| John 5:1–16 |
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus heals a man who was physically ill for thirty-eight years. I want to make an observation about another manifestation of Christ’s power: his spiritual healing. The Gospels are filled with accounts of Jesus’ healing encounters with those whose spiritual energies are unable to flow. Much of Jesus’ ministry consisted in teaching people how to see (the kingdom of God), how to hear (the voice of the Spirit), how to walk (thereby overcoming the paralysis of the heart), how to be free of themselves so as to discover God. It is interesting that Jesus was referred to in the early Church as the Savior (soter in Greek and salvator in Latin). Both terms speak of the one who brings healing. The “soul” is that still point at the heart of every person, that deepest center, that point of encounter with the transcendent yet incarnate mystery of God. When the soul is healthy, it is in a living relationship with God; it is firmly rooted in the soil of meaning and is the deepest center of the person. Bishop Robert Barron |
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