Homily for March 22, 2009

Father Tom’s Homily
4th Sunday of Lent
Mass of Healing
March 22, 2009

Healing bodies, hearts and souls was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry as Messiah.
He reached out to those who were crippled with withered arms and legs, to those who had despaired that their lives had no purpose, to those who felt unloved and unworthy of respect.

Jesus, the Messiah, laid hands on the sick who thought that their sickness and deformity was a sign that they were cursed by God. They regained their health and rejoiced in God’s special blessing on them.
He lifted up those who were so burdened by their own evil that they had given up hope in God’s mercy. He became friends with helpless children and with women abused or tossed aside by divorce.
To everyone Jesus extended a call to self-esteem and genuine self-love that is due a child of God.

Jesus was a healer. He calls his disciples to be healers too.
The healing ministry is not on the fringe of the Church, but is at the heart of the gospel. As disciples of Jesus, we are a healing community.
Today, as a healing community we receive the laying on of hands, an ancient ritual in the Church. In turn we reach out to lay on hands and in many other ways to extend the Lord’s healing to others.

In the name of this sacred community, I will lay hands on many of you, but in a sense we are all laying hands on one another.
In turn we also look beyond ourselves to the afflicted elsewhere.
-to families in turmoil
-to wounded cities
-to nations in crisis
-to the world suffering many wounds.

As healers we lay our hands on this wounded and beautiful world to ask God for mercy, knowing that God is rich in loving kindness.