Christ's Healing Is the Real Thing
Gospel Commentary for 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

ROME, JAN. 25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Gospel passage for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time closes with these words: "Jesus went about all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and infirmity of the people."

About one-third of the Gospel is concerned with the healings performed by Jesus during the brief time of his public life. It is impossible to eliminate these miracles or try to give a natural explanation to them without pulling apart the whole Gospel and making it incomprehensible.

The miracles of the Gospel have unmistakable characteristics. They are never done to stupefy or promote the one who does them. Some today allow themselves to be enchanted by certain people who possess powers of levitation, or who can make objects appear and disappear, or who can do other things of this sort. Who gains anything from these types of miracles, supposing that they are miracles? Only those who perform them; they recruit disciples or make money.

Jesus works miracles out of compassion, because he loves people. He also works miracles to help them believe. He heals, ultimately, to proclaim that God is the God of life and that, in the end, together with death, sickness too will be defeated and "there will be no more mourning nor weeping."

It is not only Jesus who heals, but he also orders his disciples to do the same after him: "He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the infirm" (Luke 9:2). "Preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick" (Matthew 10:7ff.). We always find the two things linked: preaching the Gospel and healing the sick.

Man has two ways to try to overcome his infirmities: nature and grace. Nature indicates intelligence, science, medicine, technology; grace indicates direct recourse to God, through faith and prayer and the sacraments. The latter are the means that the Church has at its disposal to "heal the sick."

Evil begins when we try to take a third route: the way of magic, that which appeals to a person's supposed hidden powers, which are not based on science nor on faith. In such a case, either we are dealing with a total charlatan and illusion or, what is worse, with the enemy of God.

It is not hard to determine when we are dealing with a true gift of healing and when it is a magical counterfeit. In the first case the person never attributes the results that are obtained to his own powers, but to God; in the second case people are doing nothing other than showing off their own pretended "extraordinary powers."

When you read advertisements that claim so-and-so the magician "succeeds where others fail," "solves all problems," "is recognized to have extraordinary powers," "expels demons, rids you of the evil eye," you need not have a moment's doubt: You are dealing with a fraud. Jesus said that demons are chased out by "fasting and prayer," not by giving people money!

But we must ask ourselves another question: What about those people who, despite everything, are not healed? What do you think? Do they not have faith? Does God not love them?

If the persistence of a disease were a sign that a person did not have faith, or that God does not love him, we would have to say that the saints had the least amount of faith and that they were the least loved by God, because some of them spent their whole lives in bed. No, the answer is different.

God's power is not manifested in just one way, say, in eliminating evil or in physical healings. God's power also manifests itself in giving the ability, and sometimes the joy, of carrying our own cross with Christ and in making up what is lacking in his sufferings.

Christ also redeemed suffering and death. It is no longer the sign of sin, participation in Adam's fault, but rather it is the instrument of redemption.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

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Father Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher. The readings for this Sunday are Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23.

Two brothers-Peter and Andrew-are casting nets in Lake Galilee, "for they were fishermen," our text says. That means they fished to survive. Their fathers fished. Their grandfathers fished. As far back as they had memory; fishing had probably been in their family. Suddenly, some passer-by, who doesn't even introduce himself comes up and "nets" them. Says, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Our storyteller at once interjects the word euthus, “at once," to describe their response. At once they drop their nets in the moist sand and foam at the edge of the boat and these anglers follow this passer-by. The trio now follow the water's edge behind Jesus until they happen upon two other fishermen. They're not fishing but carefully mending a broken net. What happens next is deja vu.

Two brothers. Both anglers at work. Called. And the same word is used to describe their response, euthus "at once." They too, drop what they're doing and follow. These four men, skilled anglers just up and turn their backs on everything they have held sacred. All commitments are dropped. A father still sits stunned in the boat as he watches his son leave the family business. A hired man whistles his disbelief. The last scene we have are five men walking single file off around the shore of Galilee.

The difficult thing about this story is the fishermen's unflinching, immediate decision to follow this man. Where’s the rational "let’s think this over." Or "I’ll get back to you?" We have no indication that they had counted the cost. We’re not even sure that they stopped long enough to say goodbye to family and friends. Just up and leave everything connected to their life. Is this responsible behaviour?

"Hi, Guess what I did at work today? I decided today to retire early."
"Oh? But you're only 35 years old."
"I know, but I've been thinking about it for awhile."
"And when did you come to this decision?"
"During lunch."

No, that's not normal behaviour to just up and throw caution to the wind and make quick decisions. To make commitments without thinking things through. Were these four men foolish, fickle, irresponsible or what?
Or is there something else going on here that Matthew wants us to catch? Have they heard something, some scrap of good news, something that generations of their fishing people had waited to hear?

Just prior to this episode our lesson says, "From that time on Jesus became to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’" Mark’s account of Jesus' message is even more explicit: "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, ‘the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news.’"

Good News had finally come down to the docks. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." Those were code red words to pious Jews. Their idea of the scheme of things consisted in a single line drawn in the dirt. On the left side of the line was the Age of the Evil One ; a kingdom marked by darkness, sin, sickness, pain and death, and evil demons which made life difficult. But on the right side of the line was the promised Age of the Spirit-a kingdom brought about by Messiah in which light, healing, restoration, wholeness, and forgiveness ruled.

How convinced are we of the Good News that Jesus brings?

Maybe you've had some hesitation like I had growing up, I always had the sneaking suspicion that the Good News was really bad news in disguise. That if I really took this stuff seriously I'd end up in Nepal as a missionary wearing hand-me-down clothes. Maybe we're all of us deep down inside frightened of the changes that such a commitment might require of us.

Take sharing the gospel for instance. How do we do that for heaven's sake? Well our story does encourage us not to keep the faith, but to share the faith. But is that all? This command to witness? To evangelize? No, that's not all there is to this story.

Remember the second two fishermen? They're the ones sitting in the boat and mending their nets. Remember them? They're not out there pounding the waters for fish or people. Just sitting there mending. That word "mend" means to "restore to its former condition," "to fix or repair something."

Jesus watches those thick fishing hands deftly repairing the frayed, broken cords of the fishing nets. Fishing involves not only throwing a net to catch fish, but also mending nets. This same Greek word is later used by Paul to describe our task of mending people. That's also our job. People menders. Broken life-fixers. Repairing torn lives.

Are you convinced that God's Good News is Great News? Those who accept the challenge to "follow Jesus" and become fishermen and women in God's kingdom will make the joyful discovery that using their gifts and mending lives is the one of the most rewarding avocations in life. No wonder the four fishermen left immediately and followed Jesus. So move over, Peter, Andrew, James and John, make room for a new generation of followers.