Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 14: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 89: 1 – 18: Evening, Psalm 89: 19 – 52;
Judges 12:1to 7; Acts 5:12 to 26; John 3:1 to 21:
“Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.” (Acts 5: 14 – 16)
This is a testament to the power of faith. I am a Star Wars fan (fanatic). In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker’s spacecraft is submerged in a swamp. Yoda, the Jedi Master, tries to have Luke raise it using the Force. Luke fails and replies, “You want the impossible.” Yoda then uses the Force and lifts the craft out of the muck. Luke tells Yoda “I didn’t believe it could be done.” Yoda replies, “That is why you failed.” Star Wars is fictional art but beautifully crafted and contains certain truths in terms of our human story and the real power of belief.
The people, both men and women, who carried their sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats in order that Peter’s shadow might pass over them were beyond asking Peter personally to see them and heal them. They believed in the presence and healing power of one who was handpicked by our Lord Jesus and who was with him after he was raised from the dead by God. If he has a shadow then he exists. They needed nothing else. They “believed” that the evidence of his presence, his shadow, would heal their loved ones and cast out unclean spirits, and they were vindicated.
Beloved of the Lord, all the medicine we will ever need is already in us. Time after time when people were praising Jesus for their healing, Jesus would tell them, “Go, your faith has made you well.” Our faith still makes us well. And like the men and women who took their loved ones to Peter’s shadow, it was not the faith of sick ones that brought the healings, rather, it was the faith of the believing family and friends that brought them near to Peter that brought about the cure. And this happened whether Peter even knew about it or not. Faith still moves mountains. All we need to do is believe and we too will be made well, or cause to be made well, those dear to us. If we don’t believe, we have failed already.
And speaking of healing, today we remember Florence Nightingale:
“Florence Nightingale, whom we remember today, was born to a wealthy English family in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. Like most mystics, Florence had a very prayerful side. In truth, she was an Anglican, and, as an Anglican, she remained committed to a personal mystical religion, which sustained her through many years of poor health until her death in 1910. Until the end of her life, although her illness prevented her from leaving her home, she continued in frequent spiritual conversation with many prominent church leaders of the day, including the local parish priest, who regularly brought Communion to her. By the time of her death on August 13, 1910, her accomplishments and legacy were widely recognized, and she is honored throughout the world as the founder of the modern profession of nursing.” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for August 12)
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Dear Risen Lord Jesus, as you are the creating and sustaining portion of God; sustain our believing in your healing and allow our faith in you, to make manifest in us, healing in whatever way we believe it will work for us. You who live and love forever and ever, Amen.
onewhoponders 