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There are so many different ways of being healed. The best way, and by far the commonest, is to be loved. To be loved by God, and to know it and live it, is to be healed indeed. The Good News first of all is that you and I are accepted and loved by God. From all eternity you and I have been in the mind of God. God’s love for us is utterly reliable and has no conditions
whatsoever.
- Cyril Brooks
(Take some time in silence to simply be aware that you are loved by God. . . to let God love you.) |
Lenten Webinar Series Four Conversions and Spiritual
Freedom by Carla Mae Streeter, OP March 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 Free-will donation for registration and information.
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IS 65:17-21; PS 30:2 AND 4, 5-6, 11-12A AND 13B
JN 4:43-54
At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed
him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near
death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the
afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"He and his whole household thereupon became believers." —John
4:53
There are various points in any work. There is conception, when we conceive an idea. Every work has its beginning and end. Most works are punctuated with breakthroughs, decisions, and problems. The most important point in a work is often the point of faith.
For example, a royal official
tried unsuccessfully to bring healing to his son who was near death. When he heard that Jesus "had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and begged Him to come down and restore health to his son" (Jn 4:47). When Jesus declined to come, the royal official believed Jesus' statement: " 'Return home. Your son will live.' The man put his trust in the word Jesus spoke to him, and started for home" (Jn 4:50). At this point, the son was healed, although the royal official did not learn about
it till the next day (Jn 4:51). The most important point in this miracle was when the royal official believed. Even if his son had not been healed till later, the point of faith would have been the most important point.
The Lord wants to heal you, bring reconciliation to your family, lead you to a beautiful vocation, give you financial freedom, etc. The most important point in these wonderful works is
usually the point when you know God's will and obediently put your faith in Him.
In this Lent, may you "get the point" of faith.
Prayer: Father, I have faith! Help my lack of faith! (Mk 9:24, our transl.)
Promise: "He dies a
mere youth who reaches but a hundred years, and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed." —Is 65:20
Presentation Ministries
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What is Christian Love? - Reprinted from Freedom from Codependency, by Philip St. Romain - What about sin? Does God love us even when we sin?
These questions are answered clearly in Christ’s teaching and life. Yes, God loves us even when we sin. There is not one example in Scripture of Christ turning away from someone because that person was too bad for him. In fact, it was precisely his willingness to be available to sinners that scandalized the Jewish leaders. So we can have no doubt about it: God loves sinners, and this means you!
Unlike dysfunctional people, however, Christ made a distinction between person and behavior. He loved people, but he frequently disagreed with and confronted unhealthy and sinful behavior. He did not judge people on the basis of behavior, but he did judge behavior on the basis of whether or not it was
moral or immoral. “Love the sinner, but hate the sin” was his attitude.
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