Woman, you are free of your infirmities.

"Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.  And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect."  (Luke 13: 10 - 11).

This story of a woman incapable of standing erect reminds me of Caroline.  Caroline was in her seventies when I met her in morning Mass.  After the Mass, she approached me and gave me a  miraculous medal. I accepted it and believed her testimony about it. Although I upgraded the medal and the chain, the miraculous medal found a comfortable home around my neck for the past 20 years.

Although Caroline may still be bent over, Jesus must have said to her before we met:  “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”  (Luke 13: 12). Our greatest infirmities are not bodily but spiritual.  St Paul teaches:  "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”  (Romans 8: 15).

Abba Father, give us the light, the grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit!  Strengthen us in this Spirit, that we may never lose Him, never sadden Him, and never allow Him to become weaker in us. Amen.

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