Deacon Tom Writes,
“Built To Last”
The author of the Book of Wisdom writes, “God formed man (and woman) to be
imperishable…in the image of His own nature”. In Jesus we get to see the
image of God living, working, eating, and praying with His people. Jesus is
tireless in preaching the kingdom of God. Mark relates numerous stories of
Jesus working miracles as he encounters people who needed to be healed,
reconciled, and fed. Today’s readings contain several such miracles. After
curing the man who was possessed, Jesus crosses the lake and encounters Jairus who
implores him to come to his house where his daughter lies near death. But, as
Jesus begins his journey, he senses “power
had gone out from him”, power that had been usurped by the hemorrhaging
woman who found herself healed.
Jesus brings about much healing in Mark’s
Gospel. It seems as if Jesus is rushing off from one miracle to another the way
Mark recounts it! It is interesting to note that the word that Mark uses for
the “healing” is the Greek word “sōzō”, a word that not only means “to heal” but also “to save”. In other
words, Jesus not only heals people from their sickness but also he saves and
restores them to the original state they were created, as “imperishable” beings… made in the image and likeness of God and
destined to share eternity with the Divine Godhead.
A challenge we face in our busy lives is that
there are so many activities and so much technology available to entertain us
that we have little time for spiritual reflection or very little time to probe
the deeper meanings of our human experiences for that matter. And so we go from
one activity to another, from work to recreation. We get a little sleep, cut
the grass, do the shopping, and bring the kids to this activity or that sport. We
are so fatigued at the end of the day, we go to sleep only to rise the next
morning and begin all over again. We seldom give any conscious thought to key
spiritual aspects of our lives such as our mortality or what lies ahead when we
die. For most people, this is “living the dream”. But is it really? We hardly
notice our neighbor or experience God in any of our activities of daily living.
How are we to be God’s instruments spreading the Good News of God’s Kingdom
where we are the ones with the power to heal, chase out demons, ease the
suffering and grief of those around us in light of the hectic pace of our
lives?
Yet, I believe, we all long to experience the
presence of God that touches and heals us and brings us His salvation. But in
order to find that calming peace and healing presence, we must first look to
find God’s presence in the ordinary…in the mundane… in the routine and boring events
that are the bulk of our day-to-day lives. We must, as St. Ignatius discovered,
“find God in all things” if we are to
experience the divine and to recognize God’s imprint upon us. If we take the
time to think about it, we have already entered into eternity. Life for those
who believe will be changed, not ended, as proclaimed in our Funeral Liturgy. For,
as the Book of Wisdom reminds us today, we were made in the image of God’s own
nature. So then, we can believe and trust that we have been made to go the
distance. We were, as it were, “built to
last”! So, once we have lived and spread the Good News in this life, we can
look forward to celebrating it forever in the life to come!
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
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