Monday, February 11, 2019

Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes

(Genesis 1:1-19; Mark 6:53-56)

Every year eight million people visit the town of Lourdes in southern France.  Most go to be healed of some malady or to pray for another who is sick.  The water from the spring at the site of Our Lady’s appearance to St. Bernadette has shown to be especially curative.  Pilgrims drink the water and fill bottles with it to be taken home.  Many take baths in the pools.  They are immersed a few seconds and emerge healed either spiritually or physically.  The custom can be compared with one noted in today’s gospel.

The reading tells how the sick beg Jesus to touch one of his tassels.  The practice sounds superstitious but actually expresses great faith.  Jews are required by the Law to wear tassels.  Jesus, known as a holy man, keeps that precept and the whole Law in both spirit and letter.  By touching one of his tassels, a person manifests her own acceptance of God’s will.  This in turn puts the person in God’s favor.  If she is sick, she can expect some kind of healing.

Tassels serve Jews in a way not at all unlike how the sacraments serve us.  They put us in touch with the Holy One whose power created the universe.  Submitting our will to His, we too will be healed of our ailments.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Memorial of Saint Paul Mike and Companions, martyrs

(Genesis 1:1-19; Mark 6:53-56)

The recent motion picture Silence infuses some drama into today’s commemoration of saints.  The movie shows lay Japanese Christians giving their lives as martyrs of Christ.  Meanwhile European missionaries agonize over whether they should collude with the executioners to stop the torture.  Those who died for Christ are the real heroes of the story.  They are virtually the same as Paul Miki and Companions.

Today’s gospel indicates why people sacrifice their very lives for Christ.  It shows him tirelessly blessing and healing the sick who come to him.  Especially Mark’s gospel relates Jesus as God’s emissary capable of curing the most traumatic of diseases.

We are all sick in one way or another.  Some of us deal with serious ailments.  They turn to Jesus for spiritual support as well as physical healing.  They need him to trust in God’s Providence, to follow their doctors’ prescriptions, and to mend broken relations.  Others among us are in more dire need although they do not suffer acute physical distress.  They are sick with self-absorption.  They and the rest of us should look to Jesus as a model of living – humble, helpful, and thankful.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Memorial of Saint Scholastica, virgin

(I Kings 8:1-7.9-13; Mark 6:53-56)

One noted literary critic considered Wallace Stevens the best American poet of his generation.  But Stevens hardly appeared to be a poet to most of the people in his daily life.  He lived in Hartford, Connecticut, where, like many, Stevens worked for an insurance company.  Even after being awarded a Pulitzer Prize and offered a faculty position at Harvard University, Stevens chose to remain in Hartford as an insurance executive.  As much as Stevens wanted to hide the identity that has made him famous, he appears like Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.

In today’s passage people come to Jesus looking to be cured of their illnesses.  The text indicates that none were disappointed.  But, of course, Jesus’ benefit only begins with physical healing.  He comes to save them from the folly of sin.  He not only teaches them by thought and deed, but in confronting and defeating the triumvirate of sin – Jewish pride, Roman cruelty, his follower’s cowardice – Jesus has won for those who believe in him freedom from the effects of sin.

We too often look to Jesus to help us in our need.  We ask him to cure our illnesses and to assist us in the turmoil of life.  Like a true friend, he helps us in these situations.  But even when we cannot feel his hand on our shoulder guiding us, we know that he is there taking us beyond the limitations of our sin into the realm of his eternal love.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes

(Genesis 1:1-19; Mark 6:53-56)

A young man was dying of cancer. When the medical system seemed unable to save him, his mother took him to Lourdes. There they experienced a miracle of sorts. The man died not long afterward their return, but witnessing the faith of so many pilgrims took away both the mother’s and the son’s fear of death. In the gospel Jesus himself provides a similar source of relief.

Jesus does not have to touch those who came to him for healing, let alone pray over them. The text quite clearly says that the people only had to touch “the tassel on his cloak” to be cured. Obviously, the evangelist wants to express the power of Jesus over the forces of destruction.

Today, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, is also World Day of the Sick. The sick are invited to both pray to Jesus for physical and spiritual support and to suffer with Jesus for the salvation of others. We might think of our relationship to the sick as having a similar dual character. As Jesus healed their infirmities, we visit the sick in solidarity. And as Jesus was tortured and crucified, we see in the sick his image and offer to them whatever help we can give.