A Visit to the Divine Physician

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Isaiah 58:9b-14 / Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Luke 5:27-32

A Visit to the Divine Physician

I have an aunt who for several decades did not visit a doctor. Defying the odds, she appeared to be the picture of health with only an occasional cold bothering her. After an accident in her home she was taken to the hospital. Since then she seems to be visiting one doctor after another. 

Most of us can’t seem to avoid visiting the doctor for quite as long as my aunt did and still stay healthy. Many people try to avoid annual physicals if they can, going to the doctor only when they sense something is wrong. Others willingly seek preventive care; they go before they get sick in order to stay healthy or to spot a small problem and correct it before it becomes a major concern. But for most people doctors’ visits are reactive rather than proactive. 

In today’s Gospel Jesus says the sick need a doctor, not the healthy; sinners need a savior, not the righteous. Maybe the ideal is to be spiritually proactive in seeking Jesus. But the reality is that there has not been a moment of our existence when we didn’t need God. Every moment I depend on God holding me in life. It’s hard to imagine turning to God proactively. We react to our sin by “turning back” to God. We react to blessings by thanking God. He is either the doctor who heals our ills, or the source of the health we already have. 

Because you are reading this, it is unlikely that you have the type of relationship with God that my aunt once had with doctors. Either through an awareness of your sins or an awareness of his blessings he has turned you to himself. In either case, rejoice that Jesus has come for you.

·        Imagine yourself in a hospital or a doctor’s examination room. As the door opens, Jesus enters. Speak with him about your “symptoms” for a while. Are you there because you are ill? Or is this a routine or proactive visit? Listen to him as he prescribes a remedy for what ails you.