Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 23, 2019
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Back in eighth grade, when my first girlfriend whispered “I love you” to me, I was awe-struck. Even then, I knew how serious and special that phrase was. My mom and my grandma, and, less frequently, my dad would sometimes say “I love you.”
Love hinted at a never-ending devotion, an uncompromising selflessness, an unbreakable bond between the one saying “I love you” and the one to whom it was said.
In just three weeks, I learned how frail and mercurial young romantic love could be when my girlfriend broke up with me. This sure wasn’t the same as Mom’s love…
Imagine being among the disciples in today’s Gospel who have been called together by this astonishing figure, Jesus. This man has given sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. Some insist he has commanded the lame to walk; lepers have been healed, and he has raised a man from the dead.
The room grows quiet with anticipation as this man slowly composes himself, gazes out at his disciples with a penetrating depth in his eyes, and says: I love you. Imagine when the God of the universe, the Creator who knit you in your mother’s womb, unequivocally utters, “I love you.”
How could we respond to this declaration except with silent awe?
“I give you my joy,” he continues. “I chose you; you did not choose me.”
All of the earthly love with which we’ve been showered is but a tiny, blurred reflection of this almighty love. When earthly love allows us to be forgiven, to be embraced, to be accepted, it is but a foreshadowing of being swept up in the fathomless bliss of God’s love.
So, let’s go through today remembering who we are, what we are worth, and what we are promised, because our God loves us unconditionally.
Prayer
Lord God, the fact that your detractors were observing you, hoping for you to make a mistake, did not deter you from being compassionate and loving as you healed the man with the withered hand. Give us today the same boldness to be compassionate and loving, no matter the cost. We pray this to you, Our God and our Teacher. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Marianne Cope, known as St. Marianne of Moloka’i for her work with the lepers of Hawaii, was canonized on Oct. 21, 2012, by Pope Benedict XVI.
Marianne was born in Germany in 1838, and one year after her birth, her family emigrated to Utica, New York. She attended her parish school until eighth grade when her father fell ill and she went to work in a factory to support the family. Her father died in 1862, and, when her siblings were all old enough to help support the family, she left her home to pursue a religious vocation.
Marianne joined an order of Franciscans and spent time educating children of immigrant families. She also helped open two hospitals in the area.
By 1883, Marianne had become Superior General of her order. She received a letter from the King of Hawaii asking for help for those who were quarantined on the leper colony of Moloka’i. The king had asked some fifty other religious organizations for aid and had been declined by all of them.
Marianne accepted the request and took six sisters with her to Hawaii. There, she managed a hospital for victims of leprosy and established another. She cared not only for those with leprosy, but for those impacted by the disease: orphans whose parents had the disease, and clergy who contracted leprosy while working with patients.
She worked tirelessly for these people, even into her old age. Even when Marianne grew old and needed a wheelchair to get around, she still managed to support the lepers there. Despite her many years in close contact with this disease, Marianne never contracted leprosy herself. She lived to the ripe old age of eighty, finally passing away in August 1918. Soon after her death, several miracles were attributed to her intercession. St. Marianne Cope is the patron saint of those suffering from leprosy and HIV/AIDS.
St. Marianne Cope, you spent your life caring for the outcast lepers on Moloka’i—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Marianne Cope is in the public domain. Last accessed November 15, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
