Captivated By Exuberant Easter Joy!

I have been captivated by the response of the crippled man who was healed through Peter and John in the Acts of the Apostles. During the first two days of the Easter Octave, the daily Mass readings shared the story of his healing, which relates that the man had been crippled from birth and had to be carried to the gate of the temple to beg for alms each day.

When Peter and John saw him, they looked intently at him and said, "Look at us." He paid attention, expecting to receive something, when Peter said:

“I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.”
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.

I love this image!
The exuberant joy of this man, who had never walked before, leaping up, walking and jumping into the Temple with Peter and John!
What a sight this must have been which caused such a commotion among the people that EVERYONE recognized that a mighty miracle had taken place.

When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with amazement and astonishment at what had happened to him.

As he clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”

A lot of things that can be said about this passage, but I just want to ponder this man's Easter joy, his excitement, and most of all his glorious response to grace!

I can't help but make a comparison between this man's healing and the man whom Jesus healed who had been paralyzed for 38 years. In contrast to this man, the healed paralytic had to be told by Jesus to rise and pick up his mat. In fact, there is no mention of jumping and leaping up in any of the people that Jesus cured. Also, the cured paralytic did not even know who cured him, yet this man, who was cured by Peter and John - did not let the apostles leave his side -- but, went into the temple with them, praising God!

Even when all the people gathered around Peter and John, the passage says that the healed man clung to them as Peter taught the people that Jesus was no longer dead, but ALIVE! Proclaiming that of this he was a witness and this profound miracle of healing attested to the power of the Resurrected Christ -- Who still continues to heal and save his people!

What incredible Good News!

It makes me ask myself, do I leap for joy at the great wonders God has done in my life?!

Am I so exuberant about God's goodness to me and the miracles that He has wrought in my life, that others can't help but be attracted and astounded by my joy?

We may never experience a physical healing such as the crippled man in the Gospel, but how often are we healed of our the wounds that cripple our soul, our emotions, our intellect and our will? These types of healings may not be as easily recognizable as physical healings, but they are far more profound and eternal.

We must remember that even those who are brought back from the dead through Jesus' saving power, such as Lazarus, have to die again, but these internal healings that take place within us are meant to cause us to live forever! They are our eternal salvation, and the healings we should most rejoice in!

The most profound healing takes place in our Baptism, in which we enter into the death and resurrection of Christ:

This is something amazing and unheard of! It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again. We only did these things symbolically, but we have been saved in actual fact. It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again, and all this has been attributed to us. We share in his sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality. What boundless love for men! Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails; he suffered the pain. I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings he freely grants me salvation. (From The Jerusalem Catecheses)

ALL of us have the opportunity to receive this incomparable grace and tremendous healing miracle that occurs in Baptism, in which Jesus not only cleanses us from original sin, but fills us with Divine Life and makes us sons and daughters and heirs of God's eternal Kingdom! How tremendous is that?!

We also encounter a great miracle in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which Jesus forgives our sins and wipes them away as if they never existed, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" Psalm 103:12, as we hear Him speak the words "I absolve you" through the priest. Yet, in this Sacrament, He bestows even more graces through healing, strengthening and reconciling us with the Father and His Body on earth.

Also, we must recognize the unfathomable miracle of grace present in the Holy Mass, in which Jesus' passion, death and resurrection is tapped into and made present anew at every moment, every day, throughout the world!

"If we knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass." St. Padre Pio

In the Holy Mass, Jesus not only allows us to participate in His One, Eternal Sacrifice, but heals our loneliness and sorrow by coming to us in Holy Communion! Each time we "take and eat... and drink the cup" of His Body and Blood -- Jesus abides within us physically in a mysteriously divine way that is beyond our comprehension! In this great Sacrament, we realize we are not alone! Jesus not only lives among us, but inside us!

How can God do more for us?!

"If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communon, nothing would be wanting to content the heart of man." St. John Vianney

Do you keep hearing the familiar refrain... "if we knew... if we could comprehend..."?

How can we enter into this knowledge, this comprehension, like the saints? Isn't it through Prayer - a living relationship with God, in which we truly hear and know Him?!

How amazing is it that we hear GOD SPEAK TO US through His Word proclaimed, and by reading, meditating and acting upon Scripture within the heart and the mind of the Church?! In His Holy Word, we can mediate on the heart and thoughts of God and come to know Him and His Word that heals and sanctifies our minds, our wills and emotions, if we humbly listen:

"When I found your words I devoured them. They became my joy and the happiness of my soul." Jeremiah 15:16.

In all these ways -- in Baptism, Reconciliation, the Mass, Eucharist, Prayer, Scripture (and more!) -- we are drawn closer in knowledge... closer in comprehension... to the infinite miracles of grace that heal, strengthen, renew and empower us to be ALIVE in Christ!

In response to His tremendous love, how can we not be filled with gratitude and proclaim with joy:

"We must celebrate and rejoice, because [we] were dead and have come to life again; [we] were lost and have been found!” cf. Luke 15:32.

O Jesus, help us to realize the astounding miracles you continue to work, and so be exuberant witnesses of You, who look expectantly and trust in Your Power and Love to heal us, our loved ones, and the world! He is Risen! Alleluia!

Click here for the complete passage from Acts 3, from which this meditation is taken.