Jesus: God Who Heals

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓, 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟏:𝟏-𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟐:𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟏 “𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟒:𝟑𝟖-𝟒𝟒

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔…” (𝒗.43) 

         There was a movie I once saw and one of the lines struck me and it goes like this: “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶.” This is what also happens with us. The love of Jesus for us which is so great that He gave his life to ransom us should now control us which means that this love should move us to also do what Jesus did for us and that is to help the sick, the beggar on the streets, the homeless, out-of-school youths and, the spiritually impoverished.

         Today’s Gospel narrative is so pregnant with meaning that it shows us three characteristics of Jesus that are learning curves for us to emulate.

         Here we see Jesus giving evidence of his being the Messiah when he healed Peter’s mother-in-law whose health was restored that she immediately moved about to serve Jesus and his disciples and, towards the setting of the sun as the day of the Sabbath ends, Jesus healed everyone by laying hands on each of those who came with various forms of illnesses and sickness.

         Not only do we see Jesus demonstrating with conclusive proof his divine power as he healed all forms (𝐯.𝟒𝟎) of sickness and diseases but it also brought to light His compassion for those who are in need. This should provide us with a clear image of our roles as disciples in terms of how we relate to those who are not as fortunate or blessed as we are.

         Like Jesus, are we open to helping those in need even if we are being inconvenienced especially when these circumstances come at a time when we are on our way to work, to a vacation, to attend a party or on our way to the mall. Or do we forego these opportunities to be a Christian by withholding our help to those who come to us.

         At the house of Peter, Jesus demonstrated his heart that is predisposed to serving others as Jesus did not have a chance to even grasp a deep breath as he went on to heal Peter’s mother-in-law and countless others who came after news of his healing power spread throughout the region like wildfire.

         This only shows us that as disciples we no longer own our time. That if we are to follow Jesus we are to deny ourselves (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑), we are to deny certain pleasures to come to the aid of others. We are to deny ourselves the luxuries that we enjoy in favor of the need of others. In other words, we all must have the heart of Jesus that is bent towards serving others.

         The second reality in this Gospel shows that at the sound of his voice and command the demons came out of the people who were at the house of Peter. As it was customary in those days to equate certain forms of illness to being possessed by evil spirits, Jesus healed everyone by laying hands on each one of them.

         He didn’t have to but to be touched by someone in authority is a privilege and an honor and again, it shows the compassion of Jesus for he didn’t categorize the class of people who came to him to be healed as Jesus healed them all.

         What we now need to ask is what are the demons in our lives. Could these be our vanities, judgments, criticality, prejudices, arrogance and pride, self-exaltation, wealth? Do our priorities stand in the way of our relationship with God?

         As we stand face-to-face with Jesus at the Eucharistic Celebration and at our Prayer Meetings, these demons must come out for us to be healed. As Christians, Jesus must take the place of the demons in our lives. This is the abundant life (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎) that he promised us.

         At the end of the Gospel, it tells us that Jesus probably just had enough time to rest as he went out at daybreak to pray. This should be the same for us because evangelization which is our primary duty as Christians doesn’t start with programs or projects but with prayer.

          For many of us, life continues to be a blur because we don’t spend enough time in prayer which is not only our link to God, but prayer brings clarity and purpose to the busyness of our lives and the confusion in our world. Often, we prioritize ministry work ahead of prayer, but Jesus shows us that communion with God through prayer must precede everything else.

         And finally, Jesus stopped those who were looking for him by telling them: “𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔…𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕.” (𝒗.43) This resolve came after Jesus prayed and it gives credence to what he said in 𝑱𝒏 5:19 “𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇; 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔." And He went on to preach throughout Judea because this was the reason why he was sent.

         This is also the reason why we have to give up the demons in our lives and allow Jesus to enter and take his seat in our hearts because if we are to become the Good News we have to have the humility to allow the Holy Spirit to move in us, take control of our lives and change us. If not, we become bad news and we can’t preach that.

         To be the disciples of Jesus that we hope to be, we must grasp the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer: “𝐓𝐡𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.” Unless we can do this, we will never be able to enjoy the freedom from slavery to sin and selfishness.

         The 𝐂𝐂𝐂 primarily states in 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝟐𝟖𝟏𝟖: “𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫, "𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞" 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 "𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞[𝐬] 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞."         

          We, in fact, can experience the joy of living in the Kingdom of God by allowing the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts and we can begin by allotting time for prayer, ministering to our marginalized brethren and, denying ourselves, take up His cross and follow Him (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟓) and be the Good News to others. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 3, 2025)