In reflecting on the miraculous healing of the woman who had spent 18 years unable to stand up straight, we realize that she probably had been worshiping the Lord on the sabbath every week for many years. But she probably didn’t go to synagogue “specifically asking for healing; she just showed up.” As the commentary in the October issue of The Word Among Us observes, “Jesus wants to set [us] free. He just asks [us] to keep showing up, to keep coming before him in prayer and trust.”

All of today’s readings urge us to persist in our daily commitment to prayer and apostolic action; they encourage us to make a point of “showing up” when there are opportunities to experience the Lord through reading Scripture or celebrating Mass. If we show up for the greatest prayer of all, either in person or via the media, we demonstrate our readiness to act as children of the Father.

As today’s passage from Romans declares, “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” The woman Jesus heals in the synagogue on the sabbath has, no doubt, “showed up” for weekly sabbath services over the 18 years of her painful affliction. We might find renewed energy in our own lives if we “show up” every day to pray and act as children of God and brothers and sisters of Our Lord, confident that, when we pass from this life into eternal life, Jesus will be there for us.

Prayer:

Almighty God, increase our faith, hope, and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. AMEN. (Opening Prayer Today’s Liturgy)