23rd Sunday of Ordinary
Time—Cycle B, 2009
Mark 7: 31-37
Deacon Lee Hunt (St. Monica)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus does
lots of healings. According to my count, there are 20 healing stories including
being deaf, blind, affected by demons, fevers, leprosy, hemorrhage, and being
paralyzed, and one that covers everything else. I like to think that my
sciatica is included in the general healings.
Maybe you recently saw a
healing story on August 13 in the Edmond papers. This healing involved several
St. Monica parishioners who volunteer at the Good Samaritan Health Clinic of
Edmond that provides free health care to the uninsured of the Edmond community.
These volunteers are doing the work of Jesus today.
A parishioner was having a
hard time supporting his family because of cataracts on both of his eyes. He
made an appointment at the clinic and was greeted by other parishioners he
knew. He received an eye exam by one of our parishioners and was then referred
to a very low-cost, specialty clinic where his cataracts were removed and his
sight was corrected by laser surgery. He was also assisted with getting
eyeglasses at a very low cost. A ÒmiracleÓ occurred. He now sees as he did in
his youth. He sees hair on his arms. He can now trim his mustache. He also sees
the beauty of our church. Not only was the patient elated, but also were all
the clinic volunteers who watched the ÒmiracleÓ take place.
The curing of the deaf man in
the gospel today also involves the restoration of his speech. Then Jesus tells him to tell no one.
Well, that didnÕt work. How do you keep quiet when being part of a miracle, let
alone when it happens to yourself? You just have to share it with others. You
have to pass on the good news that has happened.
Volunteers at the clinic
participated in a ÒmiracleÓ healing of a man who could barely see. The
volunteers could not keep quiet, as obvious from your hearing the story now and
it appearing in the Edmond papers. Other ÒmiraclesÓ have happened at the clinic
and they are reported on the clinic website. Yes, ÒmiraclesÓ are happening
right here in Edmond and patients and volunteers are telling the good news of Jesus
working in our presence through the good Christians in our Edmond community.
Patients visiting the Good
Samaritan Health clinic have no health insurance. The number of people from
Edmond in this situation is estimated to be 15,000. This does not include those
who are underinsured and cannot afford to get certain forms of health care.
Since I have no medical
expertise, I greet and get to know uninsured patients each weekend at the
Clinic. I recently discovered how lucky I am to have Medicare health insurance.
A tennis match on July 4th resulted in a pinched nerve in my back. A week later
I could not move and was in excruciating pain. I was lucky to know a
neurosurgeon and chiropractor who could help me immediately and at little cost.
It still took me a month to be able to walk again. However, I could get medical
help immediately and of almost any kind that was needed to gradually alleviate
my problem.
The health care I experienced
is not available to about 1 in 4 people under age 65 in Oklahoma today. And if
our current health care does not change, even fewer people will have health
care in the future. We need a change and the times are contentious. I canÕt
figure out what is going on and what makes sense. In any case, we all have to
do something positive to make health care better in our country.
If you are lucky to have
heath care and just canÕt understand people who do not have health care, come
and work a Saturday morning in the Good Samaritan Health Clinic of Edmond. We
canÕt just sit on our couch and think about this as a theoretical exercise.
Come and see what no health care is like. The way health care expenses increase
and companies are dropping health care plans to improve the bottom line, any of
us could be with out health care before long. Your interest for a better plan
will become much higher when you are no longer covered by insurance. The
uninsured and insured must work together to define a good health care plan.
Jesus cured the ears of the
deaf man so that he could first hear. Understanding better what was going on
around him, he then cured his speech so that he could share the good news he
had experienced and heard about Jesus with others. If we first hear about the
status of health care and experience those with none, we will be better
prepared to go share the good news with others about health care. We must
contribute something positively. We canÕt just approach the problem with
negativity while offering no solutions to what we donÕt like.
In what area do our ears have
to be opened so that we understand things more fully? Are we willing to listen
with new ears? With open ears, how can we then take the next step of helping in
a positive way?
Di‡cono Lee Hunt (Sta. Monica)
Sanando hoy en d’a
En el evangelio de San Marcos, Jesœs hace
muchas sanaciones.
Hay
veinte cuentos de sanaciones que incluyen sordos,
ciegos,
endemoniados, fiebres, lepra, hemorragia, paralysis,
y una que
cubre el resto.
Me
gusta pensar que mi ci‡tica est‡ incluida
en las
curaciones generales.
A lo
mejor, ustedes oyeron de un caso de sanaci—n
que sali—
en el peri—dico de Edmond el trece de agosto.
Esta
curaci—n tuvo que ver con varios feligreses voluntarios
de Santa
M—nica que ofrecen su tiempo y talento en la cl’nica
de Edmond,
El Buen Samaritano,
que provee
atenci—n mŽdica gratis a la gente sin seguro
de la
comunidad de Edmond.
Estos
voluntarios hacen la obra de Jesœs hoy en d’a.
Uno
de nuestros hermanos feligreses sufr’a por varios a–os
de
cataratas en sus ojos y esto le estaba causando dificultades
en
continuar su trabajo y por supuesto en mantener a su familia. DespuŽs de ser examinado fue referido a una cl’nica
especializada
de bajo
precio donde le quitaron las cataratas
y su visi—n
fue corregida con cirug’a de l‡ser.
TambiŽn
recibi— ayuda en conseguir lentes a un precio muy bajo.
Ocurri—
un Òmilagro.Ó
Ahora
Žste hermano puede ver como ve’a cuando era joven.
ƒl
puede ver el pelo en sus brazos,
su bigote
que ahora Žl puede recortar,
adem‡s de poder
ver la belleza de nuestra iglesia.
No
s—lo estaba encantado el paciente,
sino
tambiŽn todos los voluntarios de la cl’nica
que
observaron Žste Òmilagro.Ó
La sanaci—n
del sordomudo en el evangelio de hoy
tambiŽn
incluy— la restauraci—n de su habla.
Luego
Jesœs le dice que no le diga a nadie.
Bueno,
eso no sali— bien.
ÀC—mo
se queda uno callado cuando es parte de un milagro,
menos
cuando le sucede a uno mismo?
Uno
simplemente tiene que compartirlo con otros.
Uno
tiene que transmitir las buenas nuevas que acaban de suceder.
Los
voluntarios de la cl’nica participaron en una curaci—n milagrosa
de un
hombre que apenas pod’a ver.
Los
voluntarios no pod’an guardar silencio
como es
obvio en lo que oyeron ustedes
del
art’culo en el peri—dico de Edmond.
Otros
ÒmilagrosÓ han ocurrido en la cl’nica.
S’,
los ÒmilagrosÓ est‡n ocurriendo aqu’ mismo en Edmond
y los
pacientes y voluntarios est‡n hablando
de la buena
nueva de Jesœs obrando en nuestra presencia
por medio
de buenos cristianos en nuestra comunidad.
Los
pacientes que visitan la cl’nica del Buen Samaritano
no tienen
seguro de salud.
El
nœmero de gente de Edmond en esta situaci—n
es estimada
a quince mil personas.
Recientemente yo me di cuenta de la suerte
que yo tengo
en tener seguro mŽdico para ancianos.
Un
juego de tenis result— en un nervio pellizcado en
mi espalda.
Una
semana despuŽs yo no me pod’a mover y ten’a un dolor espantoso. Tres
mŽdicos me trataron.
Aun me tardŽ un mes para poder caminar de nuevo.
Sin embargo, yo pude conseguir ayuda mŽdica inmediatamente
para
aliviar mi problema poco a poco.
La
cl’nica El Buen Samaritano de Edmond ofrece atenci—n medica gratis
para las personas que no tienen seguro
mŽdico.
Yo
los invito a que den su tiempo como voluntarios,
la cl’nica
esta abierta los s‡bados.
Jesœs
cur— los o’dos y el habla del sordomudo
para que
pudiera o’r y hablar por primera vez
y as’ compartir
la buena nueva que hab’a experimentado.
ÀEn
cu‡l ‡rea necesitan nuestros o’dos ser abiertos
para
comprender las cosas m‡s completamente?
ÀEstamos
dispuestos
a escuchar con o’dos nuevos?
Con
los o’dos abiertos,
Àc—mo
podemos luego tomar el siguiente paso
para ayudar
de una manera positiva?