20th sunday-a

20th Sunday-A
Good morning/evening every one. Once Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “People exist for the sake of one another”.
I know an Italian woman of 92 years old. Every time I ask her saying, “Antoinette, pray for me”. She would say, “I always pray for my friends and my enemies”.
“So am I your friend?”
She would say, “That’s what you think”.
Prayer brings healing and when we pray for others, our soul begins to expand. As we think about a sick person and pray for that person, our way of approaching others will also change. We become more compassionate and kind not only to that person who is sick but also towards humanity. And that’s why many people go to different support groups and help others.
Even we focus on one person’s welfare, we will begin to develop a deep connection with every one who is in need. We are both social and spiritual beings and it’s our nature to feel that way. we are all connected in Christ our Lord. And that’s why we experience pain, when people suffer in Syria or in Palestine or Israel. That’s why we suffer when people suffer with Ebola in Africa and that’s why we go through pain when our Christian brothers and sisters suffer in Iraq.
Love can not be hidden. For the sake of love, we will sacrifice anything. And even we will lay down our life as Christ our Master and Savior. That is what happened with St. Maxmillian kolbe a polish catholic priest. When he was in a concentration camp, one of the prisoners escaped and as the punishment for that escape, ten men were chosen to be killed. And among the ten was an young husband. Father Maxmillian took that man’s place and suffered for two weeks of starvation, torture and finally death. It’s all happened because of the love of others. A person can not both love Christ and hate others.
In the gospels, we see two kinds of people coming to Christ our Lord. There were people coming to Christ asking for personal healing, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”. And to people who came to Him for healing, Christ asked them about their faith and then said, “According to your faith it will be done and go in peace”
And there were another group of people who came to Christ. They came to Him looking for healing not for themselves but for others. For example, a centurion who came to Christ saying, “My servant is at home paralyzed and is suffering terribly”.
Christ said, “Shall I come and heal him”
The Centurion said, “No Master, I am unworthy to have you under my roof but only say the word, my servant will be healed”.
Then another occasion, a group of people brought a paralyzed man on a mat and since the house where Jesus was so crowded, they dug a hole in the roof and through it, they let the man come to Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Son, you sins are forgiven. get up and take your mat and walk home”.
And in today’s gospel, we see a woman filled with faith following Christ and asking to heal her only child. Though in the beginning, it looked so challenging, Jesus seeing her faith says, “Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done as you wish”.
When people went to Christ looking for healing, He asked about their faith but on the other hand, when people approached Christ asking healing for others, He appreciated them and said, “your faith is great. You are doing wonderful. I am so happy that you are asking..... because our love for others will bring more healing and miracles for others.