God Still Heals
Yes, you read that right! God still heals today. The miracles that Jesus did when He walked the earth are still happening today. Alleluia!
We see these miracles all throughout the history of our Church, and today’s saint, St. Blaise, is living proof of this. St. Blaise was a bishop and martyr who lived his faith boldly in Armenia in the early 300s during a time of religious persecution. Many miracles have been attributed to him, both during his life and after his death, especially healings of throat illnesses. There is even a special throat-blessing that takes place on his feast day every year. One of his most famous miracles involved a young boy who had a fish bone stuck in his throat. His mom brought him to St. Blaise, and when he prayed over him, the boy miraculously coughed up the bone and survived.
Now, you may be thinking, “That’s a cool story, but what does that have to do with me?” Well, here’s the good news…these miracles can happen in and through you, too. By our Baptism, we have authority in Jesus to do just what He said: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” (Matthew 10:8) Just the other week, one of my youth ministry teens named Edwin had a badly sprained ankle. Purple, bruised, swollen—the worst kind of sprain that would take months to heal. He was on crutches and couldn’t even put weight on his foot at all. As soon as I saw him at Mass, I knew I needed to pray with him for healing. When Mass ended, one of my teens came running up to me: “Lauren! We have to pray with Edwin!” Two seconds later, another teen came up and said the same. Then when I looked over at Edwin, one of my Core Members was already asking if he could pray with him. So we all gathered around and prayed with Edwin for Jesus to completely heal his ankle. Two days later, Edwin reached out and told me he didn’t need crutches anymore and that he was walking just fine! Praise God!
This is for you! Jesus wants to heal through you. All we have to do is open our hearts, have faith, love the person in front of us, and pray, just like my teens did and just like St. Blaise did. We don’t have to worry, because Jesus does the healing. Jesus does the heavy lifting. And Jesus loves to heal. He loves loving us, and it’s worth it to step out in faith every time. People can come to know Jesus through the way you pray with them, and that changes everything!
St. Blaise, pray for us! Give us the courage to pray for healings, and pray for us and our loved ones to be healed of any illnesses. Amen!
Lauren is a youth minister at Blessed Mary Virgin, Help of Christians in the neighborhood of Woodside right in the heart of Queens. Besides ministering there, Lauren is currently pursuing her Master’s in Catechetics and Evangelization from Franciscan University. She has a B.A. in Theatre from Butler University in Indiana, where she created theatre with refugees and immigrants to help them process trauma. For more information on Lauren, please visit her website at: www.laurengentry.com
