Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Saint Mark's Gospel, proclaimed in our churches in this Season, leads us to contemplate the marvellous work of Jesus the Redeemer who heals all sorts of illnesses, frees those possessed by the Devil, brings peace to minds and hearts with his words, and fills souls with rivers of love, with his saving presence.
Human life is studded with trials, including physical, moral and spiritual illness. Still today the Lord walks the roads of the world 'laying' hands to heal, proclaiming the Good News, freeing us from the Devil and interceding on our behalf that our prayers may be heard … Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He has no preferences, he needs no favours to offer us his help, we need only make an act of faith in his Omnipotence.
We should remember that besides healing physical ills, the Lord works other sorts of wonders for those who have recourse to Him; other means of divine intervention may not change a sad situation, but they render it more bearable and indeed even turn it into grace for those involved, leading them to unite their suffering that of Jesus on the Cross. He took upon himself our suffering in order to release it from grip of evil and immerse it in the ocean of God's Love. God's love transforms. If when we suffer, we offer ourselves with love to Jesus Christ, we find ourselves at the heart of universal salvation and taste the consoling experience of special communion with the Redeemer of the world for our own good and the good of the whole world, so that we can say with Paul: “ It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church” (Col 1, 24).
Jesus lives and acts in his Church, first of all through the Sacraments administered by priests, who, through priestly ordination, act “ in Persona Christi”. This sacramental work of Christ, through the Church, culminates in the Holy Eucharist. How many miracles, visible and invisible, happen at Holy Mass, at Benediction, during fervent prayer in front of the Tabernacle!
What a great mystery, that of the Church, in which all the baptised form one body, the Mystical Body of Christ, as St Paul says in his Letters: “ There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all.” (Eph 4, 4-6).
Jesus renders testimony to the Gospel, he works miracles where there is faith in Him, where hearts open to him, with humility and confidence. How many miracles are told in the Gospel of St Mark: “ Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored there. 54When they disembarked people at once recognised him, 55and started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went, to village or town or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were saved. ” (Mk 6, 53-56). “Everyone seeks Jesus” (Mk 1, 37) and he lets himself be found, today, as in the past. The Lord never forces people to come to Him. He is never insistent, intrusive, like we are, never takes offence like we do when we feel rejected or surrounded by indifference. The Lord is “ gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Ps 144, 8-9).
Those who seek Him, find Him and very often people seek Him without knowing it. He is easy to find. A “meeting” with Him may happen “by chance”, although it is never by chance because Divine Providence is always at work, or it may happen at the end of a long journey as it happened for the Three Wise Men.
In the light of faith as it matures with time, the believer looks back on the events of life, including sad times, and sees, more clearly than before, the unmistakable presence of Jesus. The heart sings with praise to God for the graces received, ever more numerous as we continue on our pilgrimage of faith. The more we believe, the more we love, the more we see God's working in our life:
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ” (Ps 103, 1-5). (Agenzia Fides 13/2/2009; righe 59, parole 889)
