IF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN CURE ME
ST. IRENAEUS, BISHOP, MARTYR
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.
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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