You know that your faith is deepening and your prayer life is getting stronger when you no longer need signs and wonders to believe. The royal official in today’s gospel simply believed that Jesus could heal his son. His faith was well grounded since he probably heard about Jesus transforming the water into wine at the wedding, which happened just before this incident in the gospel.
The purpose of the healing was to be a “sign,” not of Jesus’ power to heal, but of his identity as “the Christ.”
After the son was healed, the royal official and his entire household came to believe in Jesus. Do you still believe in the identity of Jesus as the Son, doing the will of His Father, when the healing does NOT take place? When you aren’t given any external “signs?” The only “sign” we can place our total trust is the power of the Resurrection, the triumph of Jesus over the one thing we all fear: death. We can evade just about everything, even taxes, if we have the right accountant, but the one door we must all pass through is the door of death.
The ultimate “sign” is Jesus' power over death. Beyond the door of death is life, a life that will never end, where there will “always be rejoicing and happiness...no longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,” to quote from prophet Isaiah.
Let us pray for the countless people whose loved ones were NOT healed, especially in this time of fragile health. May they surrender their trust to the God of life and believe in what lies beyond that door we do fear. Endless LIFE!!!!!
Peace,
Fr. Frank