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Friends,
in today's Gospel we read about crowds coming to Jesus for healing and
deliverance from unclean spirits. We hear that people brought the sick
from all over the region, as well as those troubled by unclean
spirits—and all of them were cured.
Now
I realize that we today might be a bit skeptical of such miraculous
healings. But it's hard to deny that Jesus was known as a healer and a
miracle worker. And there is abundant evidence that the performance of
miracles was a major reason why the first preachers were taken
seriously.
Have
there been miracle workers and miraculous places up and down the
centuries? Yes indeed. But the Church has customarily done this work
through its hospitals and clinics, through figures such as John of God,
Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Calcutta. But the Church also serves
through its sacraments, which heal sin-sick souls. This is the apostolic
dimension of the Church's life, and without it, it would no longer be
the Church. Parishes, parish priests, missionaries, servants of the poor
and sick—the whole apostolic life of the Church is represented here.
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