healing and reaching out - 22nd week wednesday 2015

Two points from our gospel today.

Chinese medicine believes that sickness is caused by an imbalance of the chi or what we call the life force in our body.  If this life force is unimpeded and unobstructed, if it revolves around our bodies smoothly and consistently there will be equilibrium and with it health.  But when it becomes impeded we also become sick, we begin to feel aches and get affected by a lot of diseases.  Thus to restore this equilibrium we have such a thing as an acupuncture to restore the balance in our bodies, or to restore the smooth flow of the chi.  The chi must be unimpeded, able to roam freely and smoothly in our bodies in order to stay healthy.

In the time of Jesus a similar thing is also believed.  Diseases are caused not by viruses, not by infections and bacteria, but it is caused by the weakening of the human spirit, and the spirit weakened as it is becomes susceptible to the possession of the evil one whose actions in our bodies produces the symptoms of various diseases and in the case of Simon’s mother it caused a very high fever.  This is the reason why Jesus rebuked the spirit and with the spirit gone and with equilibrium of the body established once again, the fever subsided.

In our time the explanation above may no longer be that complicated.  A fever is a fever and you don’t need a miracle nowadays to cure a high fever.  All it takes are a couple of paracetamol tablets and perhaps a dose of antibiotics.

But despite the medical breakthrough the message of the gospel remains equally significant in our time.  Jesus is telling us that there are many pains in our lives that are caused by a spiritual disorder, a disorder that needs more than just an antibiotic or a paracetamol. 

The sacrament of the anointing of the sick is the continuation of the  healing ministry of Jesus.  And if you notice part of the anointing is confession.  Unlike western medicine the sacrament believes in putting back first and foremost order into our lives, more specifically putting order in the souls just like Chinese medicine’s belief on the chi, because when there is order in the soul and in the spirit, the body and its different functions is also placed in order.  When there is unforgiveness in the heart, when there is hatred in the soul, the body is also affected.  When the conscience is not in peace, the body is also stressed out.  Yes we continue to take paracetamol and do what our doctors says.  But it is equally important also to allow Jesus to heal our spirits, and to mend our souls.

The second point.

Once upon a time some visitors took a tour of an oil refinery.  The tour guide showed them all the intricacies of the refining process.  The big chamber where crude oil is processed, the pipes, the heating vats – everything that went into the refining of the oil.  They even went to the office, the personnel’s quarters, the cafeteria.  And so as the tour ended, one of the visitors asked the tour guide, Sir you showed us everything except one – the shipping department.  You process a lot of petroleum, gasoline and lubricants, show us where it is all put in containers and shipped out to the world.”

The tour guide shrugged her head and said – well you see we don’t have a shipping department.  Everything that is produced here in this refinery is used up as energy to keep the refinery going.”  It’s a refinery that produces oil just enough to produce oil.  It is a factory which produces lubricants so that it can produce lubricants for its sake.

Sometimes our Christianity is like that – activities are made in order to sustain ourselves, just enough to keep itself going.  Maprocession lang kita, ma santo rosaryo lang kita. We make programs just for ourselves to sustain ourselves.

Jesus however is different.  People tried to prevent him from leaving but he said to them – to the other towns also I must proclaim the good news.  He must proclaim to others too the kingdom, not just to this group, not just to this village, not just to this type of people. 

Christianity is never meant to be kept for oneself.  It is meant to be shared – in fact the measure of one’s dedication to Christ is measured by the amount of effort one has expended in order to bring Christ to others. So what about us?  Do we create spiritual programs just to sustain ourselves or do we reach out to other people, widening our concerns and our circle each time?