In the synoptic Gospels, we find: lepers, fevers, blindness, hemorrhages, paralytics, deaf, mute, crippled, and even the dead. Above all we find the sinner. It is to these people that Christ has come. In Luke 5:31, Jesus says: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” Here he is connecting our physical weaknesses to our moral corruption. It is not to say that one is the cause of the other, but rather to point out that the REAL BROKENESS IS SIN. All other healings are a means, a way of expressing and accomplishing my salvation. To use a well-known Pauline metaphor: healing’s purpose is to replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh – burning with love and gratitude toward the Savior
With this in mind I have come to recognize that the maladies in the Gospels are two-fold: a true physical weakness and a sign of moral corruption. This leads me to ask myself: Have I been deaf to the words of Christ? Or closed my eyes to His presence? Have I allowed an old injury or chastisement to drain my energy, my “life blood,” from my daily living? Have I sealed my lips against a difficult crowd, when I should have been open to proclaim the Word? Have I gone slowly through moments of life, when in fact I should have run? Have I waited, and waited, not moving at all, sedentary in my misery? Have I allowed grace to completely drain from my soul?
The first step to being healed of any malady, including sin, is to recognize that we are imperfect. We are intended for wholeness, and holiness. We are good and beautiful, magnificent creations with a supernatural purpose. But like a priceless painting that was vandalized, we need to be RESTORED and CORRECTED before we can properly glorify the Divine Painter. This restoration happened once and for all in the Paschal Mystery, but we are still left to progress in holiness in this life.
The people in the Gospel knew this reality. They are presented with both relatively small deformities, and others already lifeless. They did not deny that they had a problem. Perhaps there were thousands more that Jesus’ could have healed, but they refused to recognize that they needed healing. Wasn’t this the problem of the Pharisees? Sadducees? Herod? Pontius Pilate? And who knows how many others….
Let us acknowledge and come to grips with the reality that in every moment the Sacred Scripture is talking to us, as a community, and as an individual. Every healing has a message for us, and that message begins with the need to recognize our broken spirits. This is not an attempt to deny the truth that Christ heals the body, but rather an attempt to strengthen the conviction that
He ALWAYS heals the soul!
Burning Hearts 