First, a Quick Update:
It seems that I write like I talk: too much. Thus, some people missed a key detail in the last post about Amelia’s Rosary Pilgrimage.
It’s happening in person. We’ll walk as a group from our home in Northridge to our parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, and back again. A few people have already RSVPed; please let us know if you can make it, too.
If you’re too far to make it on Saturday, October 1st, please consider praying a rosary in solidarity from wherever you are.
A Story of Healing
On the Hallow app today, they retold the story of the healing of Jairus’ daughter, from the perspective of the father. As the father of a very sick girl myself, you can imagine how important this story is for me.
As a writer, the story holds further interest because of its unusual structure. It’s called “intercalation,” when one story interrupts another. When this comes up in Sunday mass, we never read about Jairus’ daughter in isolation; instead, we also hear about the bleeding woman who stops Jesus on the way to Jairus’ house. In Mark and Luke’s versions of the story, the little girl dies during the delay. (In Matthew’s, she’s already dead.)
After healing the bleeding woman, Jesus ignores the crowd’s objections and continues on to Jairus’ home. He takes the little girl’s hand and says “Talitha cumi" - “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And, of course, she does. Two miraculous healings in one day!
The point of the interruption is twofold, I think. First, it tells us that Jesus does things in His own time. It’s not that Jairus asks for help and Jesus just immediately does it, like a servant. Jesus took care of the daughter when the time was right.
Second, it shows that hope is never lost. The girl was dead. Just imagine how angry Jairus must’ve been, seeing the bleeding woman waylay Jesus. But Jesus made time for both the woman and the little girl.
It’s impossible for us, trapped in time as we are, to know why Jesus seems to delay in answering our prayers. All we can do is hope and wait for the right time.
Feast of Padre Pio
Speaking of time and healing, today happens to be the St. Pio of Pietrelcina, or Padre Pio, for short. Regular readers know we visited the Shrine of Padre Pio a few weeks ago. Several friends and family have offered prayers to Padre Pio, asking for his intercession.
Today being his feast day, I think it would be appropriate to offer his Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a prayer Pio recited every day.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek, and I ask for the grace of curing Amelia of her metachromatic leukodystrophy.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask any thing of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” Behold, in your holy name, Jesus, I ask the Father for the grace of returning Amelia to the fullness of health, so she can walk, talk, think, and pray.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by Your infallible words I now ask for the grace of bringing us, all who say this prayer, and all who love Amelia, closer to You through the miraculous healing of Amelia.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender mother and ours.
Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.