Monday, October 29, 2018

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102918.cfm

Today, in Mercy, Jesus touches the bent-over woman, uncurling her infirmity into unimagined glory. This passage, like a time-lapse photo, shows her long-burdened spirit awaken, stretch into grace, and blossom at the fingertips of God!

O Sacred Spring for her long-wintered soul!

We pray with her today to our gracious Jesus, Who bypasses laws of Sabbath and humans, to spring loose the Spirit from any hibernation.

What joy or hope lies dormant in us – or in our beloveds – from years of doubt, fear or unbelieving? Is there a needed grace or healing we have grown almost tired of desiring?

Let us bring it to God in trust today, walking beside this bent-over woman. Though she could not yet look in His eyes, she knew He saw her, loved her, and would heal her.

We might pray with a poem by Mary Oliver which captures some of the same emotions as the powerful Gospel passage:

Every morning

the world

is created.

Under the orange

sticks of the sun

the heaped

ashes of the night

turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches—

and the ponds appear

like black cloth

on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.

If it is your nature

to be happy

you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination

alighting everywhere.

And if your spirit

carries within it

the thorn

that is heavier than lead—

if it’s all you can do

to keep on trudging—

there is still

somewhere deep within you

a beast shouting that the earth

is exactly what it wanted—

each pond with its blazing lilies

is a prayer heard and answered

lavishly,

every morning,

whether or not

you have ever dared to be happy,

whether or not you have ever

dared to pray.

Music: Healer of My Soul – John Michael Talbot

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5PLdnz5UdU