Showing posts with label diseases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diseases. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

They brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them

 
 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  
 
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 
 
- Matthew 4:18-25 
 
Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, / By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, / Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
 
  And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.   My study Bible asks us to understand that these first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and so they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, it notes, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to the be the wisest of all.  
 
 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  My study Bible says that we should note that these crowds do not swarm Jesus when He commands repentance (as in yesterday's reading; see the final verse, above), but only as He begins to heal and work miracles.  This fact, it says, shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of His Kingdom.  It also shows Christ's concession, according to Theopylact, "to give credibility to what He teaches" among the fickle multitudes.  
 
Jesus reveals the presence of the Kingdom with Him in the healings that He does.  He heals diseases and torments, epilepsy, paralysis, and of course this goes hand in hand with casting out demons from those who were possessed.  This is all an expression of the Kingdom very present with Him, and of course, a manifestation of His power and authority in His identity as Son.  But, as we discussed in yesterday's reading and commentary, all the things that Christ is, and that entire presence of the Kingdom that encompasses all that He teaches and will do, including even Judgment, are part and parcel of what comes with Christ.  We can pick and choose healing, or casting out demons, but we can't leave out repentance, for this is basic and fundamental to His gospel message.  It is a sad and tragic thing when people suffer; when they suffer from diseases that afflict in terrible ways, when people die.  These things are "not fair."   In the historical understanding of the Church, these afflictions are a part of the effects of sin in the world, and that includes death and all that comes with it.  But each one of us will contend with death in one way or another, and what that means is that the ways in which we meet death, or any of the varied forms of death we encounter in life, such as illness and suffering, injustice, and the entire gamut of myriad things that are detrimental to life, must first of all be the encounter with Christ.  He is the One who transfigured death on the Cross, defeated it, but in His suffering created meaning and purpose.  We also, turning to Him in our distress, must meet all of our suffering and ailments with Him, and the fullness of what He is and teaches us.  Many people look to the amazing healings described in the Gospels and think that prayer's effectiveness is only about those times of trouble we have and the banishing of that trouble, like using a magic wand to fix our problems, or saying particular words that will have this effect.  Some see Christ's preaching as teaching us that all we have to do is believe that we have what we want, and call on His name, and it will be manifest.  But this is not the fullness of His ministry and message.  Even St. Paul writes that he had to accept an affliction, for he had received so many blessings and revelations, and been granted so many graces by God that, as he says, "a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure."  Praying about this "thorn in the flesh," this "messenger of Satan," he was told by God, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Can we, in our quest for healing, accept what St. Paul says here?  That his own thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, was allowed intentionally for the greater glory of God, that his weakness was in fact a way through which God's strength is made perfect?  How many of us can accept so fully this gospel that we could meet our own afflictions this way, finding meaning and even intention and purpose in our suffering?  But St. Paul met his suffering in prayer, and embraced the message that God had for him.  He concludes, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  It is a healthy and good thing to seek life, to reject death in all its forms, and to find the good and abundant reality of creation which God has given us and of which we are a part.  But when we substitute something else, an idol even of something nominally good, for the fullness of Christ and the meanings and grace to be found in the transfiguration of life possible through faith, then we're missing the mark -- we're failing to find what God has in mind for us and the beauty therein.  None of us wants to suffer; even more so, none wants to see their loved ones suffer in any way.  The mother of God, Mary, comes to mind when we think of her watching her Son suffer and die.  This kind of agony we wish upon no one.  And yet, she accepted God's reality for her; it was her faith that guided her response to even the worst cruelties of life.  These things are also great and profound mysteries; they are difficult to fathom, more difficult even to see when we are in distress.  But prayer will see us through them, even in the times when God's grace must be sufficient for us, when God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, or that of someone we love.  An acceptance of the potentials of meaning even within suffering shifts our perspective to one of compassion, and transcendence.  We find a dignity in forbearance but most of all in our capacity for care in the midst of imperfection, a beauty in seeing the grace that is still possible in the expression of faith and of love and the strength made perfect in weakness.  For we are on a journey to God which takes us through all kinds of things in life, even the sad things of this world.  Let us find His way and the comfort in His easy yoke, and light burden (Matthew 11:20).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed"


 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.  So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.  And she served them.

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.  And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.  When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."  But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."  And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

- Mark 1:29-45

Yesterday we read that after John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."  And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.  Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

  Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.  So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.  And she served them.    This story of the healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law is so well-known that it appears in all three Synoptic Gospels.  It tells us that Peter was married and had a family.  His home was to become a kind of headquarters for Jesus' ministry.  But the attention paid to the fever does not seem to be simply about Jesus' miraculous powers of healing.  Rather, what we see is a restoration of this woman to her own place in Jesus' ministry, in an important and essential role of service, just as Jesus' ministry would be characterized importantly by the women who ministered to Him and to the disciples.  In fact, the word in Greek translated as served also means "to minister," and is actually the root of the word for "deacon."

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.  And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.   Mark's Gospel gives us the events of a day in the life of this early ministry.  We note how the sick and the demon-possessed are gathered together, in an understanding of both needing healing.  In fact, it fits with the traditional understanding of the Church as hospital.  My study bible remarks on the fact that Jesus did not allow the demons to speak because they knew Him.  The revelation of Christ's identity must come through His ministry, which unfolds in a particular way.  Moreover, the people have great expectations of the Messiah, as one who will lead Israel back to worldly greatness.  Moreover, Jesus will need to contend with a growing hostility from the religious leadership, and He also desires a genuine faith not based only on miraculous signs.

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.  And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.  When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."  But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."  And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.   Again, we are given the events of a day; in this case, the early morning of the day following the Sabbath.  Jesus rises a long while before daylight, and goes to a place where He can be solitary in order to pray.  My study bible calls this an example of spiritual life, set forth for all of us.  Although Christ is God incarnate, He prayed continually.  Frequently, as in this example, He found solitary places in order to be free from distraction, despite the fact that "everyone is looking for You."  Christ's ministry springs directly from  His communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and from there flows to people in their needs.  His praying in the morning, my study bible says, teaches us that we must put as first priority our commitment to God, and only then will we be equipped to appropriately serve others.  Let us note also Jesus' next priority.  Although the multitude demands His attention, His emphasis to Peter is the priority of preaching, "because for this purpose I have come forth."  Healing takes place after this, just as it did after His preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum (in yesterday's reading, above).

 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.  And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.  Here we have an expression by Christ that will define what it is to be "God-like."  In this particular healing, Jesus displays His characteristic personality in that He is moved with compassion, an expression that will repeat itself in the Gospels (Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 18:27, Mark 6:34).  It is a turn of phrase that in the original Greek interestingly involves body, soul, and spirit, for it indicates an actual movement in the body, as the word for compassion is rooted in a word for the "inward parts" of the body, in particular heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.   This is the word from which we derive the English word for the "spleen."   To touch a leper was forbidden (Leviticus 7:21), and so Jesus' compassion drives Him in a similar way that will get Him in trouble with the authorities, such as healing on a Sabbath.  We note, at the same time, Jesus' respect for the law and the community, as He commands the healed leper to go to the priest and also offer to God what Moses commanded.  (See Leviticus 13, 14 for the biblical law; Deuteronomy 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses, a duty entrusted to the priests.)

In the parable of the Judgment, which Jesus gives in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus speaks figuratively of dividing sheep from goats, as does a shepherd.  On the one hand are those who have shown compassion through what they have done in their lives.  On the other hand are those who have been, for want of a better word, neglectful.  If we chose to, we could look at these actions in psychological terms, as dynamics within a family or a community.  Acts of compassion are those which nurture and heal, and address what is harmful, hurtful.  Neglect is akin to abandonment, leaving a person or persons on their own to deal with distressing, disabling, harmful circumstances.  In short, compassion is the act of doing what one can to help.  But in the language of the Scriptures, this is anything but a detached kind of charity or duty.  In the language used for Jesus being moved with compassion, we are taught directly about an inward reality, even about empathy.  It is in the inward, physical parts of Jesus, where He is moved to care for the sight of one afflicted before Him.  This beautiful understanding is one that makes us think of what it means that Jesus is God incarnate, the Son who has become a human being through the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary.  On the one hand, His compassion is a characteristic of God who is love and who loves (1 John 4:8, John 17:26).   But on the other hand, the expression itself tells us of what it means to be a full example of a human being, and no doubt also reflects something of the human nature derived from the woman who was His mother, the Virgin Mary.  In the history of the Church, it is she who is the saint above all saints, known above all for her unfailing compassion.  In historic hymns, both Jesus and His mother Mary are called those who never turn anyone away.  As "moved with compassion" also indicates a bodily feeling, it gives us a sense in which Jesus' humanity is fully at work with His divinity, manifesting His identity in the world as Son of Man.  The expression also indicates to us in a powerful way that our charity is not meant to be merely for show, nor is it merely something we do as a good work.  To be "like Christ" involves not just our pocketbook or a willingness to do good things in the world.  It involves a capacity for a hands on (in our present reading, literally so!) capability to sense, see, and know what is happening with those who are around ourselves or in our community in some way.  It is a tangible way of understanding and knowing what is happening to others, and not at all a theoretical design for making life better in the abstract or simply doing something as a duty.  Everything we do also involves our own inward parts, our own capacity for growth in a particular direction, our capacity for compassion, to respond to need.   This does not mean that we fix problems, so to speak.   If we look closely at Christ's parable of Judgment in Matthew 25, we read that among those things done by the sheep, Jesus includes, ". . . I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."  Let us note carefully that visiting and coming to others is not about alleviating their circumstances physically, but rather a clear expression of compassion -- of simply being with another in their circumstance of difficulty.  Jesus also says, "I was a stranger and you took me in."  In English this would indicate shelter, but in the Greek it does not.  It is about welcoming, literally gathering together.  It is a verb that is the root for "synagogue."  Therefore the operative sense here is about how we treat strangers, whether that be a person who wanders into a church for the first time, a new student, or perhaps someone simply left out because they are an outsider, a guest, a "foreigner" in any sense of that word.   Even the actions of giving food or drink, as Jesus states them, are responses to need.  The Greek reads, "I thirsted"  and "I hungered."  Well, we all know that to thirst and to hunger can take on many meanings, many needs, just as Jesus through His ministry offers food and drink that feed us spiritually; see, for example, John 4:13-14, 32).   My study bible also notes of today's passage that, as Jesus touches the leper, He shows that He is not subject to the Law but over it.  It comments that "to the clean, nothing is unclean."  What He shows us through this healing, and the others that will get Him into trouble with the authorities, is that He lives the purpose of the Law, its entire structure meant to create community and preparation for His gospel.  For us at this time of Lent, it is time to spend our own time in prayer, and seek out as much as possible the solitary time we need without distractions, as He does early in the morning before it is light.   This valuable time with God is meant to strengthen us in our own capacity for this movement of our inward parts, a union of body, soul, and spirit that unifies our capacity for faith and not merely for abstract ideals.  It is all about the fullness of what it means to be a human being.  What we seek to develop is a deeper communion with God, and so we grow organically with our faith, in a holistic fashion that does not leave aside anything of who we are.  We are called to identity in this way:  to find ourselves as to whom we truly need to be, and to discard that which is false or based on a false set of values and misleading idols in our lives.  The true circumstances of our faith should render us, also, more whole and healed, for this is what we seek in Him and in the entire community of believers, present, past, and future.   To know that we are loved is to be capable of loving; it is here we find faith, hope, charity even in all kinds of circumstances -- and above all else, love.







Wednesday, May 3, 2017

I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent


 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  And immediately she arose and served them.

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.  And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

- Luke 4:38-44

Yesterday we read that Jesus went down to  Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

 Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house.  But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.  And immediately she arose and served them.  The Lord's healing miracles are diverse, my study bible reminds us.  Here He heals by touch, but elsewhere He heals with a word (such as in yesterday's reading, above, when He rebuked the unclean spirit).  Peter's mother-in-law is immediately well, but at other times healing is gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or requires the help and cooperation of the person or their loved ones and friends (Luke 8:50) or even the removal of some who ridicule (Luke 8:54-55).   And we note that in yesterday's reading, Jesus rebuked the unclean demon, while in today's Peter's mother-in-law's fever is rebuked with a command from Christ.  My study bible quotes Cyril of Alexandria:  "That which was rebuked was some living thing unable to withstand the influence of Him who rebuked it, for it is not reasonable to rebuke a thing without life and unconscious of the rebuke.  Nor is it astonishing for there to exist certain powers that inflict harm on the human body."  Here the Gospel also gives us a hint that Peter is a married man, with a full household.  Peter's mother-in-law isn't just restored to health, but also to her place in this home that becomes headquarters to His ministry.  To serve Christ and those who follow Him is to be blessed (Matthew 10:42).

When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.  And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.  Here Jesus heals various diseases and does so by touch.  Out of many of these demons come out, and are once again rebuked with a command and told not to speak.  Their "revelation" that He is Christ is contrary to God's will for the unfolding of this ministry -- for God's purposes, it's crucial that Christ's revelation as Son be done in a particular way.  (See also Matthew 16:21-23.)

Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place.  And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.  Christ's primary mission was to preach the kingdom, my study bible says.  Miracles and healings are those things that testify to the truth of the message and to the identity of the Teacher (see 5:24).  The same pattern holds true in the Church (Acts 4:29-30).  We can assume that Jesus, true to His pattern, goes to a deserted place for renewal in rest and in prayer.

To preach the kingdom of God has to happen in a particular way and through particular means.  Everything that happens in Jesus' ministry is done in a certain way, with particular aims and guidelines, and always with cooperation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We may think it is "obvious" that great healings and miraculous signs portray Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.  But if we look to the temptations in the wilderness (see this reading) with which Jesus was tempted by Satan in terms of how He would conduct His ministry, we see that in fact nothing is really obvious from our point of view.  We might think it expedient that Satan's particular temptations would function to declare the Kingdom to the world, to establish Christ as all-powerful king in the eyes of the worldly, to decree and declare all things as done and just.  We may even suspect that Jesus really should have healed every disease of the world and corrected all evils, and thereby brought everyone to faith through proofs, declarations, and manipulation.  But expediency in our sight is not expediency for God's purposes.  Like Job, we're not all-knowing, with the point of view of God, nor can we adequately discern all of God's purposes and intentions.  We're only capable of learning afterward what we glean from God's ministry to the world -- and even then, there are infinite understandings yet to be discerned and known.  What becomes crucially important, then, is exactly how this ministry is conducted and unfolds.  That requires constant prayer on the part of Christ, constant communion with the Father.  And it also sets the example for us of how we, too, are to conduct our lives.  St. Paul teaches us to pray without ceasing.  He also adds that in everything we are to give thanks.  We don't know how God will use even an evil situation for God's end and purposes.  The ultimate example, in fact, is Christ's Passion and Crucifixion, in which the Church declares that Christ "trampled death by death."  In this understanding and in his own ministry, St. Paul tells us that "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  It is with this understanding that we observe Jesus, and how carefully His ministry is conducted, how deeply committed He is that it unfold according to God's purposes alone, and in such specific ways.  So we should pray for our own discernment over the events of our lives and how to meet them.  The world isn't perfect but rather a kind of battleground through which we journey as His faithful.  Let us observe Him, and pray through all things -- and give thanks -- as St. Paul teaches us.