Fr. Roger J. Landry
The Anchor
Putting Into the Deep
February 29, 2008
The Lord worked many miracles of healing in the Gospel. He did them as a response to faith and in order to buttress others’ faith in him, in his words, and in his saving deeds.
One miracle with a particular Lenten theme took place in a packed house in Capernaum. A paralyzed man on a stretcher was brought by four of his friends to Jesus. Finding no way to get into the house, they climbed up on the roof, opened it, and lowered their friend in the midst of the crowd before Jesus. It was obvious to everyone why the paralyzed man and his faith-filled friends were there, to ask Jesus to cure the paralysis. But Jesus had an even greater and more important healing in mind. “Child,” he said, “your sins are forgiven.”
After many of the scribes began to murmur that Jesus was blaspheming, since only God has the power to forgive sins, Jesus, in order to show his identity and power to forgive sins, said to the paralyzed man, “Rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He got up, lifted his stretcher, and walked out the door, to the total astonishment of the crowd (Mk 2:1-12).
That miracle came to life in an overwhelming way about a month ago, when the Lord miraculously healed one of my parishioners, Jose Amaral, 47, of the various ailments that for years have rendered him crippled.
Joe has long been well-known and loved by the members of my parish, who have found it impossible not to notice and admire his deep faith. Since St. Anthony’s presently has no handicapped access, Joe has had to leave his wheelchair in his van and use forearm crutches to get up the stairs into the Church as well as to come down the long aisles of the Church, dragging his feet behind, to receive Holy Communion. But he has always done so without self-pity or complaint because, he said, God and the beauty of St. Anthony’s were worth the extra effort.
On the feast of the Presentation, as I was taking off my vestments after Mass, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Joe walk erect into the sacristy and stand before me with a smile broader than the Braga Bridge. He told me the story of how the Lord — through, he believes, the intercession of Pope John Paul II —healed him. I then asked him to write the story up so that I could share it with his fellow parishioners as well as send it to the postulator of Pope John Paul’s cause in Rome. Here’s some of what he wrote:
When I was 19, in 1979, I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, which has since then been a source of great discomfort and pain. I also have had for years arthritis all over. In February 2003, things got worse. I collapsed at work and was diagnosed with Cervical Myelopathy, which is a stroke of the spine. The neurologist and neurosurgeon both said that there was considerable nerve damage. Throughout the past five years, I’ve gotten progressively worse and have had to have five surgeries on account of these conditions.
“On Saturday, January 26, I prayed over the entry in the booklet ‘My Meditation on the Gospel.’ It concerned the passages in Mark 2:1-12 and Lk 5:17-26 when Jesus cured the paralytic. You remember the story: Jesus first healed the paralyzed man of his sins and then cured him of his physical paralysis.
“That afternoon I went to confession so that Jesus could heal me of my sins. Something happened during that confession that I cannot explain, but I felt different…
“Later that night I was sitting in my chair at home and meditating on the experience in the confessional. I looked over to the picture that I have of the late great Pope John Paul II, and I asked him to help me to understand God’s will and plans for me. After I had said this prayer, I turned on the television to EWTN and what was on but the movie ‘Witness to Hope,’ the visual biography of … Pope John Paul II. That is when something came over me that is very difficult to explain. I just kept remembering the late Pope’s words, ‘Be not afraid!’
“Sunday through Wednesday I felt different. I was very calm and began to walk a little better with my forearm crutches, but I didn’t say much about it to anyone. On Wednesday afternoon about 3, I was praying the chaplet of divine mercy, and I looked over at Pope John Paul II’s picture. I decided to get up and try to walk around without my crutches. I was able to do it, for the first time in years! I have not felt this good since 1979. … Every day I feel stronger and I am standing the straightest I’ve ever stood in 28 years. Thanks be to God!”
Joe says that he believes there is no coincidence that the miracle seemed to begin in the confessional and finish with the chaplet of divine mercy, for he is convinced that the greater healing he received, like the paralytic in the Gospel, was the healing of his soul. He believes that the astounding cure of his condition is meant to be a sign to people in 2008 of the Lord’s power and desire to heal us above all of our sins.
He also believes that Pope John Paul’s intercession was linked to this greater experience of the Lord’s mercy. He notes that the late Pope several times wrote about the importance of confession, showed it by hearing confessions in St. Peter’s, and promoted it through inaugurating Divine Mercy Sunday. He also says the healing warmth began to be felt in the confessional as he discussed with his confessor the inspiring example and intercession of the late pope.
Last week, Joe met with his doctor, who was totally astounded, as were the members of his staff. Dr. Conroy told him that there is simply no medical explanation whatsoever for how Joe is walking again or how his various other conditions, like his severe Carpal Tunnel syndrome, seem to have totally disappeared as well.
The age of miracles, in response to faith and to buttress faith, is obviously not over. The greatest and most common of all occurs in the confessional.