I once came to a certain man. You see, I had been told about this man several times, but I didn't actually know the man. Something indescribable drew me to the man, and as I approached the man, I saw that I was very, very, unclean. Kneeling down, I begged the man and said, "If You wish, You can make me clean." This man was clearly moved with pity for me, so the man stretched out His hand and touched me. "I do will it," He said, "Be made clean." The dirty mess inside of me left immediately and I was made clean. It's called Confession! The man was Jesus, and the uncleanliness was my sin. Take a look at Mark 1:40-45. Naturally, like the leper who was unclean in this Gospel story, I told people about my healing during Confession. My sins were forgiven, after all. I was a second-grader when I had made my first Confession, so I wrote a whole book about it. Okay...I was in second grade, so it was a short book, but I think it was a good witness. Years later, a bunch of people and myself started following the man together. See, we were all pretty needy--we were blind and in need of sight. As we followed Jesus, we cried out, "Son of David, have pity on us!" Jesus said to us, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," we said to Him. He touched our eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." Our eyes were opened, and naturally, we spread word of Jesus throughout the land. Thanks, Matthew 9:27-31. This healing happens whenever I'm with others at Holy Mass. This miracle is performed whenever I come together with more than one person to pray. It's one thing to go by yourself, but it is a wonderful, wonderful gift to go with another person to Jesus, in which you receive healing together! A while later, I became very sick. Yes, again. It was a different type of sickness from leprosy or blindness, though. This time I was crippled. Literally, I couldn't move--I was paralyzed. Well, other people transported me. They had to carry me to Jesus because I couldn't get to Him on my own. Jesus saw that the people who carried me had great faith. "Child, your sins are forgiven," Jesus said. "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." And that is just what I did. I rose, picked up my mat, and went home. Everyone who witnessed this was astounded and glorified God. Thank you, Mark 2:1-12. This healing has happened to me numerous times. First, at Baptism, before I could even walk on my own, my parents had great faith and brought me before the Lord. Then, there are so many other times when I am just so weak with sickness like OCD or depression that I can hardly move. That is when tons upon tons of people have had faith for me and have interceded with the Lord on my behalf. They bring me to Jesus in prayer, carrying me. Next thing I know, I'm able to walk on my own and it is a miracle! Then, there was that time when I died. Yeah, I died (okay, please know I am being somewhat sarcastic, but at the same time I am being very serious). I was one of Jesus' close friends and had become very ill. My whole family was devoted to Jesus and several of my friends and acquaintances knew Jesus on a personal level. So, when I became ill, my friends and family sent word to Jesus to tell Him that the one He loved was ill. Now, as I said, Jesus loved my family and friends and myself. So, when He heard that I was ill, He stayed away from me for a couple of days. After a couple days, Jesus decided to go visit me. Well, I was long dead by the time He got there. I had been dead for four days. Apparently, Jesus already knew this, and when He came to my grave, my friends and family called out saying that "if you had been here, this beloved of yours would not have died." Jesus said, "I Am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," they said. Next, Jesus started to cry over my death, clearly showing that He loved me. People said, "Well, this man opened her eyes when she was blind. Could he not have done something so that this woman would not have died?" As I said, I was dead. But seriously, the next thing I knew, I was wrapped in burial linens in the darkness of a tomb. And Jesus was crying out in a loud voice, "Jacqueline, come out!" I got out of the tomb and walked into the light. I was alive. I was dead, and Jesus raised me up. Because of this, many began to believe in Jesus. Thank you, John 11:1-54. I know that was probably the weirdest one out of all my mini stories, but let me explain. The death and miraculous resurrection of Lazarus is the gift given to every Christian. In imitation of Christ Himself, we die. Jesus could have stopped us from dying, but if that were so, He never would have performed such a spectacular miracle! In the same way, God could have stopped Jesus from dying on the cross, but then, He never would have conquered sin and death! Mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual sufferings ail us all to some degree. As we die to ourselves in our sufferings, we are raised up in Christ. Of course, one day we will literally die and literally rise. A few more things I would like to leave you with in regards to healing and miracles. 1. Healing is not always physical. The spiritual ones are actually far greater than the physical ones. That is why Jesus said, "whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these," (John 14:12). Just as Jesus' physical body rising from the dead is awesome, His redemption of the whole world and gift of eternal unity with God is far more awesome. Physical healing is amazing, but inner healing is far greater. Even greater than one spiritual healing is tons and tons of spiritual healings. I get healed literally every day! Actually, countless times a day! God is constantly working miracles on me. Sometimes they are huge and noticeable, and sometimes I can only notice them if I talk to God and reflect on them in prayer. Whenever my soul is lifted, someone makes me laugh, a sunset is beautiful, there is grilled cheese in the cafeteria, I further understand Christ's teaching, I have a problem and it all works out, I get a soft bed after a long day, my dog licks my face, or a person encourages or sometimes even lovingly chastises me, I am healed. 2. Notice that in each healing that I listed above in a sort of story telling format (and these were very loosely based off of the healings in the Gospels. I would recommend reading the actual Gospels and praying with them) similarities can be found. 1. A person has to: A. Go to Jesus. The most concrete way to go to the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus is to go to the Eucharist. Therefore, go to a Catholic Church, because Jesus is literally all there! B. Be brought to Jesus. C. Have Jesus brought to he/she. 2. A person has to ask to be healed! Ask and it shall be given to you (Matthew 7:7)! Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. 3. You have to have faith. Jesus often asks if we believe He will do this for us. Do we really believe? We may look at ourselves and think, "Actually, I don't think I have any faith or trust in God. I do believe, but God, help my unbelief"(Mark 9:24)! Do you feel like your faith is the size of a grain of pepper? Wonderful. Jesus says that is all it takes to move mountains. "If your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20). So even if your act of faith is what you would consider pathetic, don't worry, because Jesus can work wonders with that. I mean, if mustard seeds can move mountains, I think you can at least move a hill with a grain of pepper, which is pretty cool 4. Jesus does the rest. All it takes is our one act of the will and God literally works miracles. 5. When you are healed, you gotta tell people. I said Jesus does the rest on the miracle side of healing, but He still has other work for you. That is why He says, "Rise up and walk. Go home. Come out. Arise." You've got to go tell people. Telling people will astound or cause fear in some. And telling people will cause belief in many more. Praise and bless God in conversation. When ask what you did today or over the weekend, say that you encountered Jesus during Holy Mass! Pray so that others may be healed and tell them that you are interceding on their behalf. Act with gratitude and joy because miracles are constantly at work. Jesus has already risen from the dead and the war is already won, so we don't need to be silent or secret. All that is done in hiding, will be seen in the light (Luke 8:17). You have the light of Christ in you. You can't hide it under a basket! In fact, with that mountain or hill you just moved with your faith, put the light on top of that mountain for all to see. (Matthew 5:14-16).
1 Comment
Chris Beltowski
3/19/2018 02:39:55 am
I keep telling you: you have a gift. I think you could be a teacher of some kind.
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AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
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