Monday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel story Jesus is the guest speaker in a synagogue on the Sabbath.  While he was talking he saw a woman who was bent over, crippled by an evil spirit, unable to stand erect.  So, he stopped speaking, called her to himself and laying his hand on her, freed her from the spirit of affliction.

This reminds me of what happened on a Sunday when I was helping out at Genesee Abbey in New York.  Abbot John Eudes was giving the homily when a woman in the guest section close to the altar suddenly fainted.  He stopped speaking and immediately knelt down next to her, took her pulse and stayed with her until she recovered consciousness. When he knew that she was going to be okay he went back to the pulpit and told the guests that he was also a medical doctor and he needed to give the woman his full attention and care as a physician. We were all struck with awe by this compassionate and gifted priest. 

Jesus did the same thing, showing that taking care of this crippled woman was even more important than the Sabbath. She didn’t ask to be healed. Jesus did it on his own, because she was a “daughter of Abraham”, a person whom he loved, and he wanted everyone to know it.