Choose to be Healed!
Fr. Dr. Joshi Varghese, Bhilai
(Diocesan Education Officer & PRO, Calcutta Diocese)
Evening: St. Mark 1: 32-45, Morning: St. Mark 9 : 14 – 29, Before Holy Qurbana : Gen 7: 6-24, 2 Kgs. 5: 1-14 Is 33: 2-9, Jer 50:4-7: 15: 15-21 Holy Qurbana: Acts 5:12-16 :19 :8-12 Or 9:22-31 Rom 3: 27- 4:5
St. Luke 5: 12-16, 4: 40 -41
a. Pneumasomatic: Purge the soul to heal the body
In the Holy Bible we come across various incidents of miraculous healing. Healing was an important aspect of Jesus' public ministry, along with teaching and preaching ministries. Some are healed due to their own faith while some others got healed due to the faith of the intercessors. Most of the healings took place on the word of Jesus while a few were healed as they touched Him or were touched upon. Leprosy was one of the dreaded diseases till recent times which even led to ostracisation. (Various diseases affecting the skin are traditionally translated as leprosy in the Bible).
Modern science has come up with the concept of psychosomatic diseases to denote the diseases which are caused due to mental or emotional stress etc. In the Old Testament some of the diseases were considered to be caused by either the wrath of the God or due to sin. In other words the spiritual deterioration can be a cause of physical illness and such diseases can be called Pnuemasomatic diseases. The Psalmist says “My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly” (Ps 38:5). 2 Chronicles 26:19 speaks about how king Uzziah was affected with leprosy for unauthorised offering of the censer. Miriam , who is considered as equal to her brothers Moses and Aaron in leading the Israelites (Micah 6:4) , was affected with leprosy for she spoke against Moses as his wife was a Cushite. She had to spend seven days in quarantine and was cured only after Moses interceded for her. Aaron accepted before God that Miriam's leprosy was due to "a sin that we have so foolishly committed" (Num 12: 11). Gehazi, the servant of prophet Elisha, turns leprous after he takes silver and clothing out of his avarice (2 Kings 5:20-27). In all these three instances the decay of spirit was reflected in the body as a disease. Similar to the old adage “sound mind in a sound body” it can be said “a sound soul for a sound body”. How the guilt of un-confessed sin weighs upon the body as well as the happiness one gets with the purification from the guilt of transgression through confession is well described by David in Psalm 32.
b. Touch Heals!
“Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him” (Lk 5:13). In the earlier times leprosy was not a mere physical disease; it was associated with social stigma. People with leprosy were excommunicated from the society. They were literally put away from the mainstream of the society. Other people avoided coming into contact with lepers. The lepers had to warn others not to come close to them (Lv 13:45). Being a leper meant to be a ‘living dead’. A few years of such life is sure to make anyone lose hope and become frustrated. The state of being devalued could lead to disappointment and in turn to anger against the society that banished them. Jesus knew that the man needed purification of the soul, healing of the body and cleansing of the mind. His feelings, attitudes and emotions also called for a healing; hence Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. The one who was kept at an arm’s distance by the society was touched again. It might have been the first touch he felt after many years. More than the physical leprosy being healed, Jesus’ touch healed the man of the numbness of his mind which was caused by the ill treatment meted out to the lepers by other people. By that gentle touch he was re-initiated to the society and he is asked to go to the temple - “show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering…”.
A touch or lack of a touch can really touch lives. The power of a touch is tremendous. The loving touch of a mother gives security and comfort to the child; the gentle touch of the loved ones reassures one in sick bed; the warmth of the touch of the beloved ones consoles those in bereavement. Children are to be taught to differentiate between a ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’. Jesus' touch healed the man as it was made out of Love. Any touch sans love would turn out into a dead/ bad touch. Let us be instruments of God to touch the lives of others and heal them.
c. Burned-out? Withdraw and pray
“But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray “(Lk 5:16).
Complaints about the hurry of mechanised life are common nowadays. Hopping from one activity to another and multitasking of jobs drains out the person by the end of the day. This leads to ‘burnout’ which is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands”. The task that Jesus had was huge. He knew that the ‘harvest is plenty and workers are few’ and hurried to finish ‘work before night came’ ( Jn 9:4), yet he found time to withdraw. He withdrew to wilderness (Lk 4:1), to solitary place (Mk 1: 39), to mountain tops (Lk6:12) , to sea (Mk 3: 7) and to garden (Jn 18:1). After his ‘successful’ healing and preaching Jesus withdrew from the crowd and even from his disciples and spent time alone with God.
It is easy to make ourselves busy in routine matters or bask in the glory of success. At the same time it is also essential to withdraw ‘from the crowd’ and have some ‘me time’. If Jesus himself needed some ‘me –time’, how much more do we? We often think that a never-take-a-breakattitude is the best policy to succeed in any walks of life. This is more important for those who work for the Kingdom of God. Many get themselves busy with offering services, feasts, visiting the sick, organising and attending meetings etc. and find no time to be with themselves. To spend time with oneself means to spend time with God without any other disturbances; which is the real Sabbath. This Me-time is the most appropriate time to refresh and revitalize ourselves.
Conclusion
Let the Lenten season help us to purge our souls and mind. May this be a time to be touched by God and get healed. Let us withdraw to God so that we also become instruments of healing.
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