By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the noon Mass Oct. 27 at Boston College.
In today's Gospel, Jesus heals an elderly woman. And Luke, who is also reputed to have been a physician, describes the woman's illness with some detail. She had suffered for 18 years; her body was bent over, and she moved with difficulty.
We can imagine that before her cure she wasn't able to look at Jesus—she probably could only see the floor, and if she saw him it had to be with some difficulty. We don't know her name; but she was not a "nobody"—at least, not in the eyes of Jesus, for he called her with great respect and esteem "a daughter of Abraham." Jesus calls her to come to him—and we can imagine her shuffling across the floor with some difficulty, but he touches her and frees her from the burden of her illness.
The stories of Jesus' healing miracles are not fairy tales—Jesus really cured real people. The miracles we read about in the Gospel actually happened to real sick, blind, paralyzed and bent-over people—but they also are parables for a people and a society that are spiritually blind, spiritually sick, and spiritually bent over. We can see this in the reaction of the synagogue leader to Jesus' healing of the sick woman: his reaction shows how "bent over" his attitude was. The elderly woman was physically crippled but the synagogue leader was spiritually crippled—so much that his understanding of his duties to God and neighbor ended up more than a bit distorted.
We may not witness many miracles of physical healings. But they do happen—and the Church often certifies that they did indeed happen. Such certifications are usually required for a cause for sainthood to be advanced. But, more frequent today—and ultimately more significant (when viewed from the lens of eternity)—are the spiritual healings that take place. For example, people who had been bent over by hatred are spiritually healed by Christ and thus can and do forgive.
And I hope you, as you walk with Jesus on your life's journey, you witness such healings often—and that you experience them yourselves. That's why for many of us, singing "Amazing Grace" is in many ways “autobiographical.” “Once I was blind but now I see; I was lost but now am found...”
Abraham is our father in faith; this daughter of Abraham had faith in Jesus and this faith was not disappointed. Jesus heals on the Sabbath—because God does not rest from showing his mercy and love. In healing this woman, Jesus wants to show how God can heal us, he wants to show us how the Word of God can change us. As Jesus encountered this woman, he wishes to encounter us—and he does so today in Word and Sacrament.
As we always pray at Communion time: "Lord, say but the word and my soul shall be healed.”
