IF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN CURE ME


ST. IRENAEUS, BISHOP, MARTYR

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

2 Kings 25:1-12; Ps 137:1-6; Mt 8:1-4

Faith admits us to the Real Presence of God

The divine presence is present everywhere and every time. But we can only enter the presence of God by choice and through the exercise of faith. Though faith is a gift we receive from God, God communicates the gift with the revelation of his real presence. God’s self-communication is always accompanied by the possibility of human persons receiving since it is the purpose of our existence and wellbeing. But God’s self-communication does not impose itself on us; it is only a gift to be received or rejected, given our free will. The possibility of entering his divine presence, where there is fullness of redemption, remains open to everyone. In this sense, we believe that the grace of conversion is always open to every sinner, given God’s infinite mercy. The encounter between our Lord and the leper instantiates this understanding for us. “A leper now came up and bowed low in front of him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ and his leprosy was cured at once.” The leper believed that Jesus had the power to cure him of his sickness and subsequently acted on that faith by presenting himself to Jesus and asked for healing. His prayer followed the format of the petition: ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’

The leper availed himself of the nearness of our Lord Jesus Christ and the presence of God, which the humanity of Jesus Christ provides us. Just like the leper, each of us needs the grace of God in one way or another. The presence of Jesus Christ is an exercise of faith away from us. We must act on our faith to enter the presence of God, which is given everywhere to the one who has faith. In the language of our reflection this week, if we exercise our faith in our daily activities and let the word of God determine what we think, do, and say, then we are building our lives on a solid rock. But if we decide not to exercise our faith in Jesus Christ, we will carry on our daily activities without any thought of the word of God. In this case, we are building our lives on sand. A life built on sand cannot withstand the forces of turbulence coming from variations and variabilities of our mortal life. The reality of God enters into our perceptions of the world around us when we have faith and shapes our thoughts, words, and deeds. These constitute the good fruits we bear to the glory of God. An attitude of prayer keeps us steady in the presence of God, soliciting grace to do the divine will in our lives.

The people of Judah and their king consistently chose to act without faith in God. The result of consistent action without belief in God is the multiplication and development of structures that are not part of God’s design and holy will. These unholy structures are doomed to destruction. Since only the will of God endures forever, no life lived outside the plan of God can escape destruction. The subsequent destruction of the kingdom of Judah and their exile to Babylon demonstrates this truth. After the first attack of the Babylonian king and soldiers on Judah, Nebuchadnezzar enthroned Zedekiah as a vassal king and left the kingdom intact. But when the people, in disobedience to the will of God expressed by the prophets, wanted to free themselves from the shackles of Babylon without waiting on God, the whole kingdom was destroyed, and the people were exiled to Babylon. The word of God is the source of salvation and stability for us. We celebrate St. Irenaeus, who made a great effort to establish the canon of the New Testament. He went through all the books of the New Testament and gave reason for the addition of each in the canonical collection. He fought against many heresies and sects to safeguard the word of God for the Church. The word of God establishes the presence of God among us.

Let us pray: O God, who called the Bishop St. Irenaeus to confirm true doctrine and the peace of the Church, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, being renewed in faith and charity, we may always be intent on fostering unity and concord which your presence affords.


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