1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Psalm 33:12-15, 20-21
Luke 4:38-44
We are told that “at sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.” They had seen him at the synagogue the night before. They had watched him cast a demon out of a man with nothing more than the authority of his words. Then they went home, and Jesus healed another woman on the Sabbath, and perhaps everyone heard about this too. The people waited until the next evening, but, as soon as they could, they brought all the sick people to him.
Imagine the struggle and the joy of going home to a sick son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother, knowing that the man at the synagogue could cure them, but still waiting a whole day until the Sabbath was over. During that time of waiting, they clung to hope. They hoped that the man would not leave town. They hoped that he would heal their relative. They went to bed that night full of hope, and it did not disappoint. There is a hope waiting for us in heaven. We cling to this hope while we wait here on earth for our own personal healing.
Surely most of the people had doubts while they waited. Had they really seen what they thought they saw or was it some kind of trick? Would the man be willing to heal their loved one? Their hope lived on the promise of the two who had already been healed. So it is for us. If we begin to doubt the power of God to heal our souls, we should look and see some of the people who have already been healed.
The existence of these people, the Saints, strengthens our hope. Another soul has been healed; perhaps my soul too can be healed. We need to see Saints, to see the healing God has effected in their lives, so that we can continue to believe in the healing that we hope to receive. We need to see Saints in books and stories and in our elders, who may not be perfect in the way of St. Francis or St. Therese but many of them have experienced a remarkable healing of their soul. While we are waiting here anxiously, wondering, doubting, hoping, these glimpses confirm the possibility of being healed.
Daily Homilies
