Word to the Wise
Monday, July 9, 2007 - Fourteenth Monday in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 28:10-22A and Matthew 9:18-26]A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." And from that hour the woman was cured.
Jesus' response to the woman is very important for an understanding of miracles. It is not a matter of doing something spectacular to prove Jesus' identity. It is a matter of responding to the power of the woman's faith. Her faith precedes the healing and is, in fact, itself the most important healing. Healing is one of the signs of the coming of God's kingdom. The point is NOT that the woman is ill because of inadequate faith. The Gospel does not endorse that view. However, the turning of the whole person toward God in faith can bring about both interior and exterior healing. Jesus heals a number of persons who believe in him simply because they accept the possibility. The Man Born Blind in the Gospel of John gradually comes to faith after being healed. The point of "miracles" is not to refute modern science but to preach the gospel of God's healing love. AMEN