Homily for Monday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle II
Theme: Healing through Faith
By: Fr. Gerald M. Musa
Homily for Monday February 7 2022
I met a group called Prayer Shawl Ministry for the first time at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Sugarland. They knitted shawls prayerfully and gave the shawls to the sick and anyone who needed them. These shawls were reminders of God’s warm and tender love and served as sacramentals for the afflicted. The Shawl Ministry makes sense considering the biblical story of people who received healing by touching the fringe of the garment of Jesus. People “begged Jesus that they might touch even the fringe (hem, border or edges) of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well” (Mark 6:56). The faith of the people brought them healing; the fringe of the garment was the visible instrument that evoked their faith. We recall how the woman with the flow of blood received healing through touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment with faith (Mark 5:27-28). We also remember how “God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them” (Acts of the Apostles 19:11-12). Even today we receive blessing and healing through blessed objects which are commonly known as sacramentals and these elements include Holy Water, Candles, blessed images, oils, and crucifix. Do we know that we too can receive healing when we approach God with a strong faith and the right disposition?
Mark 6:53-56; Monday, 5th Week.
