The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the healing action of the Presence of God in our life.
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| Healing Presence |
The reading from the First Letter of John establishes testimony concerning the Son of God in his Divinity and Humanity through our experience of the indwelling Spirit.
* [5:6–12] Water and blood (1 Jn 5:6) refers to Christ’s baptism (Mt 3:16–17) and to the shedding of his blood on the cross (Jn 19:34). The Spirit was present at the baptism (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32, 34). The testimony to Christ as the Son of God is confirmed by divine witness (1 Jn 5:7–9), greater by far than the two legally required human witnesses (Dt 17:6). To deny this is to deny God’s truth; cf. Jn 8:17–18. The gist of the divine witness or testimony is that eternal life (1 Jn 5:11–12) is given in Christ and nowhere else. To possess the Son is not acceptance of a doctrine but of a person who lives now and provides life.1
Psalm 147 exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word.
* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water.2
Jesus cleanses a leper in the Gospel of Luke.
* [5:14] Show yourself to the priest…what Moses prescribed: this is a reference to Lv 14:2–9 that gives detailed instructions for the purification of one who had been a victim of leprosy and thereby excluded from contact with others (see Lv 13:45–46, 49; Nm 5:2–3). That will be proof for them: see note on Mt 8:4.3
Kimberly Grassmeyer comments that Judas, in the Jesus Christ Superstar production, thought that Jesus could have planned better, flown under the radar as it were, so as to keep safe. But Jesus knew well the ultimate consequence of his actions and he took them anyway.
Deep down we, too, usually know or can predict the consequences that will follow from our choices – for ill or for good. Sometimes we pray about them, and sometimes we even listen. Sometimes we still choose incorrectly: we eat poorly, smoke that cigarette, hurt someone with an unkind word, spend too much. But we all have the capacity to choose the right thing. Even when it is difficult, even when it might come at some personal expense, even when we need to withdraw to a quiet place to pray about it. We can choose, as Jesus did, to be with and for the other.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus' healing demonstrates the power of the kingdom of heaven,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"The authority of power in the Lord is here compared with the steadfastness of faith manifest in the leper (Luke 5:12-13). He fell on his face because it is a mark of humility and modesty that each feel shame for the sins of his life, but shyness did not restrict his confession. He showed the wound, he begged for the remedy, and the very confession is full of piety and faith. 'If you will,' it says, 'you can make me clean'” He conceded the power to the Lord's will. But he doubted concerning the Lord's will, not as if unbelieving in piety, but as if aware of his own impurity, he did not presume. The Lord replies to him with a certain holiness. 'I will: be clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.' For there is nothing between God's command and his work, because the work is in the command. Thus he spoke, and they came into being (Psalm 33:9). You see that it cannot be doubted that the will of God is power. If, therefore, his will is power, those who affirm that the Trinity is of One will affirm that it is of one power. Thus the leprosy departed immediately. In order that you may understand the effect of healing, he added truth to the work." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.2–3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 5:12-16 notes that according to the World Health Organization, the number of people with leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, has decreased dramatically over the past twenty years: from 5.2 million people down to just over 175,000. But while instances of Hansen’s disease are becoming rarer, instances of social isolation and exclusion are growing exponentially. People on every part of the social and economic spectrum struggle to feel connected, valued, and loved. Longing for human contact, they feel like Veronica, friend of John Bradburne, a British man, Secular Third Order Franciscan, who died in 1979 after spending fifteen years serving people with leprosy in Zimbabwe, or like the man in today’s Gospel.
You can be Christ to these people. By the grace of his Spirit, you can learn to see them through his eyes of love. You may or may not be able to bring them physical healing or healing of their memories. You may or may not be able to help them reconcile with someone who has hurt them. But you can bring them the healing that comes from encountering Jesus. Through your words and actions, you can show them that they are not alone. You can show them that Jesus sees them, values them, and loves them deeply.6
Friar Jude Winkler complements the comments of Matt in Logos Made Flesh by connecting the First Letter of John to the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. The realized eschatology of John is experienced the moment Jesus is in our lives and is with us through death. Friar Jude reminds us of the theme in Luke that portrays Christians as the New Israel.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that those who have gone to their own depths through contemplation uncover an indwelling Presence. Austrian philosopher Martin Buber (1878–1965) called this intimacy an “I-thou” relationship. It is a deep and loving “yes” to God and to life that is inherent within each of us. In Christian theology, this Presence would be described as the Indwelling Holy Spirit, which is precisely God as immanent, within us, and our deepest and truest self. God is the very ground of our being!
Some saints and mystics have described this Presence as “closer to me than I am to myself” or “more me than I am myself.” Thomas Merton and others call it the True Self. The paradox is that this True Self is immortal and indestructible, and yet it must also be awakened and chosen. The Holy Spirit is totally given and given equally to all, but it must be consciously received. The Presence needs to be recognized, honored, and drawn upon to become a Living Presence.
… saints and mystics nevertheless dare to believe that they are ontologically (“in their very being”) whole, and that it is totally a gift from God. It has nothing to do with our own private “me”—with anything we could do to earn or deserve it!
The Holy Spirit is never created by our actions or behavior. It is naturally indwelling, our inner being with God. (In Catholic theology, we called the Holy Spirit “Uncreated Grace.”) Culture and usually even religion teach us to live out of the false or separate self of reputation, self-image, role, possessions, money, appearance, and so on. It is only as these things fail us, and they always do, that the True Self stands revealed and ready to guide us. Some enlightened souls surrender to this truth and presence early, usually by reason of suffering.7
The indwelling Spirit is witness to our intimacy with Christ that we can make visible to those in need of healing.
References
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