Liturgical day: Monday 5th in Ordinary Time
Saints February 11th: Our Lady of Lourdes
Gospel text (Mk 6,53-56): Having crossed the lake, Jesus and his disciples came ashore at Gennesaret where they tied up the boat. As soon as they landed, people recognized Jesus and ran to spread the news throughout the countryside. Wherever He was they brought to him the sick lying on their mats. And wherever He went, to villages, towns or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplace and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured.
«All who touched him were cured»
Fr. John GRIECO
(Chicago, United States)
Today, in the Gospel we see the tremendous power of contact with Our Lord’s person: «They laid the sick in the marketplace and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured» (Mk 6,56). The slightest physical touch can work miracles for those who approach Christ with faith. His power to cure overflows from his loving heart and extends even to his garments. His ability and willingness to heal is both abundant and easily accessible.
This passage can help us reflect on how we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. Do we do so with faith that this contact with Christ can work miracles our lives? More than merely touching the «fringe of his cloak», we receive Christ’s very Body into our bodies. More than merely healing our physical infirmities, Communion heals our souls and grants them a share in God’s own life. St. Ignatius of Antioch thus calls the Eucharist, «the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, [which causes] that we should live forever in Jesus Christ».
Taking advantage of this “medicine of immortality” consists in being healed of whatever separates us from God and others. Being cured by Christ in the Eucharist thus entails overcoming our self-absorption. As Benedict XVI teaches, «Nourishing ourselves with Christ is the way to avoid becoming extraneous or indifferent to the fate of the brothers (…). A Eucharistic spirituality is the true antidote to the individualism and selfishness that often characterize daily life, and leads to the rediscovery of gratuity, of the centrality of relationships —starting with the family— with particular attention to healing the wounds of disrupted ones».
Just as those who were cured of their infirmities by touching his garments, we too can be cured of our egoism and our isolation from others by receiving Our Lord with faith.
«As soon as they landed, people recognized Jesus»
Fr. Joaquim MONRÓS i Guitart
(Tarragona, Spain)
Today, we see the faith of the people of the countryside where Jesus had landed bringing salvation to them. Our Lord is the owner of our body and soul; and they had no doubt that in bringing their sick to him, they would be cured: «And all who touched him were cured» (Mk 6:56). Today as ever, we have many who are sick in their body and in their soul. We must therefore use our very best efforts, both human and supernatural, to bring our relatives, friends and acquaintances as close as possible to our Lord. In the first place, we can achieve it by praying for their spiritual and physical health. When we are sick we do not hesitate to find out whether there exists an appropriate treatment, or whether there is a doctor who can take care of us right away.
When it is a matter of spiritual “sickness” (normally visible, externally, as our son, brother or parents not attending the Sunday services), in addition to praying, it would be convenient to speak to him/her about the remedy, maybe by transmitting him/her a thought or some motivating factor that we might get from the Magistery (for instance, from the Apostolic Epistle on The Day of our Lord, by John Paul II, or from some of the points of the Catechism of the Catholic Church).
If the “sick brother is somebody as a public authority, who tries to justify an unjust law —as, for instance, abortion legalization— let us not doubt —in addition to our prayers— to seek an opportunity to let him/her know —personally or in writing— our testimony regarding the truth.
«For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard» (Acts 4:20). For everybody needs the Savior. And when they do not go to him it may just be they do not recognize Him because we did not know how to announce Him. The real fact is, however, that as soon as they recognized him «they laid the sick in the marketplace and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured» (Mk 6:56). And Jesus cured mostly those who were “placed” close to him; those who were more in urgent need of remedy.