Sermons & Homilies
In its simplicity, even a child could tell us that the purpose of this account is the importance of thankfulness to God, but what is the importance of thankfulness? Why be thankful? Is it only a matter of politeness or good manners or a sign of a well-bred individual? Perhaps we think there is a social code that is important to keep, which amounts to my being upset if you do not thank me for something I have done for you. Even if these questions are worthy of consideration, the point in question is much deeper and has further-reaching effects.
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Thankfulness is not first and foremost a matter of politeness, good manners, or a social code, but a spiritual act by which we commune with God and through which God also communicates with us.
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Why have these stories been recorded? To grant us hope amidst our physical and spiritual struggles, weaknesses, passions, and sins. If our Merciful Lord sought out those who were afflicted without being directly asked, how much more will He come, in His own time, to us who seek Him out!
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We hear in today’s Gospel passage an account of two people coming to the Lord in desperation, each begging for His help in a totally hopeless situation. And it is this fact which is of the greatest importance: despite all evidence, and even in absolute defiance of simple common sense, neither of these two people despaired of the power of God to heal what no earthly skill or craft or knowledge could possibly heal.
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The account, which we have just heard, is found only in the Gospel of Luke. It speaks of Jesus, being in the Temple on the Sabbath and encountering a woman who was bent over forwards for eighteen years. This ailment is described as a “spirit of infirmity”(vs. 11) under which she was unable to straighten herself up.
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