In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Then,
as a part of their proclamation of God’s kingdom, Jesus tells his apostles to
do certain things: cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out
demons.
We
might be wondering: How are we supposed to do these things as followers of Christ here in Tupelo,
Mississippi at the beginning of the 21st century? Well, let’s look
at curing the sick. While most of us
listening to God’s word do not have to power to perform miracles of healing and
most of us here at mass today are not medical professionals, there are other
ways we can cure the sick. Just yesterday, I spent my afternoon visiting some of the sick in the hospital, in hospice, and in a nursing home. Some of these individuals have been life-long Christians and very devout about going to church and participating in a faith community. Some of them have a very close relationship with our parish of St James. A couple of them, however, have been away from the faith for a long time. One of them has never really had a relationship with our parish here in Tupelo. Yet, I have started to visit them and they have welcomed my visits. I hope that these visits bring some sort of hope and healing in their lives. I hope that it shows them that the Church cares about them. I hope that it conveys to them the love of Christ. And I hope that the Eucharist that they receive in these visits brings them some form of hope and healing.
When we look at God’s Word, in the way it
pertains to the people of ancient Israel & to the particulars of their
culture, perhaps at times it does not seem like it is speaking directly to us
on the surface. But when we break open
his Word and reflect on it in the light of the signs of our own times, God
indeed has a message that is very relevant for us today.
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