Global Ecumenical Call to Prayer for Covid – 3/25/21

Thursday 25 March 2021 – Day Four
Prayers for Healing

(We remember the front-line, health care and humanitarian workers around the world and the healing of bodies and minds and all of creation.)*

Opening Prayer

Gracious God,
we echo these words of praise before you today as we declare:
Bless the Lord, my soul; bless the Lord and do not forget all of God’s benefit.
We recall with thanksgiving the many times and ways in which you have come to our aid.
We give thanks that in our moments of sickness and weakness,
we have experienced your healing.
We give thanks for hands that have ministered your healing touch to our bodies;
for lips that have uttered comforting words bringing calm to our troubled minds;
feet that have carried us when we were too weak to bear our own weight;
communities that have supported us, renewing our faith in you and each other.
Through life’s changing scenes and seasons, we have known you to be the God who heals.
Help us to once again believe that in this season and at this time,
you will grant your children healing.
We pray this prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Scripture Reading: Luke 17: 11 – 19

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Reflection

It would not be altogether wrong to say that our desire to experience healing is always foremost on our minds when we are sick. If we are not careful, it can be like an all-consuming fire, depending on the nature of our illness. During such times, healing ascends the hierarchy of our human needs and we would do whatever it takes to be healed. In the reading for today we encounter ten men who possessed such a desire. Though we do not know their ages, their family of origin and their previous social status, now they are simply identified as lepers. As such they had been pushed to the margins of the society of their day. Deemed as outcasts to be socially distanced from the rest of the community, they had created their own.

In this reading we recount another instance in which the healing power of God was manifested through Jesus. Yet unlike other instances in which those seeking healing directly asked for such, this community of outcast lepers approached Jesus pleading for mercy. In essence, they were seeking compassion; a relief from the oppression and burden that was theirs because of their physical condition. Their words to Jesus pointed beyond the desire to better their physical ailment. It was also a plea for them to be recognized fully for who they – human beings created by God and reflecting that divine image. In uttering these words, they were interceding for a change to be made in them but also for a change to be around them. Mercy, should it be granted to them, would also encompass the community in which they had been marginalized.

Jesus’ instructions to them, the obedience of which would guarantee their healing, reflects such a duality. In instructing them to present themselves to the priests, Jesus was seeking to do more than follow the requirements of the Mosaic law, he was also opening the doorway to bring healing within the community in which relationships had been severed because of a leprous condition. In their walk to the priests, the act of mercy, when granted, was realized in physical healing. Concurrently, the arrival of the other nine to the priests and presenting of themselves as no longer marred by leprosy can be viewed as well as a manifestation of God’s mercy in bringing healing to the entire community. Those on the margins, through divine mercy, had been repositioned and a community which had before estranged others was now exercising hospitality as it affirmed the humanity of others.

During this time of COVID 19, might our prayers for healing begin with a plea for mercy. And mercy when granted results in healing and transformation of individuals and communities. The fullness of mercy and healing though is translated to wholeness and wellness when we remember to utter not only pleas for mercy and healing but voice as well our praise and thanks to God. In these times, may our faith lead us to approach Jesus, pleading for mercy coupled with the expectancy of healing for bodies, minds and souls.

Prayers of Intercession

We pray for all healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, hospital and community-based health workers, care providers in care homes, and others. We also pray for families caring for the sick, at home and in communities.