus heals in many ways. However, morally and spiritually Jesus heals through the Church which is His Mystical Body. To be more specific, Jesus heals through the Sacraments, and most specifically through the Sacrament of Confession, sometimes called Penance, other times called Reconciliation, in which we experience His Infinite Mercy, a mercy that cannot even be described by words.
Why not head off to the Church that is nearest to you and seek out that little booth that we call the Confessional. Seek out a priest and ask him if he can hear your confession. Even if you do not remember the Act of Contrition, even though you do not remember the protocol or exact method, still go and simply ask the priest to lead you through the process, and he will be more than willing to help you through it all. Then after you have finished confessing your sins, you will hear these words of Jesus speaking through the priest, the wonderful and all-consoling words of Absolution: “I absolve you of your sins; go in peace!”
In that moment, once again as in the Gospels, Jesus is healing, but it all depends upon your trust and faith that the Divine Physician can heal you. As Jesus healed more than 2000 years ago, He can still heal today if we place our trust, our faith, and our confidence in His might and His words.
PART TWO (Editor’s Note):
What particular VICE am I ready to be healed of this year??? The one vice that keeps reappearing! There comes a point in our life when we say “Basta”, that is, “Enough”!
What is our “Basta” or “Enough” vice to eliminate this year? The necessary steps are 1) Beg Jesus and Mother Mary for the grace, 2) Know and practice the opposite virtue with alacrity and conviction, 3) Whether mortal or venial sin, confess it as soon as possible if we fall, and 4) No matter how many times we fall, always get up and begin again!
“Even if I should fall a thousand times a day, a thousand times I will get up again and say Nunc Cœpi–Now I begin.” (Ven. Bruno Lanteri, Founder of Oblates of the Virgin Mary)
Tomorrow’s Meditation covers the Capital Sins and Opposite Virtues to help us discern what particular Vice we will beg for the grace to be free of by practicing the opposite Virtue in 2022!
Copyright 2022 Oblates of the Virgin Mary / St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA
