Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by – Fr Titus Mananzan, SVD – Holy Spirit Novitiate, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro
Monday 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Faith healers are popular in our country. They are not only sought by the poor, who could not afford medical doctors or hospitals, but also the rich who are afflicted with terminal illnesses. Some faith healers are truly gifted but others are fake healers. I had a good experience with a person who is endowed with a healing gift. She was instrumental in healing my nephew of aneurysm. She could heal only if the sick have strong faith in the Lord.
In the Gospel reading today the people saw Jesus as a mere faith healer. Many sick people went to him to be healed. His popularity as a healer then must be widespread because even the non-Jews recognized him. But if we try to see the motive why these people went to Jesus – it was because they want to get something from Him. They want to be healed. Jesus had hoped that after being healed they would recognize Him as the Messiah, and see the goodness and the great love of God. Unfortunately, some of those healed, like the ten lepers, even forgot to thank God.
It is good to reflect on our own motives why we go to the Lord, or why we pray. Do we go to the Lord because we need something from Him or is it because we love Him? The latter should be the right motive. Although it is always the joy of God if we go to Him in times of need, to be one with God should be our primary desire in our prayers. If the motive of our prayer is just to get something from the Lord then we will easily get disappointed, angry or even reject God if our prayers are not answered the way we want it to be. But if we truly love the Lord and trust in His love, even though our prayers seem unheeded, we will still praise and thank God, and long for His presence.
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