Editorial

Jesus heals us—body and soul

Jesus’ healing mission reaches its climax in the events of the paschal mystery—his passion, death and resurrection. That’s why the season of Lent, the time when we prepare for the joy of Easter, is an appropriate time to reflect on the Lord’s healing ministry.

Every healing that Jesus accomplished during his earthly life was fundamentally oriented toward his final and definitive victory over sin and death. As a result, each healing episode in the Gospels is a twofold sign for us: a sign that our Lord’s victory over sin and death is already at work in the world, and a sign that he wants us to share in this victory through the healing of our bodies and our souls.

In the penitential act of the Mass, we confess—both to God and to our brothers and sisters—that we have sinned through our own fault, and we ask the Lord to have mercy on us. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that our trespasses be forgiven—as we forgive those who trespass against us. Before we receive holy Communion, we echo the words of the Roman centurion and confess that we are not worthy to receive the Lord. But we also affirm our absolute confidence that the Lord can and will “only say the word and our souls will be healed.”

The Eucharist teaches us that we can present ourselves to Jesus for the purpose of healing. The Lord wants to forgive our sins and, at the same time, he wants to heal the ways of thinking and feeling that underlie our sinful actions. Jesus wants us to receive his love so intimately and so completely that the attitudes, desires and virtues of his heart become ours. The sacrament of penance is a privileged place in which we cry out to Jesus, the divine physician, to be our healer.

The Gospels give abundant witness to Jesus’ ability to heal those in need. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Jesus’ public ministry begins with acts of healing. Whether of an unclean spirit, of an ailing body, or both, healing is an integral part of Jesus’ life and ministry; it is fundamental to who he is, what he says, and what he does as the one sent by the Father to save us from our sins.

Among all the stories of healing told in the Gospels, one of the most striking is the healing of the paralytic who is lowered into a room from a hole in the roof. This miracle of healing stands out because it combines physical healing with the forgiveness of sins—and because it illustrates powerfully the absolute confidence that the paralytic and his friends had in Jesus’ healing power.

Here’s how St. Mark describes the scene:

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there saying to themselves silently, ‘Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus knew what they were grumbling about, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on Earth”—he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this” (Mk 2:5-12).

This wonderful story makes the total character of Jesus’ healing mission clear. Whether we are afflicted with infirmities of the body or sicknesses of the soul, Jesus wants to make us completely whole. And the healing he offers is not temporary or partial. It is a complete and total healing of the whole person. That makes it possible for us to enter into life eternal.

Let’s take time this Lent to break through the crowded life we live, with all its distractions and obstacles, and let’s lower ourselves into the presence of Jesus. If we ask him with the boldness of faith, he will forgive our sins and heal all our infirmities. And once we are completely healed, our response will be, “We have never seen anything like this!”

—Daniel Conway