Celebrate the good

A Reflection for Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

I admit, I am suspicious of arguments for Christianity based solely on Jesus’ miracles.

My Catholic upbringing taught me to be critical in a good way; to ask deeper questions and give my experience the benefit of the doubt. I’ve never witnessed miracles the way the Gospels tell us Jesus performed them. So, it’s hard for me to read a passage like this one from Luke and feel particularly awestruck or inspired by Jesus’ divine power.

Providentially for people like me, Luke isn’t trying to convince me of anything by medical miracle. This, like so many other stories from Jesus’ ministry, is about the conflict created with some of the observing bystanders. But the conflict is not over the amazing fact that Jesus inexplicably heals a physical ailment. It’s about the different judgements the act provokes. Read the whole passage. Luke says nothing about people claiming the miracle did not happen. But he says a lot about the snap judgements being made about Jesus’ motives and diabolical associations.

Luke is extraordinarily perceptive about our distorted human proclivity for casting judgement, even in the face of objectively good acts. Deep down, if we’re honest, we Christians often look for ways to dismiss, retort or even discredit people who disturb us, for whatever reason. Most of the time we can’t even explain to ourselves why we do it. There is a miracle in this story for us today: we can begin to heal from this proclivity for snap judgments and celebrate the good, even miraculous, works being done by others around us.

The original version of this reflection entitled, “Celebrate the Good,” was published in the March 2024 issue of Give Us This Day (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2024). Used with permission.