Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Although this Gospel is deeply familiar to me, I usually focus on the miraculous meal Jesus provided. I had seldom noticed that before feeding the crowd of five thousand, Jesus was already performing miracles by healing the sick who were there.

This connection to healing reminds me of when my twin daughters were born. One of the girls had a completely severed humerus bone, and the orthopedic surgeon suspected she would suffer lifelong nerve damage. Because we had named her Therese after my favourite saint, and the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux were touring Australia at the time, I trusted in her power to intercede with Jesus.

With my two-week-old twins and my four other children, I went into the Cathedral and laid the baby on top of the receptacle containing St. Therese’s relic. I then asked all of my children to pray together, asking St. Therese to petition Jesus for the healing of their sister’s arm.

At my next appointment with the surgeon new x-rays were taken and he seemed confused. He stated that there was no indication of the break, that there was no calcification around the bone and he had no explanation for what had happened.

I knew that St Therese had interceded and Jesus had healed my baby’s arm. It wasn’t until later that I found out that the relic of St Therese in the receptacle was her humerus bone. Jesus’ compassion and healing continues in today’s modern world.

Who do you want to bring before Jesus for healing?