(First of all, I tested positive for COVID earlier this week, so I have been quarantined and not saying Mass publicly. I was suppose to have the 5:15 PM Vigil Mass on Saturday Evening, but since the second COVID test I took on Friday was still positive, they had to get coverage.
Second, this was "Deacon Preach" weekend, so I would not be preaching typically, even if I was healthy. However, Bishop O'Connell asked a group of priests to write a "model" homily for one weekend each month from last Corpus Christi until this year's Corpus Christi. The homilies are all on the Eucharist for the current Eucharistic Revival. I was one of the priests the Bishop asked, so last year I wrote the "model" homily for this weekend on the theme of the Eucharist and the Sacraments of Healing. Whether or not something on this topic was preach in the parishes throughout the Diocese I do not know, but below is the homily that I wrote.)
The 1950s was a time when Hollywood was more friendly to religious themes in movies; whether movies based on Scripture like “Sampson and Delilah” and the classic “The Ten Commandments,” or those set in the Biblical world like “Ben-Hur.” One of my favorites is “The Robe” starring Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, and Victor Mature.
Without giving away too many spoilers, the story centers on a Roman tribune named Marcellus who is given the mission to find the robe that Jesus wore on the way to the Cross, which is in possession of his runaway slave, Demetrius (who will be the star of a sequel, “Demetrius and the Gladiators”). In one series of scenes Marcellus, under the guise of a merchant, is in the village of Cana where he meets two interesting characters.
The first is Jonathan, the grandson of the local “bishop” of the Christians in the village. Jonathan was born lame, but during one of his visits, Jesus healed Jonathan’s leg so when we see him he is running with the other young boys of the village. Marcellus ends up giving Jonathan one of his donkeys in a effort to ingratiate himself to the villagers. The next day Marcellus sees Jonathan and another boy riding the donkey. Jonathan tells Marcellus that he has given the donkey to the other boy who is lame like he used to be. Marcellus is shocked by Jonathan’s generosity.
The other interesting character is Miriam, a beautiful young woman with a lovely singing voice. Miriam is paralyzed; unable to walk. When Marcellus meets her, she is so pleasant and friendly, however we learn that she was not always that way. When she was 12 years old she became sick, and the illness left her paralyzed. Her physical illness left her bitter and hateful, isolated from most of the people in Cana. One day there was a wedding feast in the village. Everyone was there except for Miriam. She was filled with envy, jealousy, and bitterness because no one would ever want to marry her, a cripple.
Of course, this was the famous wedding in Cana that Jesus attends and turns the water into wine. Before going to the wedding, however, Jesus goes to see Miriam. We do not know what happened during that encounter, but afterwards Miriam is changed. She is still paralyzed, but all her bitterness, envy and jealousy is gone. She is at peace and friendly, which leads to her becoming a beloved member of the village.
Marcellus asks her if this Jesus could heal, like he did for Jonathan, why didn’t he heal her. She tells him that she wondered about that too and came to realize that Jesus had healed her in her spirit while leaving her body paralyzed so that she could participate in his mission. It would have been natural for her to be happy, smiling and singing if Jesus had healed her paralysis, but now she witnessed that physical illness does not need to deprive a person of happiness in the Kingdom of God. As she says in the movie, “we have something better than power. We have hope.”
We have all experienced sickness in our lives. If we have been lucky, it has only been minor illnesses like a cold or the flu. Others of us have experienced more serious illnesses that may have required time in the hospital. Hopefully most of these illnesses have been temporary, but for some the effects are lasting.
Something else that all of us have experienced is sin. Sin is a type of spiritual illness. It is when we put our own desires before doing God’s will
.
Whether our illness is physical or spiritual, one effect is separation and isolation. We stay home and away from people because we don’t want them to catch our cold or the flu. If we are hospitalized, while family and friends might visit us, there is a lot of time separated from our loved ones. This can leave us feeling alone, maybe even frightened. Sin separates us not only from God, but from His mystical body, the Church.
Jesus came to heal all of us and bring us back into a proper relationship with God and one another. We see an example of this in today’s Gospel reading. Imagine being the man with the unclean spirit. While being in the synagogue, he was probably isolated from the rest of the community. We are not told how the unclean spirit manifested itself in the man, but people probably were afraid of getting too close to him.
Isolated, alone, and probably afraid himself, the possessed man suffered. Then Jesus heals him, setting him free from the unclean spirit, so that he would be welcomed and reconciled with the faith community there in the synagogue. We see this time and again in the Gospels, whether it is a physical illness such as paralysis, blindness or illness, or a spiritual illness like sin or possession by an evil spirit, Jesus heals the suffering person so that they might become part of the community again.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick” (CCC #1421).
The waters of Baptism cleanse us of all sin, both Original Sin and personal sin. Sadly, after Baptism we do not always stay in that state of grace. We sin. We put our will before God’s will. “Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time, it damages communion with the Church. For this reason, conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation” (CCC #1440).
While only God can forgive sin, He has chosen to work through the ministry of priests to offer forgiveness and reconciliation to the sinner who has expressed contrition for their sins. “‘The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.’ Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation ‘is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation’” (CCC #1468).
The sacrament also reconciles us with the Church, re-establishing fraternal communion.“By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed, she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ” (CCC #1499).
As we have mentioned, physical illness can leave us feeling isolated and frightened, but for the person who lives their illness in the presence of God, it can become an opportunity for deeper conversion. Our helplessness in face of illness can lead us to a greater dependence on God.
“The first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age” (CCC #1520). The sacrament also unites the sick person more closely to Jesus’ Passion on the Cross, so that they can draw strength from him. In doing so, the sick person contributes to the good of the People of God.
Both the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick are about re-uniting people who have become separated from God and the Church. The ultimate sign of this unity that Christ wants for all of us is the Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas highlights this link between the sacraments of healing and the Eucharist in his Prayer Before Communion. St. Thomas says that we come sick to “the Physician of Life” begging him to heal our weakness and to enlighten our blindness. St. Thomas also begs to be intimately united to Jesus’ mystical body through the worthy reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
I encourage all of us to reflect on how sickness — whether physical or spiritual — has impacted or continues to impact our own lives. Have we allowed it to leave us isolated and afraid, or have we surrendered our sickness to Christ the Divine Physician so as to be united with him and his Church? If we still need healing we should seek out the remedies Christ offers through the Church: the Sacrament of Penance for the spiritual illness of sin, and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for physical illness. Then take time to pray and reflect on St. Thomas’ Prayer Before Communion (many missalettes have it in the back):
Almighty and Eternal God, behold I come to the sacrament of Your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As one sick I come to the Physician of life; unclean, to the Fountain of mercy; blind to the Light of eternal splendor; poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, I beg of You, through Your infinite mercy and generosity, heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I thus receive the Bread of Angels, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, with such reverence and humility, contrition and devotion, purity and faith, purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul’s salvation.
Grant, I beg of You, that I may receive not only the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, but also its full grace and power. Give me the grace, most merciful God, to receive the Body of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, in such a manner that I may deserve to be intimately united with His mystical Body and to be numbered among His members. Most loving Father, grant that I may behold for all eternity face to face Your beloved Son, whom now, on my pilgrimage, I am about to receive under the sacramental veil, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment