Hundreds if not thousands of people were following Jesus around like needy puppies because they were seeking deliverance from unclean spirits and, as we are told in today’s Gospel account, many of them were cured.

When we read stories like this about Jesus it’s understandable that we become a bit suspicious. I struggle to cure myself of a common cold, but Jesus cured thousands from diseases and unclean spirits. We can think to ourselves; did this really happen? Or is this another nice story with a spiritual message?

Jesus was a miraculous healer and there is evidence to show that miraculous healings are the reason why the first preachers of the faith were taken so seriously. Meaning that Christ the divine physician lives on through his people and his Church. Yes, every time you visit a Catholic hospital, clinic or nursing home you run into the outstretched arms of Christ the divine physician. More specifically, Christ continues to heal his sinful and sick children through his Sacraments.

In this modern dimension of the deliverance from unclean spirits the whole apostolic dimension of Christ’s mission lives on through the Catholic Church. Let us open our lives this day to God’s healing love, setting us free from all that would seek to bind and entrap us.  

by Fr Isaac Falzon