7/12/2011 – Tuesday of the 15th week of ordinary time – mass of the anointing of the sick – Exodus 2:1-15; Psalm 69

     We welcome everyone to our mass of anointing today. On this day that we come to our Lord for healing in our lives through this special sacrament of the anointing of the sick, we hear the story of Moses, of how Moses started his life as an infant in a time of great danger & violence for the people of Israel.  Before Moses was even born, God had chosen the people of Israel as his special people.  Yet, the people of Israel were not the most powerful, or the smartest, or the most advanced civilization in the world at the time. To the contrary, they were slaves whose destiny was controlled by the mighty Egyptian empire.  God made a commitment to the people of Israel: he made them his people.  In honoring that commitment, God chose a leader who would bring them out of bondage.  So, today, we hear the story of a baby who was hidden in the a basket amongst the reeds in order to save his life, a baby who would be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter as her son, a baby who would grow up to be the leader chosen by God to free his people.  God works in remarkable ways, doesn’t he? 

         The Exodus story gives us all hope, of how God chooses the weak & makes them strong, of how God works so many miracles in our lives, miracles both big & small.  “Turn to the Lord in your need & you will live” – this is what the psalmist tells us today.  Like in this psalm, there may be times in our lives when we feel like we are stuck in a swamp without a foothold, when we are in pain & are afflicted, when we see God as our only hope.  The psalm assures us that the Lord indeed hears the cries of the poor, that he does not spurn his people who are oppressed & in bonds.  Like the followers of Christ throughout the ages, we put our trust in the Lord.  We know that the Lord hears our cries, that through him our struggles & our sufferings have meaning.

         So, we come to the Lord today, asking him for healing. We are all here at this mass for a reason today.  We are all asking for healing in our lives.  Perhaps we want to be healed in a very specific way, but we are called to be open to the healing that God desires for us. We also lift up today the shut-ins of our parish community, those at home, in the hospitals, at the nursing homes.  We ask God for healing for all of them as well.