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[__01__] Healing of Soul and Body
Pope Benedict XVI
(B16) made an observation that we go to church for the same reason that we go
to the doctor’s office. That is, we go
to both places because we want to live a life that is more abundant and healthier.
We
also seek out both forms of “medicine” – physical and spiritual – because we
are concerned about death, illness, dying. (Benedict XVI, p. 243)
We
go to the doctor’s office – copay or no copay – because we want to live the
best possible life. And, if we really want that we also disclose to the doctor
what is troubling us.
[__02__] Spiritual
/ Absolution / Healing Jesus,
our Good Shepherd, is a physician of both body and soul, stating the reason for
his mission: “I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
(John 10:10)
In
order for us to be healed spiritually, you and I are also called to disclose
our faults, our sinfulness, our sins so that we can healed of what is troubles
us. Is it not true that we tell doctors – psychologists – counselors – not just
about the symptoms but also about the causes that we may have brought on
ourselves. The confessional is a place
for us to tell the “doctor” - that is
Jesus in the person of the priest – what we need to be healed of. There is no
copay and you do not necessarily need an appointment. I will hear your
confession “on demand”.
[__03__] Death. B16 also observed what every nursing student
and medical intern also knows early in their careers: “working for human life
automatically means also coming into conflict with the reality of death.” (Benedict XVI, p. 243)
This
is also true for our sisters and brothers who care for our lives in public
safety, West Orange township EMS, firefighters, police officers.
These
first responders also recognize that caring for life also means the risk of
dying
[__04__] Ash
Wednesday.
Why
do you and I come to church on Ash Wednesday? We come to receive the mark of
ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross – “in the name of the Father,
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
This
sign today – February 22, 2023 - is part of an ongoing blessing to you. The
first time the sign of the cross was made was shortly after your birth when
your mother, father, grandparents held you and prayed for you and also when you
were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
And,
the sign of the cross will also be said aloud when you and I die.
But,
today – Ash Wednesday – we are somewhere in between the first and the last,
being born and being buried. This is more than a mid-life crisis but rather a
mid-life commitment to recognize the sign of the cross in our lives.
[__05__] Lent /
Baptism.
B16
also observed that the reminder of Lent is that “being a Christian” equals
“becoming a Christian” each day. We are works in progress, which I prefer to
the more “demanding” phrase to be best version of yourself. (Benedict
XVI, p. 287)
You
are not being upgraded as the new “version” (edition / version number) of
software in the move from, say, Apple iPhone
13 to Apple iPhone 14. ( The “verdict”
for the old “version” is replacement and rejection).
Rather than thinking about a “version”,
consider that all of us have a vocation which starts over each day with the
possibility of victory, to become husband or wife, every new. To become a mother or father, ever new. To become a daughter or son, ever new. To
become a neighbor, friend, disciple, ever new.
Also, we live out these vocations (callings)
in community. Your baptism, in this regard, is never “private”. Even if you were the only child baptized that
day, you are being given to the whole Church, to the whole world.
This also helps us to thrive in the way any
emergency medical technician or emergency room nurse would wish for us. That
is, they are not only concerned with the medicine we take now, but the family
or community who will help us to stick with the routine.
We
gain abundance of life in community not in isolation.
[__06__] Save
your life.
Recently,
I heard some “life saving advice”. This was from an example given at a Catholic
seminar and the speaker is the leader of a group called the Catholic Roundtable
for Church Leadership. Her name is Kerry
Robinson. She was speaking to clergy,
religious, Catholic church faithful parishioners with a reminder that good
discipleship and decision making is rooted in the Gospel good news about both
life and death.
The prayer – the fasting – the almsgiving –
of Lent are meant to remind us to love God and neighbor as much as we love
ourselves. And, we do these things because Christ himself once did them for 40
days, in preparation for his own living and dying.
Kerry Robinson shared a Q&A discussion
she had with other Catholic leaders at which everyone was asked: “how would you
like to die?”
The
responses were diverse, from each person – each of whom was a fully grown
adult:
“I
would like to die in my sleep.”
“I
would like to do without pain, without having to suffer or be a burden to my
family”
“I
would like to die after having the opportunity to say good bye to my loved
lones”
Then,
Kerry Robinson’s teenage daughter – who happened to be in the room – was asked
her opinion. She responded:
“I
would like to die in the process of saving someone else’s life ”
We
receive ashes on Ash Wednesday in the hope of following Christ by whom our
lives were saved. He called us to follow him not just with an inscription on
our head but also with his words in hearts, that “he who lays down his life my
sake will save it.”
Repent and believe in the Gospel. [__END__]
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