Healing our inner illnesses
Luke 19: 5-10
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus,
come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down
quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble,
saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood
there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give
to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four
times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because
this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”
My first
pastor, Msgr. Gaston Hebert, taught me about the phenomenon called
“psychosomatic illnesses.” You see, our
bodies and spirits are wired together so closely that what affects one is often
manifest in the other. Classical
literature is replete with examples. In
Shakespeare’s play, “King Lear,” Gloucester loses his physical sight as a sign
of his inner blindness and his inability to discern which of his sons is good
(Edgar) and which one is corrupt (Edmund).
In Dostoyevsky’s novel, “Crime and Punishment,” Raskolnikov falls
physically ill because he refuses to confess to the murder of his
landlady. Our principal, Sharon
Blentlinger, explained that the first week of school many children mysteriously
suffer from headaches and stomach aches not because of any physical malady but
because they are “sick” of being in school.
A little psychosomatic illness can come in very handy! You see, the spiritual world manifests itself
in the physical world because they are so closely connected.
In the gospel today, St. Luke describes
a man suffering from a psychosomatic disorder.
Zacchaeus is short in stature but I believe that physical limitation is
a manifestation of a spiritual limitation, namely, cheating people as a
tax-collector. However, when Jesus
arrives in Zacchaeus’ home, he heals his inner, moral malady. As a result, Zacchaeus says, “Behold, half of
my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything
from anyone, I shall repay it four times over.” Jesus replies, “Today, salvation has come to
this house.” In other words, Jesus
healed Zacchaeus’ spiritual limitation, and I bet Zacchaeus was "walking
tall" afterwards. Now, of course,
this does not mean all short people are corrupt tax-collectors! But psychosomatic illnesses require more than
Tylenol and Aspirin; they also need a good dose of spiritual medicine.
Let me ask
you today: how are you feeling? Do you
have a tummy ache or a headache? Are you
suffering from blurry vision? Do you
have trouble remembering things? Does
your back hurt and cause you to walk with a stoop? Do you feel terrible and don’t know why? Well, what are you waiting for, go see a
doctor! But also keep in mind the
possibility of a psychosomatic illness.
Your body might be telling you something: not only where it hurts
physically but also where it hurts spiritually and morally. And then go see the Divine Doctor, Jesus, so
he can heal you inside as well. Make a
good confession and find some innner healing and peace. You see, a little psychosomatic illness can
come in very handy sometimes.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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