10/30/2023 (Monday) Today’s gospel reading: Luke 13:10-17

10 Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
11 And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
13 He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
15 The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?
16 This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?”
17 When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

10/30/2023 (Monday) Today’s gospel reflection / homily / sermon: Luke 13:10-17

In this gospel reading, a crippled woman goes to the temple with no fear or shame. She has been crippled physically for eighteen years but her faith in God was never crippled. We could assumed that she has offered her disability to God and accepted her condition. The gospel does not say that she expected a miracle on this particular Sabbath but Jesus was there too. We could also assumed that Jesus waited for her and when He caught sight of her, she called her, laid His hands on her and set her free. The gospel says the woman stood up straight at once and then glorified God.

Yes let us glorify God for His healing power. He is compassionate. He knows our infirmities and He wants to heal us, set us free and make us whole. Like the woman in the gospel, let us go to church faithfully even if many things weigh us down – sickness, disabilities, broken-heart, and broken relationships. God is waiting for us there.

And let us not forget, God can heal us even on Sundays and other days of obligation. His mercy and compassion knows not what day or hour. Yet we must always remember, God has His own timing. It may take many years but like the woman, our own healing and deliverance will come at a time we least expect it. So let us learn to wait with full trust that in His time, our prayers will be answered.

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