June 30th, 2024 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The whole spectrum of patients in need of healing is on full display in today’s gospel: a long-suffering woman; an anxious, powerless father; and a critically ill little girl. All three are in desperate need of healing. There is nowhere else to turn but Jesus. And Jesus, who is the very Compassion of God, responds with a simple touch, a liberating word, and an outstretched hand.  

It seems we are always in need of healing.  There are many helpful instruments of healing, but the ultimate source of healing is the grace of Christ. Nowhere is the Lord’s grace more powerful than in the sacraments --the sacrament of sick, the sacrament of reconciliation, and the Eucharist.  As Jesus says to all of us in the gospel story today: all we have to do is “just have faith.”