In order to acquire tranquility in action it is necessary to carefully consider what we are capable of accomplishing and never to undertake more than that. It is self-love, ever more anxious to do much rather than to do well and this self-love that wishes to undertake everything and accomplishes nothing!
~~St. Francis DeSales
In order to acquire tranquility in action it is necessary to carefully consider what we are capable of accomplishing and never to undertake more than that. It is self-love, ever more anxious to do much rather than to do well and this self-love that wishes to undertake everything and accomplishes nothing!
~~St. Francis DeSales
June 25, 2021
Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 375
Reading 1 Gn 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him
and said: “I am God the Almighty.
Walk in my presence and be blameless.”
God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you
that you must keep:
every male among you shall be circumcised.”
God further said to Abraham:
“As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai;
her name shall be Sarah.
I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her.
Him also will I bless; he shall give rise to nations,
and rulers of peoples shall issue from him.”
Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself,
“Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?
Or can Sarah give birth at ninety?”
Then Abraham said to God,
“Let but Ishmael live on by your favor!”
God replied: “Nevertheless, your wife Sarah is to bear you a son,
and you shall call him Isaac.
I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him.
I will make him fertile and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve chieftains,
and I will make of him a great nation.
But my covenant I will maintain with Isaac,
whom Sarah shall bear to you by this time next year.”
When he had finished speaking with him, God departed from Abraham.
Responsorial Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (4) See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
Alleluia Mt 8:17
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mt 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
*****************************************
When Love Hurts: Healing the Lepers of Today
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus shows his compassion for a leper by healing him with a touch of his hand. Who are the lepers of today? In biblical times, lepers were outcasts, forced to spend the rest of their years in leper colonies because healthy people might catch the disease. Touch was forbidden.
How important touch is! Abandoned babies in institutions die from lack of touch. Marriages wither from lack of hugging. Children grow up with poor self esteem from lack of physical nurturing. Jesus knew how important touch is. He not only healed the leper's skin, he also healed his spirit by giving him what he needed most -- human touch.
Who are the lepers in your life, i.e., the people who need your healing touch but who repulse you? I propose that they are the addicts you know. It can be any kind of addiction, including the most subtle. The primary symptom is that they are difficult to love because they never try hard enough to change. They repeatedly give us more grief than anyone else.
What do addicts/lepers need most? The healing touch of love, which is the gift of mercy for those who don't deserve it. Jesus loves them unconditionally, and he wants us to do the same. The reason that most addicts are addicts is because they never received enough love as children and they still don't know what love really is. They cannot give to us what they do not have.
However, Jesus is no longer here with a physical hand unless he touches the lepers through us. He needs us to reach out for him. They need us to be his healing hand, but this is a very difficult ministry. We prefer to limit our love to those who love us back. And yet, what they need most is our unconditional love -- or more accurately, Jesus' love coming to them through us.
To fulfill this mission, we have to be willing to forgive them over and over and over again. They don't know how to receive our love. They don't even know how to recognize it. So we have to persist and forgive and persist and forgive until finally -- finally! -- our love breaks through and the cleansing begins. And when they slip back into their old leprosy, we forgive them again. Our persistence in love, when combined with persistence in pointing them to other helping hands of Jesus, such as doctors and therapists, will eventually bring them all the way to the full cleansing that Jesus wants to give (although sometimes it doesn't happen until the moment of their death).
Remember, you do an important ministry with Jesus when you serve as his healing hand. And it's one of the most difficult ministries on earth. If we really want to be good Christians, we have to say yes to this calling. But we can succeed only if we continually turn to Jesus for strength, healing, and guidance.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, you know the roots of what makes it difficult for me to love and be loved. Pronounce your Word upon me, and I'll be healed. Then I'll be a witness and instrument to heal with your love those who need it more. Amen.
------------------------------
God Bless You.....
No comments:
Post a Comment