The WORD in Other Words by Fr Jun Javines SVD (Philippines) for Saturday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
There is seemingly an established pattern in the healing ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. In most cases, the person requesting and even begging for help from the Lord approaches Him either as a gesture of faith or as an act of desperation.
Through these encounters, Jesus significantly gauges the level of faith of the person begging, invoking and praying and from there He proceeds to perform the healing. This is what I call, the encounter between the human and the divine.
Being a God, Jesus knows if this person representing a family in dire need for healing is a person of faith. The Gospel today portrays a concrete manifestation of that pattern. Thus when the healing is complete, Jesus dismisses the person by saying, “Go, your faith has made you well….” Or better yet – Go, because of your faith your family member is well.
Truly, we respond to the priest’s prayer: This is our Lord Jesus Christ, He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, blessed are we who are called to the supper of the Lamb – Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed….
Do we manifest such level of faith when we call on to God for healing?
From the Bible Diary 2020