God has visited His people: Healing in our midst!

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

This Sunday we hear of two distinct but related kinds of healing… in our First Reading and in the Gospel, paired as they normally are, we hear of physical healing… indeed we hear of two dead people being brought back to life! First, Elijah heals the widow of Zarephath’s son, and then Jesus heals the young man in Nain. Then, in the second reading, St. Paul tells the Galatians of his checkered past, and of God breaking into his life suddenly and unexpectedly:

For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles…

Paul was not physically ill, rather he labored in darkness of opposing God, of opposing the Gospel, until he encountered God’s Son on his famous journey to Damascus.

At first glance, it may seem to us that the physical healings are more remarkable… and indeed we see the people who witnessed those miracles responding immediately: the widow of Zarephath says to Elijah, “Now indeed I know that you are a man of God. The word of the LORD comes truly from your mouth.” Similarly, when Jesus raises the young man of Nain, the Gospel describes the witnesses, “Fear seized them all and they glorified God, exclaiming, ‘A great prophet has arisen in our midst,’ and ‘God has visited his people.’” And, nonetheless, however spectacular those physical healings were, we hear no more of the two men who were raised from the dead, and yet the whole world has heard of St. Paul! A spiritual conversion, a spiritual healing, is more difficult to measure, and perhaps at first glance less spectacular, but it also has enormous potential to impact the world.

Paul was healed of his blindness and his opposition to Jesus Christ by encountering Him face to face, and he clearly understood that this gift was given him to be shared, so that he could proclaim Christ Jesus and Him crucified.

God desires to do this same work in us, indeed He is doing it every day, every week. I think of my own journey, and the way that a powerful experience of confession when I was seventeen set me on the course towards hearing a call to the priesthood. I see that healing at work each time I hear confessions, and very often when I anoint the sick. I’m not sure I’ve seen a physical healing first hand, but I know a number of people healed physically by prayer, and I know countless people healed in their hearts and souls. Very likely some of you here have felt God touch your heart and soul with His healing grace… and I hope that as you remember that right now, I hope you also hear the invitation to share and to serve and to extend that healing love.

This past week I had the very joyful experience of driving down to Winona, MN to spend a day with our Totus Tuus missionaries. They have been in training this past week with 6 other teams from Wisconsin and Minnesota. These two young men, Luke and Andrew, and two young women, Jamie and Brigette, have committed themselves to serve 8 different communities around our diocese with the Totus Tuus summer program. It’s kind of like Vacation Bible School on steroids! Each week they’ll meet with the 7-12 graders in the evenings, and with the K-6 graders from 9 am to 3 pm. The younger kids will have confessions and Mass each day, along with games, and skits, and lots of solid teaching about the faith. Along with teaching and prayer, the older kids will get to hear each of our missionaries’ testimony, the way that God has touched their lives.

One of our missionaries, Jamie, only entered the Church a couple years ago. She was raised without any particular faith in Ishpeming, but the influence of her Catholic grandma as a small child bore fruit when her college roommate persistently invited her to Mass! Finally she gave in, and God has been beautifully at work in her life ever since! As I was down at training, I got to hear many of the missionaries give their testimony, both to inspire each other, and also to prepare for their summer sharing. Very many of them experienced God breaking into their brokenness and struggles through the witness of friends and family, and through the sacrament of Confession. The second evening I was in Winona, 4 other priests and I heard the Totus Tuus missionaries confessions for nearly two hours. God was continuing to break into our midst with healing and grace!

How has God healed you? 

How does He want to keep healing you? 

Have you asked for the healing you know you need? 

Have you asked God to show you where you may need healing that you’re not even aware of?

God has not stopped healing, He has not stopped bursting forth into our world with the grace and mercy we so desperately need. And when that grace touches us, God always invites us to share and serve out of that gift. In just moments we will receive the Lord Himself… just as He touched that Widow’s son and called him to arise; He will come to us on this altar. May we receive Him with open hearts, with joy, and with a deep longing for the healing we need.

+ A. M. D. G. +