“Power came forth from Him [that] healed them all.”

Tuesday 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Josephinum seminary

“Power came forth from Him [that] healed them all.” (Lk 6:19)

To return to one of my favourite questions:

What was it like to be in His presence?

And, as I often reflect, the reaction of the people shows us so much:

They sought Him out.

They came from vast distances:

The phrase, “the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon” 

means the Mediterranean -not the nearby lake of Galilee

means they came from gentile as well as Jewish towns

-as St Bede and St Cyril note, in St Thomas’s Catena Aurea (p.206)

They came  

“to hear”

“to be healed”

To have “unclean spirits” cast out

“Power came forth from Him [that] healed them all.” (Lk 6:19)

(pause)

As priests, power goes forth from us too.

As priests, it is a power 

to teach, 

that they might again “hear”, in a world of confusion

to comfort and console the distressed, 

that they might again “be healed” in a world of brokenness

The people long ago sought to “touch” the Lord

In many ways, they seek to touch us too

NOT

not because of something that is ours per se, 

but because of something we ourselves have touched and continually touch: 

The Lord 

 

St Ambrose points out a symbolism to be found in this passage (in St Thomas’s Catena Aurea (p.207)):

Jesus ascends the “mountain”, to the heavenly,

before DESCENDING to the “plain”, to the crowd, the earthly

Thus, might well say that, 

The mountain and the plain both meet in Him

Heaven and earth meet in Him

God and man meet in Him

And, if we want that “power” to touch others, this is what we must first touch ourselves.

(pause)

Here in seminary, there are many things we seek to do in you and to you

We seek to teach you

We seek to form and remedy human issues in you

But these, and many other things, PALE in comparison to the importance of leading you to a deeper encounter with the Lord.

The “power” that people will seek in you

The “power” that can “go forth” from you

-this power is not YOURS but HIS

So, we must first seek to come and touch Him ourselves.