Entry 1 of 36
Water into Wine at Cana
Gospel references: John 2:1-11
Also known as: Wedding at Cana; first sign
John 2:1-11
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 [And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. 9 And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
Reflection
John places this sign at the very beginning of Jesus' public life, and he calls it exactly that—a "sign," not merely a wonder. A wedding runs out of wine, which in that culture would have shamed the family before the whole village. Mary notices, and she does not lecture or strategize; she simply brings the need to her Son and tells the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Those are the last recorded words of Mary in Scripture, and the Church has long heard in them her whole vocation: she points away from herself and toward Christ. The detail John lingers over is the six stone jars meant for Jewish purification, now filled to the brim with water that becomes wine of astonishing quality. The Fathers often read this as the old covenant of ritual washing being transformed into the new wine of the Gospel—the water of the Law becoming the wine of grace. The headwaiter's puzzled remark, that the good wine has been saved for last, becomes a kind of unwitting prophecy: in Christ, God's best is not behind us but ahead of us. There is also a quiet word about marriage itself. The Catechism notes that Jesus' presence at Cana confirms the goodness of marriage and announces that it will henceforth be a sign of his own presence (CCC 1613). The Lord's first sign is worked not in the Temple but at a family celebration, amid ordinary joy. You might ask where in your own life the wine has run short—where some gladness has quietly gone flat. Cana suggests that the place to bring that emptiness is to him, and that he is not above filling ordinary jars.
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Entry 2 of 36
Healing the Royal Official's Son
Gospel references: John 4:46-54
Also known as: Nobleman's son; second sign; Capernaum
John 4:46-54
46 Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. 51 While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54 [Now] this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.
Reflection
This is the second sign at Cana, and John ties it deliberately to the first: Jesus has returned to the very town where he changed water into wine. A royal official—a man of some standing in Herod's service—comes begging because his son lies dying in Capernaum. Jesus' first words sound almost like a rebuke: "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." He is naming a real temptation, the craving for spectacle that never quite becomes trust. But the official does not argue. He simply presses his need: "Sir, come down before my child dies." And here the miracle turns on a word. Jesus does not travel to Capernaum; he says, "You may go; your son will live," and John tells us plainly, "The man believed what Jesus said to him and left." The healing happens at a distance, at the exact hour Jesus spoke. Faith, in this account, is taking Christ at his word before the evidence arrives. The Fathers often saw in this official a figure of every believer who must learn to trust the promise rather than the proof. Saint Augustine notes how the man comes asking Jesus to come down, as though the Lord's power were bound to his bodily presence—and is taught instead that Christ's word reaches wherever it is sent. Notice, too, that the healing spreads outward: "he and his whole household came to believe." One father's trust becomes a family's faith. It is worth asking what you are still waiting to see before you will trust him. This sign gently suggests that the believing often comes first, and the seeing follows after.
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Entry 3 of 36
Exorcism in the Capernaum Synagogue
Gospel references: Mark 1:21-28 · Luke 4:31-37
Also known as: Unclean spirit; man with a demon
Mark 1:21-28
21 Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. 23 In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 24 he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” 26 The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. 27 All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” 28 His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
Luke 4:31-37
31 Jesus then went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee. He taught them on the sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority. 33 In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. 36 They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37 And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
Reflection
This is the first exorcism in both Mark and Luke, and both place it in the synagogue at Capernaum on the sabbath, right after Jesus begins to teach. The crowd's reaction frames everything: they are astonished because he teaches "with authority," not like the scribes. Then the authority is demonstrated rather than merely described—an unclean spirit cries out, and Jesus silences and expels it with a word. Mark and Luke tell the same scene but with slightly different accents. Mark, writing with his characteristic speed and vividness, stresses the violence of the deliverance: the spirit "convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him," and he ends with Jesus' fame spreading through Galilee. Luke, ever the careful observer, notes a mercy Mark omits—the demon came out "without doing him any harm." Luke also has the crowd marvel at Jesus' "word," underlining his theme that Christ's speech itself carries divine power. Both note that the demons recognize Jesus as "the Holy One of God" before any human fully does. The Fathers often observed the irony that the unclean spirits confess Christ's identity while his own townspeople only wonder. Knowledge is not the same as love; even the demons believe, as the Letter of James says, and tremble. The Catechism teaches that Jesus' exorcisms anticipate his great victory over "the ruler of this world" and are signs that the Kingdom of God has come (CCC 550). What is bound is being loosed; what enslaves is being cast out. You may not feel troubled by anything so dramatic. But each of us has some compulsion, some old voice, that does not want to obey Christ. The good news here is simple: his word still has authority over whatever refuses to let you go.
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Entry 4 of 36
Healing Peter's Mother-in-Law
Gospel references: Matthew 8:14-15 · Mark 1:29-31 · Luke 4:38-39
Also known as: Simon's mother-in-law; fever
Matthew 8:14-15
14 Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.
Mark 1:29-31
29 On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. 31 He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
Luke 4:38-39
38 After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. 39 He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them.
Reflection
All three Synoptic Gospels record this quiet healing, and the differences among them are worth noticing. Mark, whose Gospel many believe rests on Peter's own memories, gives the homiest detail: this is the house of "Simon and Andrew," and Jesus "approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up." Matthew compresses the scene almost to a single gesture—"He touched her hand"—keeping the focus tightly on Christ. Luke, the physician, alone tells us the fever was "severe" and says Jesus "rebuked the fever," using the same language he uses for casting out demons, as if illness itself were an enemy to be commanded. In every version the result is identical and telling: she rises and begins to serve them. The Greek word is the one from which we get "deacon." Healing is not given for her comfort alone; it restores her to her place, to her household, to the dignity of being useful again. The Fathers often read her response as the pattern of every soul raised by grace—lifted up in order to wait on Christ and his own. There is a tender realism here. This is not a public spectacle but a small kindness in a private home, on the same day Jesus had taught in the synagogue. The Lord who silences demons also stoops to take a feverish woman by the hand. It is a consoling thing to remember when your own troubles feel too ordinary to bother God with. Peter's mother-in-law had no dramatic faith on record, no speech, no plea of her own; others simply "told him about her." Sometimes the most we can do for someone is to bring their name to Jesus and let him take them by the hand.
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Entry 5 of 36
Healing Many at Evening
Gospel references: Matthew 8:16-17 · Mark 1:32-34 · Luke 4:40-41
Also known as: Sick and possessed at sundown; fulfilment of Is 53:4
Matthew 8:16-17
16 When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, 17 to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Mark 1:32-34
32 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 33 The whole town was gathered at the door. 34 He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Luke 4:40-41
40 At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah.
Reflection
After the sabbath in Capernaum, evening comes, and with it the whole town to the door. All three Synoptics record this summary of a long night of healing, and each shapes it to his purpose. Mark paints the crowd most vividly—"the whole town was gathered at the door"—and keeps the demons silent "because they knew him." Luke adds that the demons shouted, "You are the Son of God," and that Jesus rebuked them, refusing their testimony because they knew he was the Messiah. Matthew alone gives us the deepest interpretation. He tells us these healings fulfill the prophet Isaiah: "He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases." This is a remarkable claim. Matthew is quoting the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the figure who heals by bearing. He is hinting, this early, that Jesus' cures are not simply displays of power but the first movement of a costly love that will carry our afflictions to the Cross. The healings point forward to Calvary. The Fathers often saw in this connection the heart of the matter: Christ does not heal at arm's length but takes our sickness upon himself. He is not a magician waving troubles away; he is the Servant who shoulders them. There is something quietly moving in the picture of Jesus working into the night, refusing none who came. No one is turned away at that door. When your own evening comes heavy with the day's accumulated burdens, this scene invites you simply to come and stand at the door. The One inside has already chosen to bear what you carry, and he is in no hurry to send you home.
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Entry 6 of 36
First Miraculous Catch of Fish
Gospel references: Luke 5:1-11
Also known as: Draught of fishes; Lake of Gennesaret
Luke 5:1-11
1 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. 2 He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” 9 For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, 10 and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
Reflection
Luke alone gives us this scene, and he tells it as a vocation story disguised as a fishing trip. Simon and his partners have worked all night and caught nothing. Jesus, having borrowed Simon's boat as a pulpit, tells him to put out into deep water and lower the nets. Simon's reply is the hinge of the whole episode: "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." That "but at your command" is the beginning of discipleship—obedience offered before understanding. The catch is so great the nets begin to tear and the boats begin to sink. And Simon's response is not delight but dread: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." He has glimpsed holiness, and like Isaiah before the throne he feels his own unworthiness. This is the truest religious instinct—to sense, in the presence of God's goodness, the distance of our sin. Jesus does not deny the distance; he simply crosses it: "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." The Fathers often read the boat as the Church and the deep water as the world into which she is sent, the nets as the preaching that gathers people to Christ. The miracle is a parable of mission. Notice that the abundance comes precisely where Simon had already failed. The same waters that yielded nothing to his effort overflow at Christ's word. Perhaps you have labored long over something—a relationship, a prayer, a hope—and come up empty. This account does not promise that every net will fill, but it does ask a question worth sitting with: is there a place where Christ is saying "put out into deep water," and you have been staying close to shore?
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Entry 7 of 36
Cleansing a Leper
Gospel references: Matthew 8:1-4 · Mark 1:40-45 · Luke 5:12-16
Also known as: The leper; 'if you wish, you can make me clean'
Matthew 8:1-4
1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
Mark 1:40-45
40 A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” 42 The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. 43 Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. 44 Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 45 The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Luke 5:12-16
12 Now there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where he was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 13 Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. 14 Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 15 The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, 16 but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
Reflection
This is the first cleansing of a leper, and all three Synoptics record it, each preserving the same astonishing exchange. The leper's words are a model of faith joined to humility: "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He does not doubt the power; he only submits to the will. And Jesus answers both at once—"I do will it. Be made clean"—but first he does something the Law forbade. He stretches out his hand and touches the man. That touch is the center of the story. Under the Law of Moses, leprosy made a person ritually unclean, cut off from worship and community, and to touch a leper was to contract his uncleanness. Jesus reverses the flow. Instead of the leper's defilement passing to him, his cleanness passes to the leper. Mark adds that Jesus was "moved with pity"; Luke, the physician, notes the man was "full of leprosy," a severe case. Matthew sets the healing immediately after the Sermon on the Mount, so the first deed after the great teaching is an act of mercy to an outcast. All three record that Jesus sends the man to the priest "as Moses prescribed." Christ does not abolish the Law's provisions; he fulfills them and restores the man to the worshiping community. The Fathers often saw leprosy as an image of sin, which isolates and disfigures, and the healing touch as a figure of the absolution that reaches us where we are untouchable. It is worth remembering that there is no part of you so unclean that he will not touch it. The leper expected, at most, healing at a distance. He received instead the hand of God on his skin. Whatever you have hidden as unfit to be touched, bring it; he is not afraid of it.
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Entry 8 of 36
Healing the Centurion's Servant
Gospel references: Matthew 8:5-13 · Luke 7:1-10
Also known as: Centurion's faith; 'only say the word'
Matthew 8:5-13
5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” 7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.
Luke 7:1-10
1 When he had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. 7 Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Reflection
Matthew and Luke both tell of the centurion, and the differences reveal each evangelist's heart. In Matthew the centurion comes himself and speaks directly to Jesus. In Luke he sends Jewish elders first, then friends, and never appears in person at all—a man so conscious of unworthiness that he will not presume to approach. Luke, who loves to show the Gospel reaching the outsider, stresses that this Gentile soldier "loves our nation and built our synagogue." Matthew, writing for Jewish Christians, lets the scene become a prophecy that "many will come from the east and the west" to the banquet of the Kingdom while others are left outside. What unites both accounts is the centurion's reasoning. As a man under authority who commands others with a word, he grasps something the religious experts missed: Jesus need only speak, and it will be done. "Only say the word and my servant will be healed." Jesus marvels—one of the very few times the Gospels say he was amazed—"not even in Israel have I found such faith." A pagan officer understands the authority of Christ's word better than the chosen people. The Church has treasured his words so deeply that we echo them at every Mass before Communion: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." We borrow a Gentile soldier's humility each time we approach the altar. The Fathers often noted that true faith and true humility rise together; the centurion believes greatly precisely because he presumes nothing. There is freedom in his posture. He does not demand that Jesus come on his terms or prove himself. He simply trusts the word. When you next say those words before Communion, let them be his again—and yours.
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Entry 9 of 36
Healing the Paralytic Lowered Through the Roof
Gospel references: Matthew 9:1-8 · Mark 2:1-12 · Luke 5:17-26
Also known as: 'Your sins are forgiven'; man on a mat
Matthew 9:1-8
1 He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. 2 And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” 3 At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 7 He rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.
Mark 2:1-12
1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. 2 Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 8 Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”— 11 he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” 12 He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”
Luke 5:17-26
17 One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. 18 And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set [him] in his presence. 19 But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. 20 When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” 21 Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” 22 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply, “What are you thinking in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 25 He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. 26 Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, “We have seen incredible things today.”
Reflection
All three Synoptics tell of the paralytic, and the famous detail of the friends digging through the roof comes from Mark and Luke; Matthew, ever compressed, omits it. But every version keeps the same surprising turn: the men bring their friend for physical healing, and Jesus first says something no one asked for—"Child, your sins are forgiven." This is the heart of the episode and the reason for the controversy. The scribes are scandalized, and rightly understand the claim: who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus does not soften it. Instead he offers a kind of proof. Which is easier, to say "your sins are forgiven" or "rise and walk"? The first cannot be seen; the second can. So he works the visible healing to vindicate the invisible one: "that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." The cure of the body is the evidence for the cure of the soul. Mark notes that Jesus "saw their faith"—the faith of the friends who carried him. The man is forgiven and healed partly because others believed for him and would not be stopped by a crowded door. The Fathers often drew from this the power of intercession: we can carry one another to Christ. The Catechism cites this scene as showing that Jesus has the divine power to forgive sins, a power he will entrust to his Church (CCC 1441). It is striking that Jesus addresses the man's deepest need before his obvious one. We come asking him to fix our circumstances; he often begins further in, with the burden we have stopped mentioning. If there are people in your life you cannot heal, you can still carry them. Faith, it turns out, can be a stretcher.
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Entry 10 of 36
Healing the Man with the Withered Hand
Gospel references: Matthew 12:9-14 · Mark 3:1-6 · Luke 6:6-11
Also known as: Sabbath healing; restored hand
Matthew 12:9-14
9 Moving on from there, he went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man there who had a withered hand. They questioned him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep that falls into a pit on the sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable a person is than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him to put him to death.
Mark 3:1-6
1 Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. 5 Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Luke 6:6-11
6 On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. 8 But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” 10 Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. 11 But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Reflection
On a sabbath, in the synagogue, a man with a withered hand becomes the occasion for a confrontation about the Law. All three Synoptics record it, and each adds a distinct note. Mark, most unguardedly, tells us Jesus looked at his opponents "with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart"—a rare and revealing glimpse of the Lord's emotion. Matthew gives the argument from the lesser to the greater: if you would rescue a sheep fallen into a pit on the sabbath, "how much more valuable is a person." Luke notes that Jesus knew their thoughts and made the man "stand before us," placing the healing in full public view. The question Jesus asks cuts through the legalism: "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" The sabbath was given for life, and to refuse mercy in its name is to turn the gift against its purpose. The terrible irony Mark and Matthew both record is that while Jesus saves life on the sabbath, his critics use the day to plot how to take his. The Fathers often observed that the withered hand is an image of a humanity grown incapable of good works on its own, restored only when it obeys Christ's command to "stretch out." The man is healed in the very act of attempting what he could not do. The Catechism teaches that Jesus, Lord of the sabbath, reveals its true meaning as a day for doing good (CCC 2173). There may be some good you have left undone because the moment seemed inconvenient, or because a rule of your own making told you to wait. The command here is gentle and direct: stretch out your hand. The healing is often in the obeying.
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Entry 11 of 36
Raising the Widow's Son at Nain
Gospel references: Luke 7:11-17
Also known as: Widow of Nain; 'young man, arise'
Luke 7:11-17
11 Soon afterward he journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” 17 This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
Reflection
Luke alone preserves this scene at the town gate of Nain, and he tells it with a novelist's eye for grief. A widow has lost her only son. In that world she has lost not only her child but her security and her standing; she is now utterly alone. A funeral procession is leaving the city as Jesus and his crowd are entering it—death going out, life coming in—and the two meet at the gate. What moves the miracle is not a request. No one asks Jesus to act; the widow does not even speak. Luke says simply, "When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her." The Greek word for that pity is visceral, a being-moved in the depths. He acts out of sheer compassion. "Do not weep," he says—words that would be cruel from anyone unable to stop the weeping's cause—and then he touches the bier, halting the bearers, and commands, "Young man, I tell you, arise." Luke's phrase at the end is deliberately tender: "Jesus gave him to his mother." The miracle is for her as much as for the boy. The crowd's cry, "God has visited his people," echoes the ancient promise that God would one day come to his own. The Fathers often read the only son raised at the city gate as a foreshadowing of Christ himself, the only Son who would meet death at the gate of Jerusalem and break it. Saint Ambrose drew comfort from the widow's tears moving the Lord, seeing in her the Church weeping for her children. It is worth resting in the truth that Jesus is moved by sorrow no one has asked him to fix. Your grief does not need to become a polished prayer to reach him. Sometimes he simply sees, and is moved, and draws near.
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Entry 12 of 36
Calming the Storm
Gospel references: Matthew 8:23-27 · Mark 4:35-41 · Luke 8:22-25
Also known as: Stilling the tempest; 'who is this?'
Matthew 8:23-27
23 He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. 25 They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. 27 The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
Luke 8:22-25
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail, 23 and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. 24 They came and woke him saying, “Master, master, we are perishing!” He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm. 25 Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, “Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?”
Reflection
All three Synoptics tell of the storm, and reading them together is illuminating. Mark gives the most human detail: Jesus is "asleep on a cushion" in the stern, and the disciples' cry is sharp, almost accusing—"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Matthew softens their words into a prayer, "Lord, save us!" and places Jesus' rebuke of their "little faith" before he calms the sea, making it a lesson in trust. Luke is briefest, asking simply, "Where is your faith?" In every version the shape is the same: the disciples panic, Jesus sleeps, then rises and speaks to the wind and the sea as a master speaks to a servant—Mark's words are "Quiet! Be still!"—and there is a great calm. And in every version the fear after the calm is greater than the fear during the storm: "Who then is this, whom even wind and sea obey?" They are more frightened of him than of the weather, and that is the beginning of wisdom. In the Old Testament, only God rules the raging sea; the psalms sing that he "stilled the storm to a whisper." When Jesus does this, he is quietly claiming what belongs to God alone. The Fathers often read the boat as the Church, tossed in the storms of the world and the ages, with Christ seemingly asleep—yet present, and able in a moment to bring peace. Saint Augustine counseled that when the storm of temptation rises, we should wake Christ within us by remembering and calling on him. That image is worth keeping. The Lord's apparent sleep is not absence. He is in the boat. When the next squall comes and he seems indifferent, the answer is not to despair but to wake him with your cry—and then to be more astonished by him than by the waves.
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Entry 13 of 36
The Gerasene Demoniac
Gospel references: Matthew 8:28-34 · Mark 5:1-20 · Luke 8:26-39
Also known as: Gadarene; Legion; herd of swine
Matthew 8:28-34
28 When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. 29 They cried out, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. 31 The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. 33 The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
Mark 5:1-20
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. 2 When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. 3 The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. 4 In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. 6 Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, 7 crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” 8 (He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) 9 He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” 10 And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. 11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. 12 And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” 13 And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. 14 The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. 15 As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. 16 Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. 17 Then they began to beg him to leave their district. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. 19 But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” 20 Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.
Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they sailed to the territory of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 When he came ashore a man from the town who was possessed by demons met him. For a long time he had not worn clothes; he did not live in a house, but lived among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him; in a loud voice he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” 29 For he had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (It had taken hold of him many times, and he used to be bound with chains and shackles as a restraint, but he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) 30 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they pleaded with him not to order them to depart to the abyss. 32 A herd of many swine was feeding there on the hillside, and they pleaded with him to allow them to enter those swine; and he let them. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. 35 People came out to see what had happened and, when they approached Jesus, they discovered the man from whom the demons had come out sitting at his feet. He was clothed and in his right mind, and they were seized with fear. 36 Those who witnessed it told them how the possessed man had been saved. 37 The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. So he got into a boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had come out begged to remain with him, but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and recount what God has done for you.” The man went off and proclaimed throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.
Reflection
This is among the most vivid and unsettling of the Gospel exorcisms, and the three Synoptics differ in striking ways. Matthew has two demoniacs and tells the story briefly; Mark and Luke have one man but describe him at length. Mark, with his usual intensity, dwells on the man's torment—living among the tombs, breaking every chain, "crying out and bruising himself with stones." Luke notes that he wore no clothes and had not lived in a house for a long time. The portrait is of a human being utterly unmade, driven out of community, out of his right mind, into the tombs. The name the demons give is itself a horror: "Legion, for we are many"—a Roman legion numbered thousands. Evil here is not tidy or singular; it is a crushing multitude. Yet for all that, it is powerless before Christ; it can only beg. The demons enter the swine, which rush into the sea and drown—and the man is found "sitting, clothed, and in his right mind." The three signs of his restoration are quietly beautiful: at rest, decent, sane. Mark and Luke both record the strangest detail: the townspeople, seeing the man healed, are afraid and ask Jesus to leave. They preferred the familiar terror to the disturbing peace. The Fathers often saw in the tombs an image of the soul dead in sin, and in the chains the futility of restraining our own disorder by force of will. The mercy here reaches the most extreme case imaginable. If Christ can seat that man, clothed and sane, then no one is too far gone—not the person you have given up on, and not the part of yourself you have stopped hoping for.
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Entry 14 of 36
Healing the Woman with the Hemorrhage
Gospel references: Matthew 9:20-22 · Mark 5:25-34 · Luke 8:43-48
Also known as: Issue of blood; touching the hem
Matthew 9:20-22
20 A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” 22 Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured.
Mark 5:25-34
25 There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. 28 She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” 31 But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
Luke 8:43-48
43 And a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years, who [had spent her whole livelihood on doctors and] was unable to be cured by anyone, 44 came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 Jesus then asked, “Who touched me?” While all were denying it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are pushing and pressing in upon you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone has touched me; for I know that power has gone out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she had not escaped notice, she came forward trembling. Falling down before him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately. 48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Reflection
This healing is woven into the raising of Jairus' daughter in all three Synoptics—Jesus is on his way to the dying girl when the woman interrupts him—and the interweaving is part of its meaning. Mark and Luke tell it most fully. Mark, blunt as ever, says she "had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors" and spent all she had, growing only worse. Luke the physician phrases it more gently, that she "could not be cured by anyone"—and the NABRE preserves an old textual hesitation here in brackets. Matthew compresses the whole episode into three verses. For twelve years she has bled, which under the Law meant she was perpetually unclean, unable to worship or to touch others without spreading her impurity. So she comes from behind, in secret, to touch only the tassel of his cloak—hoping to steal a healing without being seen. And she is healed at once. But Jesus will not let it remain anonymous. "Who touched me?" he asks, knowing power had gone out from him, and he draws her trembling into the open. Why expose her? Because he wants to give her more than a cure. He wants to give her a word, a relationship, a name: "Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace." She came as a thief and leaves as a daughter. The Fathers often noted that her faith reached out and took hold of Christ before he spoke—and that he honored it publicly so she would know it was faith, not magic, that healed her. There is gentle instruction in this. We often want healing on the quiet, without having to show ourselves. But Christ tends to call us out of hiding, not to shame us, but to speak to us face to face. The blessing he wants to give is always more personal than the one we came for.
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Entry 15 of 36
Raising Jairus' Daughter
Gospel references: Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26 · Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 · Luke 8:40-42, 49-56
Also known as: 'Talitha koum'; the little girl
Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26
18 While he was saying these things to them, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. 23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. 25 When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. 26 And news of this spread throughout all that land.
Mark 5:21-24, 35-43
21 When Jesus had crossed again [in the boat] to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. 22 One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” 24 He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. 35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” 36 Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” 37 He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. 41 He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” 42 The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. [At that] they were utterly astounded. 43 He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
Luke 8:40-42, 49-56
40 When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And a man named Jairus, an official of the synagogue, came forward. He fell at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come to his house, 42 because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. As he went, the crowds almost crushed him. 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.” 50 On hearing this, Jesus answered him, “Do not be afraid; just have faith and she will be saved.” 51 When he arrived at the house he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 All were weeping and mourning for her, when he said, “Do not weep any longer, for she is not dead, but sleeping.” 53 And they ridiculed him, because they knew that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and called to her, “Child, arise!” 55 Her breath returned and she immediately arose. He then directed that she should be given something to eat. 56 Her parents were astounded, and he instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
Reflection
This is the miracle the other miracle interrupts. In all three Synoptics, Jairus, a synagogue official, falls at Jesus' feet begging for his dying daughter, and on the way the woman with the hemorrhage delays them—long enough for word to arrive: "Your daughter is dead." The accounts differ in detail. Matthew, compressing, has the official say from the start that she has already died. Mark and Luke draw out the agony of the delay and the messengers' grim news. Mark alone preserves the Aramaic words Jesus speaks over her, "Talitha koum," the very sound of the Lord's voice, with the tender translation, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." Into the messengers' despair Jesus speaks the word that runs through all these stories: "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He puts out the mourners, takes only the parents and his innermost three, and enters where the child lies. "The child is not dead but asleep," he says, and they laugh at him—the laughter of those who know death is final. Then he takes her by the hand and raises her, and with exquisite ordinariness tells them to give her something to eat. That last instruction is a signature of the Gospel's realism. The girl is not a ghost or a vision; she is a hungry twelve-year-old. Resurrection returns her to her life, her parents, her supper. The Fathers often heard in "she is only asleep" the Christian hope itself: in the light of Christ, death has become a sleep from which he will wake us. For Jairus, faith meant continuing to walk toward Jesus after the worst had already happened, after the case seemed closed. That is a hard and holy thing. When you have received the message that says it is too late, this scene quietly insists that with Christ the last word is never spoken by death.
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Entry 16 of 36
Healing Two Blind Men
Gospel references: Matthew 9:27-31
Also known as: 'Son of David, have mercy'
Matthew 9:27-31
27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed [him], crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.
Reflection
Matthew alone records these two blind men, and he tells the story with economy and force. They follow Jesus crying out, "Son of David, have pity on us!"—a title rich with messianic hope, for the promised Christ was to be David's heir. They are blind, yet they see who he is more clearly than many with working eyes. Jesus does not heal them in the street. He waits until he has entered the house and asks a searching question: "Do you believe that I can do this?" He wants their faith spoken before their eyes are opened. Only when they answer "Yes, Lord" does he touch their eyes with the words, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." The healing is measured to their trust. Then comes the curious command, repeated often in Matthew and Mark, to tell no one—and the men's failure to obey, spreading word through all that land. The Fathers and later scholars have called this the "messianic secret": Jesus restrains the news because the crowds wanted a Messiah of spectacle and political power, and he would not let his identity be defined by their expectations before the Cross had revealed what kind of king he truly was. There is something instructive in Jesus' question. He could simply have healed them; instead he asks them to name their faith. Grace is offered freely, but he honors our freedom to reach for it. "According to your faith" is not a limit he places on his power but an invitation he extends to our trust. It is worth letting his question land on you directly: do you believe that he can do this—the particular thing you have stopped asking for? These men could not see, but they could call out and they could answer honestly. Sometimes that is exactly where sight begins.
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Entry 17 of 36
Healing a Mute Demoniac
Gospel references: Matthew 9:32-34
Also known as: Deaf man with a demon
Matthew 9:32-34
32 As they were going out, a demoniac who could not speak was brought to him, 33 and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”
Reflection
This brief healing in Matthew is almost overshadowed by the reaction it provokes. A man who cannot speak, his silence caused by a demon, is brought to Jesus; the demon is driven out, and the man speaks. The crowds are amazed: "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees draw the opposite conclusion: "He drives out demons by the prince of demons." That contrast is the point of the scene. The same deed produces wonder in the simple and suspicion in the learned. The crowds, with less to defend, let themselves be astonished; the religious authorities, threatened by what they cannot control, reach for an explanation that lets them keep their distance—even an absurd one, that Satan is casting out Satan. It is a sobering lesson in how the heart shapes what the mind will admit. The evidence is the same; the disposition is not. There is also a quiet beauty in the nature of this miracle. The man could not speak; Christ gives him his voice. The Fathers often saw in such healings an image of the soul that sin had rendered mute—unable to praise God, unable to confess the truth—until Christ unbinds the tongue. To be freed by him is, among other things, to be given words again: words of prayer, of confession, of thanks. The hostility of the Pharisees here is not incidental; Matthew is showing the gathering storm that will lead to the Cross. Goodness itself can provoke rage in those determined not to repent. It is worth asking which response is more often yours—the crowd's readiness to be amazed, or the expert's readiness to explain away. And it is worth asking what God might do if the voice he gave you were used, today, simply to speak the truth and to bless his name.
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Entry 18 of 36
Healing the Invalid at Bethesda
Gospel references: John 5:1-15
Also known as: Pool of Bethesda; thirty-eight years
John 5:1-15
1 After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. 3 In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. 4 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. 10 So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. 14 After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Reflection
John alone tells of the man at the pool of Bethesda, ill for thirty-eight years—nearly a lifetime. The detail is poignant: he lies among a crowd of the sick, beside waters thought to heal, yet always too slow, always beaten to the water by someone faster. (The NABRE marks that an old explanatory verse about the stirring of the water is not part of the original text.) Here is a man defined by his disappointment, who has long since stopped expecting anything to change. Jesus' question is almost startling: "Do you want to be well?" After thirty-eight years, is it not obvious? But the question is honest. Long suffering can quietly become an identity; we can grow accustomed to our paralysis. The man does not even answer yes; he explains why he cannot be healed—"I have no one." And Jesus, asking nothing of his faith first, simply commands: "Rise, take up your mat, and walk." And he does. The story does not end at the pool. It is a sabbath, and carrying the mat draws criticism; and later Jesus finds the man in the Temple and speaks the deeper word: "Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you." John ties bodily healing to the soul's healing, as he so often does. There is something worse than thirty-eight years of paralysis, and Christ has come to address that too. The Fathers often read the long wait and the helpless complaint as an image of fallen humanity, unable to save itself, waiting for a Savior who comes to us when we cannot come to him. It is worth hearing the question put to you: do you want to be well? Not every wound we carry, we are eager to surrender. He waits, gently, for our yes.
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Entry 19 of 36
Feeding the Five Thousand
Gospel references: Matthew 14:13-21 · Mark 6:30-44 · Luke 9:10-17 · John 6:1-15
Also known as: Loaves and fishes; five loaves, two fish
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” 18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
Mark 6:30-44
30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. 32 So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. 33 People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. 34 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 36 Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” 38 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” 39 So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 41 Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to [his] disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. 44 Those who ate [of the loaves] were five thousand men.
Luke 9:10-17
10 When the apostles returned, they explained to him what they had done. He took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida. 11 The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. 12 As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” 13 He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” 14 Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of [about] fifty.” 15 They did so and made them all sit down. 16 Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
John 6:1-15
1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee [of Tiberias]. 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit].” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” 15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Reflection
This is the only miracle besides the Resurrection recorded in all four Gospels, and that alone marks its importance to the early Church. The accounts agree on the essentials—five loaves, two fish, the blessing, the breaking, the twelve baskets of fragments—but each evangelist shades it differently. Mark, characteristically, gives the human texture: the crowd is "like sheep without a shepherd," and the people sit on "the green grass" in groups. Luke ties it to the Kingdom Jesus had been preaching. Matthew links the disciples' role closely to Jesus' own. John, written latest and most theologically, makes it the doorway to the great "Bread of Life" discourse and alone notes the loaves were barley—the bread of the poor—and a boy's small gift. In every account the language is unmistakably Eucharistic: he "took" the loaves, "looked up to heaven," "said the blessing," "broke" them, and "gave" them. These are the very verbs of the Last Supper. The Church has always read this sign as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, where Christ still takes, blesses, breaks, and gives himself to feed a multitude (CCC 1335). Notice that Jesus does not feed the crowd directly. He commands the disciples, "Give them some food yourselves," and feeds the people through their hands, from a gift that was almost nothing—five loaves, two fish, a boy's lunch. The Fathers often marveled that Christ multiplies what is placed in his hands, not what is withheld. There is freedom in that pattern. We tend to wait until we have enough before we offer anything. This sign suggests the opposite: bring the little you have, let him bless and break it, and watch it become more in the giving. The twelve baskets left over are a quiet promise—his abundance always exceeds the need.
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Entry 20 of 36
Walking on Water
Gospel references: Matthew 14:22-33 · Mark 6:45-52 · John 6:16-21
Also known as: Jesus walks on the sea; Peter sinks
Matthew 14:22-33
22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. 27 At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 After they got into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
Mark 6:45-52
45 Then he made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. 48 Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. 50 They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” 51 He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were [completely] astounded. 52 They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
John 6:16-21
16 When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.
Reflection
Three Gospels record Jesus walking on the sea—Matthew, Mark, and John—and it follows immediately upon the feeding of the multitude in each. Reading them together reveals the meaning. John is briefest, almost reticent: the disciples are afraid, Jesus says "It is I; do not be afraid," and the boat reaches shore. Mark adds a mysterious detail, that "he meant to pass by them"—an echo of how God "passed by" Moses and Elijah on the mountain, a sign of divine self-revelation—and ends on a sober note: their hearts were hardened, for they had not understood about the loaves. Matthew alone gives us Peter. Seeing Jesus on the water, Peter asks to come, steps out, walks—and then sees the wind, becomes afraid, and begins to sink. His cry is one of the shortest and truest prayers in Scripture: "Lord, save me!" Jesus catches him at once: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And those in the boat worship him, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God." The phrase Jesus speaks over the waves, "It is I," is in Greek the divine name, the "I AM" God spoke to Moses. To walk upon the chaos of the sea and bear that name is to reveal himself as Lord over creation. The Fathers often read the wind-tossed boat as the Church making her way through history, and Peter's sinking and rescue as the pattern of every disciple: bold by grace, faltering by fear, saved by the hand that never lets go. What undid Peter was not the storm but his attention—he looked away from Christ to the wind. The lesson is gentle and exact. You will not always feel steady on the water. But the hand that caught Peter is quick, and "Lord, save me" is always enough to reach it.
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Entry 21 of 36
Healing a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
Gospel references: Mark 7:31-37
Also known as: 'Ephphatha'; Decapolis
Mark 7:31-37
31 Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and mute speak.”
Reflection
Mark alone records this healing in the Decapolis, and he tells it with unusual physical detail. People bring a man who is deaf and can barely speak, begging Jesus to lay his hand on him. But Jesus does something more intimate and strange: he takes the man aside, away from the crowd, puts his fingers into his ears, touches his tongue with saliva, looks up to heaven, groans, and says one Aramaic word—"Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And the man hears and speaks plainly. Why all the gestures? The man could not hear words of comfort, so Jesus speaks to him in a language he can receive—touch. He meets the man in his particular poverty, communicating through the senses that remain. The Fathers often noted this tender condescension: the Word made flesh uses flesh—fingers, spittle, a sigh—to reach a man locked in silence. The groan, Saint Mark's vivid detail, is read by many as Christ's compassionate sharing in the weight of human brokenness, perhaps even a wordless prayer. The Church has loved this word so much that "Ephphatha" entered the rite of Baptism: the priest touches the ears and mouth of the newly baptized and prays that the Lord may open them to hear his word and proclaim the faith. Every Christian is, in a sense, a person to whom Christ has said "Be opened." The crowd's verdict is a quiet echo of the first creation: "He has done all things well"—as God saw that creation was good. In healing, Christ is making the world right again. It is worth asking what in you is still closed—an ear that will not hear a hard truth, a tongue slow to speak the good. The same Lord who took one man aside, away from the noise, still draws us apart and says, gently, "Be opened."
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Entry 22 of 36
Healing the Canaanite Woman's Daughter
Gospel references: Matthew 15:21-28 · Mark 7:24-30
Also known as: Syrophoenician woman; 'even the dogs'
Matthew 15:21-28
21 Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23 But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” 24 He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 28 Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Mark 7:24-30
24 From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Reflection
Matthew and Mark both tell of this Gentile woman, and it is one of the most provocative exchanges in the Gospels. A Canaanite (Matthew) or Syrophoenician (Mark) woman begs Jesus to free her daughter from a demon. At first he is silent. Then he says he was sent "only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then, hardest of all, he answers her plea with what sounds like an insult: "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." How are we to hear this? The Fathers and the tradition have generally understood that Jesus is not contemptuous but testing—drawing out a faith he already sees, the way a teacher poses a hard question to a student he believes can answer. And answer she does, brilliantly, turning his own image into her plea: "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." She does not dispute her place; she only insists that even the scraps of his grace are enough. And Jesus, delighted, exclaims—as he did of the centurion—"O woman, great is your faith!" Matthew, writing for Jews, makes her a sign that the Gospel will overflow to the nations; Mark notes simply that she went home and found the child well. Her humility is the engine of her faith. She does not demand equality; she trusts that crumbs from this table are more than enough. The Fathers often praised her persistence, refusing to be put off by silence or apparent rebuff. There is great encouragement here for anyone who feels they have no standing to ask—who feels like a stranger at God's table, deserving at most the scraps. This woman shows that such humility, far from disqualifying us, is exactly the faith that moves the heart of Christ. Keep asking. The crumbs of his mercy are a feast.
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Entry 23 of 36
Feeding the Four Thousand
Gospel references: Matthew 15:32-39 · Mark 8:1-10
Also known as: Seven loaves; second feeding
Matthew 15:32-39
32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.” 35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets full. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, not counting women and children. 39 And when he had dismissed the crowds, he got into the boat and came to the district of Magadan.
Mark 8:1-10
1 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 2 “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” 5 Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. 6 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
Reflection
Matthew and Mark both record a second great feeding, and some readers wonder why Jesus would repeat a miracle his disciples had just witnessed. But that is precisely the point the evangelists are making. After the five thousand, the disciples still ask, "Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place?"—as if the first time had taught them nothing. The repetition exposes how slow the human heart is to trust, even after it has seen God provide. There are deliberate differences from the first feeding. This crowd has been with Jesus three days; Matthew and Mark both have Jesus say, "My heart is moved with pity"—he will not send them away hungry lest they collapse on the road. There are seven loaves now, not five, and seven baskets of fragments remain, not twelve. The Fathers often read the symbolism: the twelve baskets recalled the twelve tribes of Israel, while the four thousand and the seven baskets, set in Gentile territory, pointed to the nations and the fullness (seven) of the Church gathered from all peoples. The first feeding is for the children of Israel; the second hints at the bread offered to the whole world. As before, the verbs are Eucharistic—he gives thanks, breaks, and gives—and as before, he feeds the crowd through his disciples' hands. The pattern of the Church's life is already visible: Christ provides; the disciples distribute. What strikes most is his patience. He has every reason to be exasperated by their forgetfulness, and instead he is "moved with pity" again. This is steadying. We too forget his past faithfulness the moment a new lack appears. The God who fed them twice does not weary of our short memories; he simply feeds us again, and waits for us, slowly, to learn to trust.
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Entry 24 of 36
Healing the Blind Man at Bethsaida
Gospel references: Mark 8:22-26
Also known as: 'Men like trees walking'; two-stage healing
Mark 8:22-26
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, “Do you see anything?” 24 Looking up he replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” 25 Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. 26 Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
Reflection
Mark alone records this healing at Bethsaida, and it is unique among Jesus' miracles: it happens in two stages. Jesus leads the blind man out of the village, puts spittle on his eyes, lays hands on him, and asks, "Do you see anything?" The man's answer is one of the most evocative lines in the Gospels: "I see people looking like trees and walking." Sight has begun, but it is blurred, partial. Only after Jesus lays hands on him a second time does he see everything clearly. Why would Christ, whose word can still a storm, heal in two touches? The Fathers and many since have seen here a deliberate parable in action. Mark places this story at a hinge in his Gospel, just before Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ—a confession that is true but still blurry, since Peter immediately recoils from the idea of a suffering Messiah. The two-stage healing mirrors the disciples' own gradual coming-to-see. Faith often dawns this way: first shapes, then clarity; first a glimpse, then full sight. There is great comfort in this for anyone whose understanding of Christ feels incomplete, whose faith sees "people like trees"—real but indistinct. The story insists that partial sight is not failure; it is a stage. The same hands that began the work will finish it. Jesus does not abandon the man at the blurry stage, and he does not abandon us there either. The Lord's patience with process is its own kind of mercy. We want to see everything at once; he is content to heal us by degrees, returning his hand to our eyes as often as needed. If your own vision of God is still unclear, take heart. You are not meant to manufacture clarity by force. You are meant to keep your eyes under his hands and let him touch them again.
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Entry 25 of 36
Healing the Boy with a Demon
Gospel references: Matthew 17:14-21 · Mark 9:14-29 · Luke 9:37-43
Also known as: Epileptic boy; 'I believe, help my unbelief'
Matthew 17:14-21
14 When they came to the crowd a man approached, knelt down before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. 19 Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” 21
Mark 9:14-29
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. 18 Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so.” 19 He said to them in reply, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me.” 20 They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. 21 Then he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He replied, “Since childhood. 22 It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” 24 Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” 25 Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!” 26 Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up. 28 When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, “Why could we not drive it out?” 29 He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
Luke 9:37-43
37 On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 There was a man in the crowd who cried out, “Teacher, I beg you, look at my son; he is my only child. 39 For a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams and it convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it releases him only with difficulty, wearing him out. 40 I begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not.” 41 Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you and endure you? Bring your son here.” 42 As he was coming forward, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and returned him to his father. 43 And all were astonished by the majesty of God.
Reflection
All three Synoptics place this exorcism right after the Transfiguration—Jesus comes down from the mountain of glory into a scene of failure and need. A father has brought his afflicted son to the disciples, and they could not help. Mark tells it most fully and movingly. He alone records the father's anguished, honest prayer: "I do believe, help my unbelief!" That single line has comforted Christians for twenty centuries, because it names the exact shape of real faith—not certainty without struggle, but trust crying out for help precisely where it falters. Matthew and Luke are briefer; Matthew shifts the focus to the disciples' "little faith" and Jesus' saying about the mustard seed that moves mountains. Luke, with his physician's eye and his tenderness toward the only-begotten, notes that the boy is the father's "only child." Mark dwells on the violence of the affliction and the crowd, and ends with the private lesson: the disciples ask why they failed, and Jesus answers, "This kind can only come out through prayer." That answer is the heart of it. The disciples had been given authority, but they had begun, perhaps, to rely on the gift rather than the Giver. Power in the Christian life is never a possession we wield; it is borrowed, moment by moment, through prayer. The Fathers often warned against precisely this presumption—acting in Christ's name while quietly trusting our own competence. The father's prayer is the gift of this passage. We often think we must resolve our doubts before we can ask God for anything. He shows otherwise. Bring the faith you have, however mixed with fear, and in the same breath ask him to supply what is missing. "I do believe; help my unbelief" may be the truest prayer you can pray, and it is more than enough to move him.
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Entry 26 of 36
The Coin in the Fish's Mouth
Gospel references: Matthew 17:24-27
Also known as: Temple tax; the stater
Matthew 17:24-27
24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 “Yes,” he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” 26 When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt. 27 But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”
Reflection
This curious episode is found only in Matthew, fittingly, since Matthew was himself a tax collector before Christ called him. The collectors of the temple tax ask Peter whether his teacher pays it. Peter, perhaps too quickly, says yes. Then Jesus, who somehow already knows the conversation, gives Peter a small lesson in his true dignity: kings do not tax their own children, only outsiders. As the Son of God, Jesus is exempt from the tax for his Father's house. And yet—here is the gentleness of it—he chooses to pay it anyway, "that we may not offend them." He directs Peter to catch a fish, in whose mouth he will find a coin worth exactly the tax for them both. The Lord of the Temple, the very Son to whom the house belongs, freely submits to its obligations rather than scandalize the weak. There is a quiet greatness in this. Christ has every right to stand on his freedom, and instead he lays it down for the sake of others. Saint Paul would later make this the very pattern of charity: though free, become a servant; do not let your rightful liberty become a stumbling block to a brother. The Fathers often saw here a lesson in how the strong should bear with the scruples of the weak, surrendering their rights for the sake of peace. The coin in the fish's mouth is a small wonder, almost playful—the Lord providing exactly what is needed, no more, from the most unlikely place. But the larger marvel is the humility. The one who could claim exemption pays the tax. It is worth considering where you might be insisting on a right that, while truly yours, is quietly wounding another. The Son who owned the Temple still reached for a coin. Freedom, in Christ's hands, bends gladly toward love.
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Entry 27 of 36
Healing a Blind and Mute Demoniac
Gospel references: Matthew 12:22-24 · Luke 11:14
Also known as: Beelzebul controversy follows
Matthew 12:22-24
22 Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute. He cured the mute person so that he could speak and see. 23 All the crowd was astounded, and said, “Could this perhaps be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.”
Luke 11:14
14 He was driving out a demon [that was] mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Reflection
Matthew and Luke both note this brief healing of a man who was mute—Matthew adds that he was also blind—and freed when the demon was cast out. Luke states it with the utmost economy: "He was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed." Matthew gives a fuller scene, with the crowd wondering aloud, "Could this be the Son of David?"—edging toward the recognition that this is the promised Messiah. In both, the healing is the occasion for the great controversy that follows, the charge that Jesus casts out demons "by Beelzebul, the prince of demons." The deliverance of one silenced man becomes the flashpoint for the question that divides everyone around Jesus: by what power does he do this? The answer the crowds edge toward, and the religious leaders refuse, is that the Kingdom of God has drawn near in him. There is something worth pausing over in the simple fact that a man who could not speak is given his voice. The Fathers often read muteness as an image of the soul that cannot praise God or confess the truth—stopped up by sin or by the enemy—until Christ opens it. To be freed by him is to be given speech again: the speech of prayer, of witness, of blessing. The crowds were amazed; the leaders were threatened. The same act of mercy revealed what was already in each heart. If there is a truth you have been unable to speak—a confession you keep swallowing, a word of praise or of love that stays locked inside—this small healing is an invitation. The Lord still casts out whatever silences us. He gave this man back his voice not to keep it to himself, but to use it. He would give you yours for the same reason.
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Entry 28 of 36
Healing the Man Born Blind
Gospel references: John 9:1-41
Also known as: 'I am the light of the world'; Siloam
John 9:1-41
1 As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. 4 We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see. 8 His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” 10 So they said to him, “[So] how were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” 13 They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15 So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” 16 So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” [But] others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” 20 His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” 24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. 32 It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. 39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”
Reflection
This is one of John's great extended signs, a whole chapter built around a single healing, and John tells it as a drama of sight and blindness. A man born blind is given sight by Jesus, who makes clay with saliva and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam—a name John pauses to translate as "Sent," quietly pointing to himself, the One sent by the Father. The healing is quick; the controversy fills the chapter. What follows is a kind of trial in reverse. The man, interrogated by the Pharisees, sees more and more clearly—not only with his eyes but with his soul. He moves from calling Jesus "the man called Jesus," to "a prophet," to confessing him as Lord and worshiping him. Meanwhile the religious experts, who can see perfectly well, grow more and more blind, until they expel the man for telling the truth. John's irony is exact: the blind man comes to see, and the seeing become blind. "I do know one thing," the man says, "that I was blind and now I see." Jesus' closing words name the theme: he came so that those who do not see might see, and those who see might become blind. The danger is not ignorance but the pride that insists it already sees and needs no light. The Fathers often read the clay as an image of our creation from the dust, and Siloam, the Sent One, as Christ in whom we are washed—so this healing became, in the early Church, a favorite image of Baptism, the enlightenment of the soul. When you are pressed to explain your faith, you may not have all the answers the clever demand. But you can always say what he has done: I was blind, and now I see.
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Entry 29 of 36
Healing the Woman Crippled Eighteen Years
Gospel references: Luke 13:10-17
Also known as: Bent-over woman; Sabbath synagogue
Luke 13:10-17
10 He 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.
Reflection
Luke alone records this sabbath healing, and he tells it with his characteristic compassion for the overlooked. A woman has been bent over for eighteen years, crippled by a spirit, unable to stand up straight. She has not asked for anything; she has come, as she must have come for years, simply to be present in the synagogue. And Jesus sees her. He calls her over, lays his hands on her, and says, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." At once she straightens and glorifies God. The leader of the synagogue is indignant—not at the woman's suffering, but at the timing. There are six days for work; let healing happen on one of those. Jesus answers with holy sharpness: "Hypocrites! Does not each of you untie his ox or his ass on the sabbath and lead it out to water?" And then the words that give the woman back her dignity: "This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day?" He calls her a daughter of Abraham—a full heir of the promise, not a problem to be scheduled around. The contrast Luke draws is between a religion that loosens animals but would keep a woman bound, and the mercy of God that delights to set captives free precisely on the day of rest. The Fathers often saw the bent posture as an image of a soul bowed down under the long weight of evil, lifted upright by Christ to look toward heaven again. Eighteen years is a long time to be bent toward the ground. If some old burden has slowly curved your gaze downward, hear how he sees the woman no one mentioned, calls her over, and calls her a daughter. He still delights to make the bowed stand straight.
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Entry 30 of 36
Healing the Man with Dropsy
Gospel references: Luke 14:1-6
Also known as: Sabbath at a Pharisee's house; edema
Luke 14:1-6
1 On a sabbath he went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” 4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. 5 Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” 6 But they were unable to answer his question.
Reflection
Luke alone preserves this scene, and it is one of several sabbath healings he records, each one chipping away at a religion that had learned to prefer rules to mercy. Jesus is dining at the home of a leading Pharisee, watched carefully, when a man suffering from dropsy—a painful swelling from retained fluid—appears before him. Jesus puts the question to the experts directly: "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?" They keep silent. It is a telling silence—the refusal of those who would rather not commit themselves than risk being wrong, or being merciful. So Jesus heals the man and sends him on his way, then answers their silence with a question they cannot dodge: "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?" And again they cannot answer. Their own instincts would rescue a child or an animal in distress; only their theology objects to rescuing a suffering man. The point Luke presses, here and elsewhere, is that the sabbath was made for human flourishing, a sign of God's rest and God's care, never a reason to withhold compassion. The Catechism teaches that Jesus reclaims the sabbath as a day for doing good, freeing it from interpretations that had made it a burden (CCC 2173). The Fathers often noted that the very silence of the Pharisees condemned them: they could find no lawful objection to mercy, yet would not rejoice in it. There is a gentle examination of conscience in this. We can all construct reasons to delay a kindness—it is not the right time, not our responsibility, not the proper way. The man with dropsy stands before us as a question. When mercy is within your reach, the Lord's example is simply to extend it, and to let the rules that would forbid love fall silent.
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Entry 31 of 36
Cleansing the Ten Lepers
Gospel references: Luke 17:11-19
Also known as: Only the Samaritan returns
Luke 17:11-19
11 As he continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13 and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” 14 And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16 and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18 Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19 Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Reflection
Luke alone tells of the ten lepers, and the story turns on a single returning figure. As Jesus enters a village on the way to Jerusalem, ten men with leprosy keep their lawful distance and cry out together, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" He does not touch them or even pronounce a healing; he simply says, "Go show yourselves to the priests"—the step prescribed for one already cleansed. And Luke notes the precise moment of grace: "As they were going they were cleansed." They were healed in the act of obeying, before they could see any change. All ten are cleansed. But only one—"and he was a Samaritan," Luke adds pointedly—turns back, glorifying God in a loud voice, and falls at Jesus' feet to thank him. Jesus' words carry a note of sorrow: "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?" The foreigner, the outsider, is the only one who returns to give thanks. And to him alone Jesus says, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you"—a deeper word than mere cleansing, the language of salvation. Nine received a gift and kept walking. One received the gift and received also the Giver. The Fathers often distinguished these two healings: all ten had their skin restored, but only the grateful one was made whole in soul. Gratitude, Luke quietly teaches, is not a courtesy added to faith; it is faith's natural breath, the turning back toward God that completes the receiving. It is a searching little story, because most of us are, most days, among the nine—blessed, healed, provided for, and already hurrying on to the next thing. The Samaritan's return is the whole of the Christian life in miniature: to notice the gift, and to come back to the One who gave it. Where, today, might you turn around and say thank you?
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Entry 32 of 36
Raising Lazarus
Gospel references: John 11:1-44
Also known as: 'I am the resurrection and the life'; Bethany
John 11:1-44
1 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” 4 When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” 12 So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” 13 But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. 15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. 31 So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” 35 And Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” 37 But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” 38 So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Reflection
The raising of Lazarus is the last and greatest of the signs in John's Gospel, the one that points most directly to Easter and that, John tells us, set in motion the plot to put Jesus to death. He raises a man to mortal life and so seals his own death; the gift of life costs him his own. John fills the account with humanity. Jesus deliberately delays, so that the sign will be unmistakable—Lazarus has been four days in the tomb. He meets Martha with the words that have been spoken at Christian gravesides ever since: "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live." And then, at the tomb, comes the shortest verse in the Bible and one of the most consoling: "And Jesus wept." The Lord who is about to conquer death first weeps before it. He does not stand aloof from grief; he enters it. The Fathers often marveled that the One who would raise Lazarus in a moment still chose to share the tears of those who loved him. He commands the stone removed, prays aloud for the sake of the crowd, and cries with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" And the dead man comes, bound in his burial cloths, and Jesus says, "Untie him and let him go." The Catechism notes that in raising Lazarus, Jesus revealed himself as "the resurrection and the life," and that this sign anticipates his own Resurrection (CCC 994). Lazarus, of course, would die again; this is not yet the final victory but its promise and its sign. Yet the promise is sure. The God who weeps at our graves is the God who calls us out of them. Whatever death you are facing—of a body, a hope, a relationship—his tears are real, and so is his voice. He still calls the bound by name and says, "Let him go."
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Entry 33 of 36
Healing Blind Bartimaeus
Gospel references: Matthew 20:29-34 · Mark 10:46-52 · Luke 18:35-43
Also known as: Jericho; 'Son of David'
Matthew 20:29-34
29 As they left Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” 31 The crowd warned them to be silent, but they called out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on us!” 32 Jesus stopped and called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They answered him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 Moved with pity, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight, and followed him.
Mark 10:46-52
46 They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 47 On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” 50 He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” 52 Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
Luke 18:35-43
35 Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, 36 and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 39 The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” 40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” 42 Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” 43 He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
Reflection
All three Synoptics tell of blind Bartimaeus, and Mark, who alone gives his name, tells it best. As Jesus leaves Jericho on his way to Jerusalem and the Cross, a blind beggar by the roadside hears that it is Jesus and begins to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The crowd tries to silence him; he only shouts louder. Mark records a small, vivid detail no one else does: when Jesus calls him, Bartimaeus "threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came." The cloak was a beggar's only possession, his bed and his shelter; he flings it away to come to Christ. Jesus asks him the same question he had just asked his ambitious apostles James and John: "What do you want me to do for you?" They had asked for thrones; Bartimaeus asks only, "Master, I want to see." The contrast is surely deliberate in Mark. The blind beggar sees more truly what to ask for than the disciples who can see. And Jesus says, "Go your way; your faith has saved you"—and Mark adds the telling conclusion: he "followed him on the way." The way leads to Jerusalem, to the Cross. The healed man becomes a disciple. Matthew (who again has two blind men) and Luke tell the same essential story, all keeping the cry, "Son of David, have pity on me," which the Church has woven into her own prayer—the "Jesus Prayer" and the Kyrie of the Mass. The Fathers often saw Bartimaeus as the model penitent: persistent, unashamed, willing to leave everything and follow. His persistence is instructive. The crowd told him to be quiet, and many things will tell you to lower your voice in prayer. Bartimaeus shouted louder. And when Christ called, he did not gather his belongings; he left them. The path to sight ran straight through letting go.
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Entry 34 of 36
Cursing/Withering the Fig Tree
Gospel references: Matthew 21:18-22 · Mark 11:12-14, 20-25
Also known as: Barren fig tree; Markan intercalation with Temple
Matthew 21:18-22
18 When he was going back to the city in the morning, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went over to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again.” And immediately the fig tree withered. 20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed and said, “How was it that the fig tree withered immediately?” 21 Jesus said to them in reply, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Mark 11:12-14, 20-25
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. 14 And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And his disciples heard it. 20 Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God. 23 Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. 25 When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions.”
Reflection
This is the strangest of the miracles—the only destructive one, the only sign worked against rather than for—and the two evangelists who record it handle it very differently. The difference is itself the key. Mark, with his deliberate artistry, splits the story in two and wraps it around the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus curses the fruitless fig tree on the way into Jerusalem; then he overturns the tables of the money-changers; then, the next morning, the disciples find the fig tree withered. By framing the Temple scene inside the fig tree, Mark makes the one interpret the other. The barren tree, all leaves and no fruit, is Israel's Temple worship—impressive in appearance, empty of the fruit God seeks. Mark even notes, almost scandalously, "it was not the time for figs," forcing us to read the act as a prophetic sign rather than a fit of hunger. It stands in the line of the prophets, who used the fig tree as an image of judgment; Jeremiah lamented that there were "no figs on the tree" when God came looking for fruit. Matthew tells it as a single, compressed scene—the tree withers "immediately"—and draws a lesson about faith and prayer: if you have faith and do not waver, whatever you ask in prayer you will receive. Where Mark makes it a parable in action about fruitless religion, Matthew makes it a teaching on believing prayer. Both are true; together they are fuller. The Fathers often read the fig tree as a warning against a faith of leaves only—appearances of devotion without the fruit of love. The Lord comes to his Temple, and to each of us, looking for fruit. The question it presses is gentle and direct: when Christ comes looking, will he find on the branch only leaves, or something real to eat?
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Entry 35 of 36
Healing the Severed Ear
Gospel references: Luke 22:50-51
Also known as: Malchus; at Jesus' arrest
Luke 22:50-51
50 And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said in reply, “Stop, no more of this!” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
Reflection
Luke alone records this small healing in the chaos of Jesus' arrest, and its placement makes it shine. Everything is going wrong. Jesus has been betrayed with a kiss; the disciples, half-asleep and frightened, lash out; a sword flashes and a man's ear is severed. And in that moment of violence and fear, Jesus does the last thing anyone would expect: he heals his captor's servant. "Stop, no more of this," he says, and he touches the man's ear and makes it whole. It is the final healing miracle before the Cross, and it is worked on an enemy—on one of the party come to arrest him. There could be no clearer enactment of what Jesus had taught: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." At the very hour his own life is being seized, he will not allow violence to be done in his name, and he heals the wound his own follower inflicted. The Fathers often marveled that the last touch of those healing hands before they were bound was a touch of mercy toward one who came to bind them. There is a quiet rebuke here to every impulse to defend God or ourselves by force. The disciples thought they were protecting their Lord; Jesus had to repair the damage their zeal had done. His Kingdom does not advance by the sword, and its King heals even as he is taken. The detail is easy to pass over, but it is worth holding. In the worst moment, surrounded by betrayal, Jesus' instinct is still to heal. That instinct is the very heart of God. When your own world is coming apart and every nerve says to strike back, this small scene offers another way—the way of the One who, even in his arrest, reached out to mend an enemy.
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Entry 36 of 36
Second Miraculous Catch of Fish
Gospel references: John 21:1-14
Also known as: 153 fish; Sea of Tiberias; after Resurrection
John 21:1-14
1 After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. 2 Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6 So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. 7 So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. 9 When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.
Reflection
John closes his Gospel with this scene by the Sea of Tiberias, and it deliberately echoes the first miraculous catch in Luke, framing the whole of discipleship between two nets full of fish. The disciples have gone back to fishing; they have toiled all night and caught nothing. At dawn a figure on the shore tells them to cast the net on the right side, and suddenly it is full—a hundred fifty-three large fish, and the net not torn. It is the beloved disciple who recognizes him first—"It is the Lord!"—and impetuous Peter who plunges into the sea to reach him. On the shore there is a charcoal fire, with fish and bread, and Jesus says, "Come, have breakfast." That charcoal fire is a tender and pointed detail: the only other charcoal fire in John's Gospel is the one in the courtyard where Peter denied him three times. By this second fire, Jesus will ask Peter three times, "Do you love me?"—one question for each denial—gently undoing the threefold failure and restoring him. The risen Lord does not greet his friends with reproach but with a meal he has prepared with his own hands. The Fathers and the tradition have long seen the great catch as the Church's mission—the net that gathers from the sea of the nations, full yet unbroken, an image of the Church's unity holding the multitude it draws in. And the breakfast Christ provides is read as the Eucharist by the lake, the risen Lord still feeding his own. There is deep consolation in how this Gospel ends—not with a rebuke for those who had fled and denied, but with breakfast on the shore and the patient question, "Do you love me?" However often you have warmed your hands at the wrong fire, the Lord stands at another one, with food already prepared, asking only that you come and eat, and love him again.
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Scripture texts are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, D.C. Used in accordance with the applicable license. All rights reserved.