Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (2/8/2009)

Dear People of Holy Name,

The pace of Jesus’ public ministry picks up quickly. First he heals Simon’s mother-in-law, then the whole town is coming to him for healing. After taking time for prayer he moves on to the nearby villages so that he may preach there also. It is no wonder his name spread quickly. Who then or even today would not want someone with such healing powers to touch them?

What attracts people to Jesus is his power to heal, but Jesus’ message was about something much more than that. He came to reveal to us the presence of God among us and to call us to commune with that presence in our lives as he did when he took time to pray. It is then that we recognize Jesus as the Son of God, something the demons recognized first, but that Jesus wanted to reveal to all people.

Jesus’ self-revelation is not made fully to us until he dies on the cross and rises to new life. It is only then that we can know Christ as Lord more powerful than death. It becomes clear then that Jesus’ greatest gift to us is the resurrection. Jesus can do far more than heal in this life; he can raise us up to eternal life when we die.

While we may be drawn to Jesus for his power to heal and desire to be made whole by his touch, our true wholeness will come when we are one with him in heaven. It is our gift of faith that takes us there and brings true healing. The Lord will take us there either through healing our wounds in this life or through our wounds that may become the refiners fire of our souls.

This is hard to take, but when we look at Jesus who suffered to cast out all that keeps us from being spiritually whole, we may find that we grow through our suffering and not always by being delivered from our suffering. It is the gift of prayer and surrender to the will of God that can bring peace and consolation in our suffering, and lighten our cross and even bring joy as we journey home to the Lord.

Last Monday I met a woman with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease where one’s own immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing weakness to the point that some need to be on a respirator. Full recovery can take years, depending on the severity of the disease.

What I admired in the woman I met was her attitude. She was consciously looking for the good that would come out of her illness. Rather than being bitter she was looking to see where God might be leading her in her life. She felt it was time for a change and her illness was the beginning of that change, whatever it would be.

When Jesus heals in Mark’s gospel it is to bring people to the awareness of who he is: God’s presence among us. Knowing Jesus as the Lord of life and the shepherd that leads us to eternal life is God’s ultimate gift to us. So when we are ill, or others are ill, we pray for God’s will to be done and the grace to know his joy. Knowing that, it doesn’t mean we don’t reach out to touch Jesus’ cloak for healing, but we remember it is the gift of faith that makes the reaching possible and brings true healing to mind, body and soul.

Let us pray for healing in our world and in our lives. Let us pray also to live in the Lord in all things, that his peace may be ours whatever our challenges. And may we find the time as he did to go to a deserted place to pray so our hearts may be open to receive his grace that makes all things possible.

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo