Word to the Wise
Friday, June 30, 2017 - Friday in the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 and Matt 8:1-4]FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017 - FRIDAY IN THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 and Matthew 8:1-4] When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. [Matthew] The Sermon on the Mount is over and Jesus comes down from the mountain. A whole new "book" begins. Scripture scholars point out that in keeping with the image of Jesus as a "new Moses," the Gospel According to Matthew seems to present five major divisions which would parallel the five books of the Torah, the law of Moses. Jesus now shows that he can work wonders, which we call miracles. Over the next two "chapters" [8 and 9] there are nine miracles, all but one of them are hearings. The other is a nature miracle, the calming of the sea. Health care personnel often witness recoveries that cannot be explained. Some will say it's only a matter of time before those "mysteries" can be explained scientifically. Others will say that we must respect the mystery and know that we are not ultimately in charge of the universe or even health care in this world. In today's gospel scripture, the leper acknowledges Jesus' power to heal. It is this faith that brings about the healing, because Jesus responds to the faith. We will see many other instances over the next few days. It is not just the "power of faith," but the power of Jesus that is involved. Those two together form one reality worthy of our consideration. AMEN