(Listen to this homily here).
A portion of our first reading has been dear to my heart: “Every high priest is taken from
among men and
made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He
is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness…” This is one of those passages that as a
seminarian, and now as a priest, I keep in my back pocket.
My
spiritual director once told me that priests are called to be
wounded-healers. He wisely told me
to recognize that I am broken, sinful and weak. It is only when a priest recognizes that Christ heals him that he can help heal others.
What
is amazing is that God, by becoming a man suffered
for us. He shows us what it means
to offer himself in weakness, brokenness and suffering for our sins.
We
ought to keep this in mind. Each
of us needs healing—needs a savior—to overcome our fallenness. Holding fast to this fact will inspire
us when we work with others, especially those whom we find difficult. If we lose sight of our own brokenness
and healing in Christ, this is where judging, gossip and detraction come in.
May
we be faithful wounded-healers in our world. There is so much brokenness out there and it can only be
healed by our savior.
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