DAILY HOMILIES #healing

Prayer is not all about informing God of our needs and problems (as if He does not already know). Prayer is a relationship, a dialogue. As we talk, we must listen because God speaks to us when we come into His presence.

Ordinarily, you should assume that when something good happens to you, people should be happy for you. Isn’t it? The bitter truth is that there will always be scribes and Pharisees around us - people who take offence knowing we are happy. They pretend to be our friends, but the moment our status changes (when things improve for us), they show their true colours.

You can make this world a better place. Visualise it, believe it is possible, and work it out. Be ready to make whatever sacrifice is required. Your faith will bring you success.

Growing up demands that we are no longer content with keeping the law as stated in black and white but that we now aim to love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. Growing up demands that we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and perform acts of kindness to people we do not even know or expect in return. It demands that we go all the way, even to offer our very blood for the benefit of others.

Do not be deceived into thinking that demons do not exist. It is foolish to deny the power and workings of demons. However, there is no need to fear them when we know that “He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world.” (Cf. 1 John 4:4).

God has truly visited his people. This is the meaning of the name “Emmanuel.” God is with us. There is no problem or difficulty worth taking your life. Present the matter to God in prayer and be sure that Jesus, who raised the dead, will make a way where there seems to be no way.

For Jesus to have chosen these persons after an all-night consultation shows that God’s ways are not ours. In truth, even the “foolishness” of God is wiser than the highest human wisdom.

Hatred is deadly. The feeling of hatred makes you blind to the good in others. Hatred makes you criticise everything in everybody. Hatred blinds us. St. John warns us: “He who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11).

Inflamed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus visited Simon’s house, where he healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and that same night, the whole community brought to Jesus their sick and possessed relatives. Jesus healed both physical and spiritual ailments. He remains for us a healer. Nevertheless, to be admitted into Dr. Jesus’ clinic, we must go with our cards, which is faith (positive expectation).

Remember, a little sleep can cause poverty. A little relaxation in our spiritual life can give room for the devil and his agents who seek candidates for spiritual destruction. St. Peter would say: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Like this Canaanite woman, we have been victims of tough times at some point. We may be going through very difficult circumstances right now. Today, we learn that tough times do not last, but tough people do. What does it mean to be a tough person? Selflessness – living not merely for oneself but for others. Living above Prejudice - refusing to judge others based on their origins. Positivity - refusing to take ‘No’ for an answer. Humility – accepting and taking advantage of whatever insults we receive. Let us not examine some lessons in today’s readings.

Caleb and Joshua acknowledged their difficulty, but they also saw their potential, they saw the giants, but they knew God was greater than these giants. They were not afraid because they had a strong faith in God. When you encounter a serious problem, you can know whether or not you have faith, whether you will move forward like Caleb and Joshua, or sit down to cry your brains out like the Israelites.