Your Faith Has Saved You

July 9, 2007

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth De Cristofaro

“Truly, the LORD is in this spot, although I did not know it!” In solemn wonder he cried out: “How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” (Gen 18: 16-17)

“My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” (Mt 9:18)

“If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” (Mt 9:21)

Piety

Lord Jesus, may I walk with you today as did the cured woman and the temple official two thousand years ago. May I touch the tassel of your cloak and be cured of the beam in my own eyes; relieve me of the pride of the Pharisee praying in the temple; heal me from lack of trust and courage demonstrated by the rich young man; or any other affliction which keeps me from you. Help me to accept that in my infirmities I am everywoman, everyman and am loved by you as is every woman, every man. I want to rest my head upon the stone placed for me and live in the abode of God. Amen

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/070907.shtml

God’s work and presence is around us at all times if we can but see it. Miraculous rests just next to the everyday. Jesus is God and human in one; miraculous…everyday.

Jacob’s dream was beyond belief. He believed and acted upon it. The woman, ill and ostracized from society due to her infirmity got more than she expected: cure, acceptance, a return to her place in society. The official came to Jesus expecting – and received - the outrageous.

Can we accept and expect the miraculous within the everyday? Can we see it? Do we want to see it or just what we’d rather see? Do we treat the everyday as miraculous? Do we meet strangers as Christ? Do we manage our environment as God created and gifted us? Do we put systems into place through government or not for profit’s which can carry the gift of God to those in need or do we gather for ourselves and those we love?

Can we put ourselves aside and humbly realize ““If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus did not hold himself apart and above. Jesus allowed an unclean person to touch him and went with an official of the synagogue – the synagogue who opposed him.

Action

Of what do I need to be cured – released from its bondage - in order to truly recognize that Jesus loves me personally, completely? And how do I offer Jesus’ love and acceptance to others?

In a July 6 address to the bishops of the Dominican Republic, Pope Benedict said that the mission of the laity is "the establishment of the temporal order, and to act in a direct and concrete way, guided by the light of the Gospel and by the Church's teaching, and inspired by Christian love. … It is their task to promote human and Christian values that illuminate the political, economic and cultural life of the country, with the aim of instituting a more just and more equitable social order, in accordance with the social doctrine of the Church. … In accordance with ethical and moral norms," (the laity) "must provide an example of honesty and transparency in the management of public affairs, in the face of the unseen and widespread blight of corruption, which at times touches areas of political and economic power, as well as other spheres of public and social life."

http://www.zenit.org/article-20067?l=english