Sunday, October 13, 2013

Jesus Heals


" On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was traveling through the region between Samaria and Gallilee. As He entered a village, ten lepers approached Him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying,
'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' When He saw them, He said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He lay at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God, except this foreigner?' Then, He said to him, ' Get up and go on your way; your faith has saved you.' " [ Luke 17: 11-19].

I grew up in a home with no Love and no Faith. I felt, even as a child, like an alien in a foreign land.

We stopped attending church after my grandmother died. It wounds the soul to be told as a child that it is necessary to go to church, and that there is a God; only to be told at age fourteen, that there IS no God. I would ask to go to church and was told, "We don't do that any more."

It wounds the soul to fear not being fed dinner. I remember at age five, realizing that, on certain nights, there would be no dinner, and that I would have to find food another way.

It wounds the soul to be told that Nana was Irish, only to be told, "We are English"; and, "The English are superior." 

It wounds the soul to ask often, as a child, for an expression of Love, only to be asked, "Why do you ask for this?"

A few years ago, when my father had died, and my best friend was dying way too young, and my mother was terminally ill, I finally had to face that I needed healing.

This hit with a vengeance, especially when my chronic lung disease came roaring back, at that time of so many deaths. Suddenly, I entered the medical world, of lung tests, breathing meters, doctors, inhalers,  medicines that tasted vile. And still, I could not breathe.

For the first time in a long time, my world was upside down. There were times that I did not know what day it was. So many things that I thought were "right", seemed suddenly, horribly wrong.

At this point in my life, when I had not received Communion in decades, I turned to a priest. I was not sure where this would lead. All I knew was that I was miserable.

The priest told me to meditate and pray. I kept "hearing", " Only say the word and I shall be healed." The priest told me that this was the call to the Eucharist.

But what needed healing? And what did the Eucharist have to do with it?

I was beginning to see that it was a lot more than my lungs that needed healing.  It was a lifetime, a world of hurt.

This is what happens in the story of Jesus and the lepers. All ten are healed by Jesus, physically. But you notice that nine " keep their distance".

Only one makes the effort to approach Jesus. And that one is a foreigner. He is an outsider. He appreciates more than anyone, the power of a healing gesture.

You know, there is healing. And then, there is Healing.

I usually hate asking for help. In my childhood, asking for help meant breaking my habit of staying below the radar. If you got noticed in my world, you got hurt.

When I turned to the priest for help, I knew that I needed to get closer to God. All of the things that I was battling, going back to the earliest times of my childhood, were too much for me to battle alone any longer. As the priest sat at his desk in his office, writing out a Scripture for me to reflect upon, I had this image that he was like a doctor, writing out an Rx.

Indeed, on EWTN, Father Andrew Apostoli has said, " Adversity prepares you to receive the Holy Spirit".

I began to see that there was a big hole in my heart. Soon, I began to ask God to help fill that hole.

In this parable, ten lepers were healed. But, only one leper was transformed both physically, and spiritually. This man ran to Jesus. He did not keep his distance. And Jesus said, "  Your faith has saved you!"

Being wounded, body and soul, is a terrible thing. But the need for Healing has brought me closer to Jesus. I did decide to choose a church and to convert. I did decide to follow Jesus. In a very emotional moment, I did receive the Eucharist again.

Every time I receive the Eucharist now, it is a transforming experience. I am overcome--physically and spiritually-- with feelings of God's grace, and with Healing from Jesus. I say, Thank you, for the blessings I have received.

 And I have been stronger ever since.

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2013. All Rights Reserved.

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