Pope Francis reflects on Jesus’ healing ministry during the Angelus Sunday, the first to be held in St. Peter’s Square, while anti-greed remedial measures are slowly diminished.
By Christopher Wells
The healing of St. Peter’s mother-in-law is characteristic of Jesus’ healing miracles, Pope Francis said during his weekly address at the Angelus. In the Gospel of Saint Mark, we read that Jesus approached her, took her hand and lifted her from the bed where she was running a fever.
The episode also shows the result of the healing: the person healed immediately resumes his normal life, thinking immediately of others and not of himself. This, says the Pope, “is significant, it is a sign of true ‘health'”.
Jesus’ special love for those who suffer
That same night, after the sabbatical, the people of the village come to Jesus, bringing the sick and the possessed with them. “From the beginning” of the Gospel, “Jesus shows his preference for those who suffer in body and spirit”, says Pope Francis, explaining: “It is the Father’s preference, which Jesus incarnates and manifests in his work and word. “
The Pope notes that the disciples are “eyewitnesses” to the Lord’s miracles. Jesus, however, does not expect them to be mere “spectators”, but invites them to participate in his mission. “He gives them the power to heal the sick and cast out demons.”
An integral part of the Church’s mission
This shows that caring for the sick is not an “optional activity” for the Church, but an integral part of its mission; like Jesus, the Church is called to “bring the tenderness of God to suffering humanity”. Pope Francis points to the next “World Day of the Sick” on February 11th.
The Church’s commitment to assisting the sick, “this essential mission of the Church”, is particularly relevant today, says the Pope, when the world is experiencing the pandemic. Once again, he continues, “the words of Job” in today’s liturgy speak “to our human condition, so high in dignity and at the same time so fragile”.
Responding to suffering with love
Jesus, says Pope Francis, does not give an explanation that answers the question of suffering. Instead, He responds “with a presence of love that bends, takes the one who is suffering by the hand and lifts him, just as he did with Peter’s mother-in-law.” Pope Francis continues: “The Son of God does not manifest His Lordship ‘from top to bottom’ or from a distance; but in proximity, in tenderness, in compassion. “
Rooted in the relationship with the Father
Finally, Pope Francis notes that the readings of the day remind us that Jesus’ compassion for sufferers is rooted “in his intimate relationship with the Father”: In the Gospel, Jesus rises “very early before dawn” and goes to a place desert pray. It is from prayer, says the Pope, that Jesus “took the strength to carry out His ministry, preaching and healing”.
Updated at 2:30 pm.