Why Are We Not Healed

Why are we not healed? Why do we not see more miraculous healings? I was a little disturbed by a priest’s homily this past Monday in the fifth week of ordinary time. He is a good priest; it wasn’t a matter of heresy or doctrine. It was a matter of insensitivity toward the sick and suffering who may wonder why they are not healed. The Gospel was Mark 6:53-56 which ends: “they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.” (NABRE). The priest asked, “why are we not healed today?” And his answer was, “because we do not have the faith people used to have.” My heart sank as I looked around me at the many people whose faith inspires me as they drag themselves into Mass in freezing weather despite sickness, weakness, and age. I thought to myself, how awful that these people have just been told that they don’t have faith. Is a lack of faith the only reason we are not healed?

This issue is directly addressed in the Spiritual Diary of the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and we see that there are a number reasons why we are not healed. Let’s explore them on the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick.

Lack of Faith

Lack of faith is a valid reason why someone may not be healed. Remember in Mark 6 when Jesus returns to Nazareth and the people are offended at Him, the local carpenter. Verses 5 and 6 read, “So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (NABRE) But this is not the only reason why people are not healed.

Lack of Detachment from Sin

I may be going backwards here as this is even more insulting than saying someone who is not healed lacks faith but sometimes we are not healed because we have not detached ourselves from a serious sin! This is clearly demonstrated in the Diary:

My little daughter is sick. I thought of going to the doctor to know what to do. The Lord calmed me down.
Jesus: “Do not go anywhere. It will be for the good of your daughter if she is not cured.”
These words depressed my heart because she has a husband and a child. The Lord Jesus also told me why He would not cure her.
Jesus: “Your daughter always has temptations. By a long sickness, I will fill her with abundant graces. Her soul will be purified of the great temptations and, from now on, she will undergo sufferings with patience.”

February 28, 1963 Spiritual Diary

In the handwritten Diary, we read that this was a very serious sin that Jesus was preventing by keeping her sick. We see this reflected in the account of the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5. In verse 14, Jesus warns the man: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” (NABRE) This is probably not because Jesus accepts the view of His day that sickness was the result of sin because He clearly rejects that idea in the case of the man born blind in John 9:1-3. It may be so that God does not have to afflict him again to keep him from falling into his old, serious sin.

We see this in the life of Saint Paul where God sent a trial to weaken Paul so that God could bless him with an abundance of visions and other spiritual gifts.

because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (II Cor 12:7-10 NABRE)

To Keep Us Focused

Jesus may choose to not heal us in order to keep us focused on what is most important. Remember the lukewarm Laodicean church from Revelation chapter three: “For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.” (NABRE) Notice that gold refined by fire – trials. They had lost focus because of their ease of life.

We see an example of this in the Diary though not quite so stark:

So that others can understand the conversation, first I must write about what happened in the family. In a short period of time, two grandchildren were born. One on August 22, feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the other on September 8.
And so, for my little strength, the work was excessive. I felt that I could not carry on. I begged the Lord in His kindness to give me strength because I could not manage to help my two daughters-in-law. When I awoke the next day, I possessed an amazing vitality. I worked all day with no tiredness. This lasted for two weeks. This extraordinary strength, I realized, distanced me from the Lord. I even thought that if it continued this way and if I remained in this great physical shape, I could even go back to work. I entertained these thoughts because I had regained my bodily strength. Then the Lord Jesus spoke.
Jesus: “Now, you will understand even better why I stripped you of your bodily strength. You see, while you were weak, you served Me with all your strength. Now that I have increased your strength, you do not serve Me as before. Your thoughts are distracted and you give Me less time. Moreover, you do not stay with Me as you did before. As to the length of time and strength, it affects Me much less. This strength will remain just a few days before I take it away. I only gave it for the good of your family.”

August 27-28, 1965 Spiritual Diary

We can certainly pray that God give us strength to do all that we need to do for the cause of The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary but then let us also beg Him that we not squander an ounce of it on ourselves but rather offer it all back to Him through the wounds of Jesus. So, if we wish to be healed, perhaps we need to ensure that our focus is entirely on our Lord and His work. Then again, if we are focusing on our Lord’s work BECAUSE we want to be healed, we may have things quite backwards. So it prompts the question, should we ask to be healed at all. Yes and no as we will see.

Because Others Need Our Sickness

This is the most interesting and encouraging reason. Our sickness or any trial may not be about us at all. Others may need to see the power of God manifested in us and, for that to happen, we need to be sick in the first place! We already referred to the man born blind in John chapter nine.

As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.

John 9:1-3 NABRE

In order for this critically important event to happen, the man had to endure being blind for who knows how many years. He had to be in the trial in order to be rescued from it. This is an important reminder for us. God often does not rescue us FROM our trials but rather IN our trials. Consider the words of Psalm 91. Verse 4 says, “his faithfulness is a protecting shield.” When do you need a protecting shield? On your day at the beach? While relaxing in your back yard? No, when you are in the midst of battle! Verse 7: “Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come.” Our rescue is in the midst of people falling all around us; we may be in the midst of difficulties when God rescues us. My favorite is verse 13: “You can tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon.” How close do you have to get to the asp and viper to tread upon them or to the lion and dragon to trample them? Pretty close! And finally, notice verse 15: “I will be with him IN distress” (emphasis added). (NABRE)

However, sometimes people don’t need to see how we are rescued FROM the sickness but rather how we handle being IN the sickness and, for that, we need to remain in it. They need to see how we handle it in love and faith. We see this in the Diary. Our ability to suffer in love shows people a better way. Notice this passage from Advent in 1965:

Jesus: “My light permeates you and surrounds you. Through Me, you enlighten in the obscure Advent these souls awaiting Me. The sacrifices of your life, united with My merits, will be light for them. I said, ‘You are the light of the world’ to those whom I filled with the special light of My grace. You and others must give light to the dark parts of the earth which are in the shadow of sin, such that My divine light attracts towards the true road those souls teetering in the shadow of sin and death.”
Today, I meditated all day on the Lord’s words, and I thought especially of these: “The sacrifices of your life, united with My merits, will be light for them.”

December 17, 1965 Spiritual Diary

For some, the way they see us handle our sicknesses may be the only proclamation of the gospel they will hear. Notice these words of Jesus to Elizabeth from March 4, 1966: “Upon hearing this melody, even the obstinate sinner will convert. This melody comes from all the suffering you accept. It is the melody of your accepted sacrifices whose sound penetrates souls. . . “

Finally, sometimes others may not even see our suffering but the suffering and persistent sickness is still for them. What would be give to have people return to the Church or come to faith in the first place? Would we be willing to not be healed?

Jesus: These drops of oil squeezed by your sufferings will fall in the empty lamps of souls, and the fire will be lit in them by the Flame of Love of My Mother. By its light, they will find the road that leads to Me. This drop of oil squeezed out by your sufferings, when united to My merits, will fall on those souls who still do not have a lamp. They will be astounded and will seek its cause, and they will find the road that leads to salvation.

November 10, 1962 Spiritual Diary

A month earlier, October 13, 1962, Elizabeth wrote: “Meanwhile, a great feeling of anguish filled my inner being, which is the suffering the Lord gives in order for me to reap souls along with Him.” Is that worth remaining sick?

Finally, sometimes we need to be sick to provide others the opportunity to love us. We may be the instrument God is using to teach them the selfless love of Heaven. Should we want to take that opportunity away from them? Maybe!

Should We Pray for Healing?

Given all this, should we pray for healing for ourselves? We can but, like all things, let us be sure our request is one of love rather than need and concern for ourselves. Remember, to love as God loves, to love with the love whose light blinds the evil one is the goal – not being healthy or sick. So, in love, we can certainly ask that God heal us so that we can be of greater service or to relieve others of the burden of caring for us and we can also trust in His love when He knows there is a bigger picture and something more important than our healing being worked out in our sickness. In all things we trust in His love – in healing and in sickness – and, by this trust in His love, it drives out all fear including fear of the sickness, the problems our sickness may create for others, or even dying (I John 4:18). Are we sick? Are we suffering? God knows. Do we trust His love?

What about praying for healing for others? We certainly should. It is a powerful expression of love and we can expect miracles. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever – the same Jesus who walked through the streets curing all who came to Him can walk through the halls of the hospital and do the same. We can ask with absolute confidence in His power to heal, His love that moves Him to do what is best for all involved, and His wisdom that knows what is best for all involved. Let us ask with full confidence and faith but, once again, let us ask in love and not need, desperation, or fear.

We can ask for and expect miracles but remember what is the driving force behind all things – love. I forget which recent conference it was where I was with Father Jim Blount but he reminded us that miracles come from love. God doesn’t heal because He is forced to by magic words or actions. He heals in response to the plan – the plan to draw all people who are willing to love as He loves so that we can inhabit eternity with Him. When healing for ourselves or others aligns with that eternal plan, we receive whatever we ask for. And when it does not, we trust. We trust God to deliver us IN our trials and not FROM our trials. We ask for healing as an expression of this love and we trust the answer as a response in that same love – including miracles.

May our trust in God’s love for us bring Him great joy and drive away the darkness for all who directly or indirectly touch our lives.