Love and Healing

02-05-2017Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

Now that we have turned the page into February, we once again understand that time clicks along whether we like it or not. Transitioning into this month will mark countless events for us personally and collectively. We also need to become more aware that Lent is less than 30 days away: are you preparing to make the best Lent ever? Afford yourself some intentional prayer time asking the Holy Spirit to guide your prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Before we begin Lent, we need to live these days of February. There are two annual celebrations which may or may not have importance in your life. If these two dates are important to you, great. If not, consider making these dates more valuable to yourself. The first is the recognition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 11 February. Our celebration on this date recognizes the visits of the Blessed Mother to St. Bernadette in France. One of the memorable miracles of her apparitions is the spring of water which arose from the ground. Many pilgrims visit this spring, even today, and discover spiritual favors. Often the spiritual favors come through physical healing.

The second date is the recognition of Valentine's Day. Though the Church does not formally celebrate Saint Valentine on Valentine's Day, we know the festivities of the day have roots in St. Valentine's life. If anything, Valentine's Day is an opportunity for us to remember our love for others and to receive love from others. As an aside, one of St. Valentine's amazing tasks was to bring people to the love of Jesus. In turn, many people converted to Christianity because of his work.

Taking the opportunity to join these two themes together, we obviously see the connection of love and healing. As life goes on, I seem to discover that many people, especially as they near death, rely upon Jesus for His love and healing. Perhaps our attraction to the faith is because of the love and healing Jesus demonstrates in the Scriptures and promises to those who follow Him.

In our modern age, even in our quiet corner of the world, we experience a significant amount of division among family members and others who live and work around us. We don't have to look too far to witness the ugliness of tension among God's people. Much of that division is rooted in the lack of love and healing. We have made choices to continue the friction, rather than to bring mercy. And, much of that unrest begins with us and our personal relationship with Jesus. We carry a tremendous amount of guilt for our decisions and continue to avoid the sacraments which bring about the mercy of God. And, in particular, we stay away from the Sacrament of Penance for any myriad of reasons. All of the perpetuation of friction personally translates into the divisions we wallow in collectively.

Maybe the intercession of St. Valentine and Our Lady of Lourdes will deepen our sense of the sacred in our lives. Perhaps the love and healing they preach will inspire us to grow deeper in our relationship with the living God. And maybe we'll respond to the voice of Jesus who continues to call us to reconciliation will give us courage to once again approach the Sacrament of Penance. There, when we make good and frequent confessions, we experience the direct connection of Jesus' love and healing for us.

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