Healing

I was so excited to start back through the book of Ephesians with my small group. I love St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 4:1. While he is in prison, Paul is urging the Ephesians to “live in a manner worthy of the call [they] have received.” This verse speaks to me because it’s about living up to the call that God has for each one of us. God can help lead each of us to our vocation, our calling.

I have this verse framed in my office. It’s the Scriptural reason why I left my work in agronomy and took a leap to enter work in the Church. It is a verse that I’ve used to encourage others who were searching for what path they were supposed to take, and it’s a verse I’ve used to steer others back to reality of the path they are supposed to stay on. 

Also on the list of “why I like the book of Ephesians” is Chapter 6. It is here that St. Paul talks about putting on the armor of God in our battle against evil. We must hold our faith as a shield, wear the helmet of salvation, and take the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-17). When I read this, the superhero fan in me is ignited. This is why I idolized Wonder Woman at a young age. I wanted to feel like a warrior! I wanted to feel strong, but yet, protected.

However, I realize that it was this exact desire that led me to live much of my life independently from God. I knew He was there, but I chose to live in my own circle of control. When things didn’t turn out the way I planned, I discovered that it was often hard work that could change the outcome. So I worked harder. I took the paths where I could help pave the way.

Returning to this study of Ephesians has been a bit painful at the start. I am definitely aware of the resurfacing of the hurt and how my actions harmed my relationship with God and with others. However, God does not want us to stay sitting with this hurt or this pain. With Him, there is healing. But healing hurts. It is not comfortable. We want to be healed, but the hardest part is getting there. Healing forces us to go back to those areas of hurt. Confront the issue. Name the pain.

This week and in this weekend’s Gospel, we hear about Jesus’ healings in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus drives out the evil spirits from Legion, heals the hemorrhaging woman and Jairus’ daughter and Peter’s mother-in-law. People turn to Jesus for healing. What do they all have in common? Faith. All of them have faith that Jesus can heal, or in the case of Jairus’ daughter, Jairus held the faith for her healing. Jesus even gives the reason for the healing: “Your faith has saved you” (Mark 5:34).

Many of us are seeking healing right now. If we’re honest, we see that we are all a work in progress, and we can strive for constant refinement of our imperfection while we are on this side of heaven. Maybe our healing stems from a recent incident that is pressing on us. It could be healing from our past hurt. Or maybe it’s healing from a physical ailment, our poor judgment, a grieving heart, our lack of self-worth, our shame, our pride…we all have some healing to do. 

God wants to heal everything we’re holding on to. It is easier said than done in most cases. We don’t always carry in our hearts and in our minds the faith that saves us. But when we turn to our faith and rest in it, we allow the brunt of the work to be placed on God’s shoulders. It is our job to cooperate with Him to work on as much as humanly possible. Let’s ask God for the strength, the faith, to allow Him to enter our healing. May we hold our faith as a shield, and let our faith save us.