Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. We celebrate what our Blessed Lady gave to each one of us by the birth of her Son – the freedom and joy of life anew in a close relationship with God that was now possible through her Son’s sacrifice on the cross. It is obviously not an understatement to say that each of us is renewed through the Jesus Christ, but so too through the selfless acceptance of God’s plan by His Mother.

You see we were indeed born under the law, and completely subject to it, until our Lord ransomed each one of us from that burden. We have now instead been drawn close to our God as sons and daughters, we now have an intimacy with Him that allows us to call out to Him – Abba. This is a term that only a child would say to their parent, it is one of closeness and is similar to saying Dad or even Daddy.  This is what we have been given by our Lord. Nowhere else in the events of the bible has anything come close in terms of being drawn into this kind of relationship with our Creator.

Can you imagine for a moment being one of the shepherds in the field to whom this kind of news was revealed? These were simple, rough men of the outdoors who probably did not get to spend much time in the Synagogue reading from the Torah. Yet they beheld the majesty of the Angels that formed the Heavenly Host, and which told them of the things that had taken place. They did not debate amongst themselves about what they had seen – they knew a good thing when they saw it and accepted it without question. Perhaps this is one of the characteristics that God looks for when He chooses to reveal things to us. He does not look to the “learned” or what we consider “educated” – he looks to those who will willingly accept His message on faith, perhaps because they have so little else. They are pure in this sense and are the ones that He can count on to simply accept and rejoice, and that hopefully others will learn from.

Certainly, there must have been great rejoicing when these men of the fields and open country found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby Jesus, and looked upon Him for the first time knowing that all their hopes, and dreams and wants had now been fulfilled by this tiny infant lying in the manger. All the prayers and sacrifices offered by so many previous generations had now come to fulfillment and they were the first to see Him on whom the hope of Israel was founded. The child who had been foretold by so many of the prophets was now literally close enough to reach out and touch. The Messiah.

The Lord indeed had blessed them, kept His word to them, and would indeed keep them close to Him through His Son who was now born man. The Prince of Peace, held by this humble Virgin who was the Mother of their God.

What beautiful words are spoken to us through the Gospel, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.””. Our mother Mary brought into the world on this night, so far away in Bethlehem, the child who’s coming had been foretold by the prophets for so long, and whose people had awaited him with great expectation for generations.

Our Lord came for each one of us, and in the humblest of forms, so that He could be seen by all of us as someone who would know and understand us, no matter how humble our own circumstance might be. I don’t mean this in terms of money or social status, but in our own interior brokenness that we all have as part of us. Every one of us, in this Church here this evening, either now, or at some point has experienced brokenness, or are still broken in some way. For those of you old enough to remember this reference, in some sense we are all citizens of the “Island of Misfit Toys”. Kids feel free to ask Mom and Dad, or perhaps even Grandma and Grandpa about that last reference. You see, like the characters in the story that reference comes from, we all seek healing or fixing in some way, but most of all we seek to be loved and accepted. 

The whole point of what we celebrate here tonight, is the birth of the Child who would bring hope into each of our lives by his coming to earth to share our form. He came to heal our brokenness and give us a reason to no longer see ourselves as forsaken, or our future as desolate.  You see, when we look upon the babe in the manger, we look upon the man who would heal, and would teach, and would sacrifice Himself for each of us one day on the cross. We look upon God who created all that exists, and who is without beginning, or end. When Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus into their arms and looked upon Him for the first time, it was with the knowledge that they cradled God within their arms, and that nothing would ever be the same on this earth with His coming.

This brings me back around to what I said earlier about each of us seeking our brokenness to be healed and to be loved for who and what we each are. God created each of us in His image, and despite the weaknesses that come with the human form, we are each of us beautiful and loved in His eyes. He seeks to draw us close to Him and comfort us, just as Mary comforted her Son in her lap in that humble manger in Bethlehem. He heals us and brings wholeness to our lives, and he welcomes us home, if we will let Him. You see, the question has never been whether God loves us, it is whether we will let Him fully love us and be part of our lives. He has always sought this intimacy with us, the only thing holding back the healing of our brokenness and that love that we so crave, is sometimes our own unwillingness to open ourselves to Him. On this Christmas Eve, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, I pray that we are each willing to allow the Christ child into our lives and embrace Him with the same love with which He seeks to embrace each of us.

I think we sometimes forget at this time of year one of the key characters in the narrative of the Nativity of our Lord, and that is Joseph. Compared with Jesus and Mary, we don’t tend to hear that much about him in the scriptures. Yet, without his acceptance of God’s plan, and his devotion to both Mary and Jesus, the plan itself could not have worked as it did.  

Joseph accepted a situation after the explanation from the angel in his dream that most would have found a way to walk away from. His betrothed, his soon-to-be wife was found with a child that he did not physically father. This is something that would have been hard to accept on so many different levels. As a man, he no doubt felt initial betrayal, jealousy, and hurt. The woman whom he loved appeared to have betrayed him in a most fundamental way. Yet, in the midst of all those human emotions and doubts, he stayed rooted in God’s word conveyed to him in the dream. Joseph was first and foremost a man of faith. He was a man committed to serving His Lord and placed that above all else, including his own personal feelings and emotions.  

Joseph no doubt knew of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah; as a man committed to God, he had certainly listened to the readings in the Torah. Yet like most of us, I suspect that he probably had a hard time initially grasping that all that had been foretold was going to come to pass through the direct participation of both Mary and himself.  To say the least, this would have been a lot to take in for a humble carpenter from a small backwater town like Nazareth. Still, there was one overshadowing element that for Joseph made all the difference; God’s angel had appeared to him in a dream, and for Joseph that was enough. He was attuned to his God, and knew innately that this message could be trusted, so like Mary, he humbly accepted his place in God’s plan.  

Joseph’s role was so crucial for many reasons. First of all, the child Jesus needed a physical father to grow up with, and his wife Mary needed a husband to care for them. This was critical for them to be able to participate in all the things needed to bring Jesus up as a young Jewish male, such as participation in learning the Torah, attendance at the Temple, and being there for the feasts that were such an important element of Jewish life with God at the center. There was also, though, the role of protector; in those days, Mary, like any woman, needed to be protected, and no less would the child Jesus. It was as brutal a world back then as it is today, and there were many dangers that they needed to be shielded from. Joseph’s commitment to this role of protector was absolute. He knew well his responsibilities and fulfilled them in the same unwavering fashion that he served his God.  

There is much more for us to ponder each Christmas than the pleasantries of the season. There is a truth that needs to be kept always in the front of our minds. A truth that came from commitment, faith, and sacrifice. One that began with the acceptance of both Mary and Joseph as parents to the one who had been foretold so long ago, and who would, as a result of their acceptance of God’s plan, be born into this world and raised to manhood in order to save each one of us.  

In the Gospel today, the great question is asked – “Are you really the one that we are waiting for?” This is a powerful question that John asks of our Lord, and it is one that is sometimes still uttered to this day. When John asked this question, it was with the knowledge of not only what his cousin’s mission was, but also of the things that He had been doing amongst the people. Those He had healed, those He raised from the dead, and the other signs and miracles that had taken place. Yet with all this, what Jesus was doing was not what he expected, and so he felt compelled to ask. You see John, like many of the people of that time had a vision of the Messiah being someone who would be a warrior king, who would force the Romans out, and would restore the sovereignty of Israel in one decisive encounter. He was expecting someone that would use battle to swiftly bring about all the changes in Israel that they had dreamed of for so long.

Our Lord’s plan was quite a bit different than the expectations of those around Him. He did not come to wage a war and drive Rome out of Israel, He came to drive evil from the hearts of men. He came to reshape souls, and to reconcile them to God. He would do this not by combat, but by self-sacrifice. He was born into the world to fulfil the prophecy about the Messiah, that of the suffering servant. He was born into a world of men, with one ultimate purpose, to ransom himself for their sake and to die and to rise for them to release them from the bonds of condemnation. John could not possibly have fathomed all of this, he indeed knew of prophecy, but he did not know the whole plan.

When Jesus responds to John’s question, He is very plain – the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. This is a message of hope to us all. It is not the wrath fueled words of the warrior that John was expecting. Jesus came to effect true change. Wars begin and end, and are largely forgotten in a relatively short span, and the goals of those who wage them often evaporate in history. Not so with the seeds of change that our Lord planted, the fruits of these seeds continue through generations, right up to this day. Human hearts and minds are mended, there is healing of these that will last many lifetimes because the healing does not stop with the individual but is passed on through the way they lived their lives and were an example to others. The process continues, just as our Lord intended with the kind of profound change which was His plan. In a sense, the warrior that John awaited did indeed come, but the battle was against sin, corruption, evil in the hearts of men, and ultimate lasting death.

When we embrace the Gospel message, and live our lives by His commands, we are mended. All within us is strengthened, our hearts are not fearful, our feebleness of frame and soul are gone, and we carry on with God’s work. We work patiently, knowing that God’s plan is for all generations, and that it continues to bring souls to Him in our time, and will continue to do so in the future. We wait for the time when all with be revealed and our Lord will come as Judge and King, but with great hope because we know that He has already loved us, purchased our salvation, and given us the path to follow home. As we await the celebration of the birth of the Christ child at Christmas, let us each remember the true meaning of the season, and why that precious babe was born into this world on a cold night in a humble manger in Bethlehem all those years ago.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we hear of a journey that takes place. It is a journey that begins with sin being introduced into the world and resulting in all the misery that we still sometimes experience to this day, but it concludes with a new hope that we have been granted by the Son of a humble virgin who was chosen to be the Mother of God.

In our first reading from the book of Genesis, we hear of the way that sin entered the world through our original parents, and the carefully crafted interference of Satan. It is interesting to note in the dialogue that takes place in our first reading, that there is a tremendous amount of hiding of the truth, and finger pointing, and deflection that is present throughout. Adam initially tries to hide his guilt by simply hiding himself in the garden, but when that doesn’t work, and he realizes he is caught, he resorts to deflecting the blame to his wife Eve. He even goes to far as to subtly blame God by implying that it was because of the woman that He put there, that all this transpired. Eve for her part, deflects the blame to the serpent whom she accuses of trickery. Nowhere in any of this do they take responsibility for what happened. There is no humility or acceptance of blame anywhere in the dialogue. This should be our first clue to the sin that has entered the world. With those first deflections, deceptions, and lack of humility come the inevitable results that we still experience to this day.

This all stands in stark contrast to the humble bravery of a young girl whom the Lord had chosen to be the Mother of his Son. When she is approached by the angel, and told of Gods plan, there could have been a myriad of reasons that she could have given for not wanting to be part of so potentially dangerous a plan. Mary knows full well what could await her if she were found with child without being married. Yet, there is no posturing, no questioning, no making of excuses. Mary simply replies humbly, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” You see Mary had been born without the original sin that infuses so many of our own dialogues with deflection and deception as a first response when someone asks something difficult of us. Her soul was immaculate, she knew only one desire, and that was to humbly serve God in whatever capacity He deemed fit, and her trust in His plan was complete and unfailing. The only question she asked throughout the entire dialogue with the angel was one of a simple and practical nature. Mary knew how children were conceived, and since she was not yet fully married, she simply wanted to know how this could come to pass since she knew full well that God would not ask her to sin as part of His plan. When the angel answers her question though and explains that this will happen through the Spirit of the Lord, there is nothing more than an affirmation that she gives. Such is her faith in God.

It is through Mary’s humble acceptance based on faith that we are given hope. She conceived Him who would be the Lamb of God and take away the sins of the world and restore our relationship with the Father through His sacrifice on the cross. It can only be fitting that the Son of God would be carried and born of such a sinless a vessel.  With Mary’s participation in God’s plan and with the birth of our Lord, we have the hope that comes with their faith, hope, and love of the Father. We are renewed and brought back closer to what God originally intended for us, and with the sure and certain hope that through His Son we can one day be fully reunited with Him again.

As we celebrate this first Sunday of Advent, I think that it is worth addressing just how different we are as believers in Christ, in terms of how we view both Advent, and the Christmas season. First, we actually acknowledge Advent as a season, and as a time of preparation for the birth of our Lord at Christmas. Secondly, we do not simply celebrate Christmas day, we celebrate a season. The Christmas season begins at the vigil Mass on Christmas eve and does not end until we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 8^th of this coming year. It is not all confined into a single day preceded by absolute madness in the shopping centers. We have time both at Advent, and during Christmas to prepare ourselves to celebrate thoughtfully and properly these beautiful seasons.

The question then that should spring to mind for each of us, is how should we actually go about celebrating this Advent season to prepare for Christs birth at Christmas. It certainly does not involve a melee of shopping that the secular viewpoint of Christmas has descended into, nor does it necessarily involve rushing about to prepare food, our houses, or even a tree. All of those are simply “nice to have” additions that help us express the specialness of the season, but they are not the focus or the priority. We are actually called to do the exact opposite of what many have turned Christmas into in terms of preparation. We are called to slow down, to spend our time in thought and prayer, to breath and uncloud our minds of the usual clutter of more secular priorities, to spend time with one another and with our Lord to discern His will for each of us at this time of year. If we listen for that quiet voice that He speaks to us with deep within ourselves, we will perhaps hear a call to change.

In our Gospel today we cautioned to be vigilant for the coming of our Lord, and to not be caught unaware. The point is illustrated in how many of the people of Noah’s time were completely caught up in daily routine right up until the day of the flood so that they were unprepared. We hear of how in days to come there will be some who will be taken to be with our Lord, and there will be others who are left behind, and that we absolutely do not know the day or the hour when this will happen, only that it will. The message is clear, we must prepare ourselves and be ready.

In our second reading Saint Paul tells us of how we are to awaken from our current state, and put on an armor of light, an armor that will set us apart from those who are merely concerned with the desires of the flesh and with worldly concerns. I find it interesting that he describes it as armor of light, because by definition then there is illumination that comes with that. We will stand out, we will be seen brightly by all, and as part of this the call to come back to our old state will be made by those who are uncomfortable with the light. We need to instead focus all the more urgently on our Lord. To prepare ourselves in time spent in prayer, contemplating the birth of our Lord that is to come. To reflect on his message of loving those around us, and in turn showing love for Him since we have all been created in His image, to show generosity toward others – especially those less fortunate than ourselves, to notice those who are perhaps alone or just lonely at this time of year. I think in particular we need to notice and embrace those who are lonely because there can be so much of it at a time when we are all reminded of Advent and Christmas seasons past, and perhaps those who are no longer with us physically – this can be very difficult for those left behind. Our Lord knew loneliness on His cross, and bore it for us, and asks us to be compassionate to His children.

My wish for each of us at this time of year is that we reflect on these things and take to heart the call to slow down a bit and immerse ourselves more deeply in Christs message of love and compassion toward all, of fidelity to His teachings, and of His sacrifice that He was born into this world to make for us. God Bless each one of you, as you prepare for His coming.

In our Gospel reading today, we hear the question that the Sadducees posed to Jesus about what the fate of the woman married to seven different brothers would be when they all saw one another again in the afterlife. The question is more of an ironic joke than an actual question, since the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife to begin with. They asked this question for the purpose of trying to test and to trap our Lord in his reply. Yet this whole trite effort at entrapment backfired rather spectacularly as our Lord took the opportunity to educate them on just how little they really understood of the nature of heaven, and of those who are its inhabitants.

The question today though, is how much do we really understand about the nature of not only heaven and those who inhabit it, but also of the nature of our relationship that God has with those who are there. We are prone to thinking of them simply as those who have died and are now in heaven with our Lord. Yet, our God is the God of the living, and He sees those with him in heaven as indeed still being very much alive. In the law of Moses our Lord states that he IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – not that He was their God – He sees them as being very much alive with Him. This is no different than what He sees for us when we join Him in heaven, we are very much alive. We are still very much part of the body of Christ.

I think that when it comes to heaven, we all have our own vision of what it will be like. Perhaps we think of choirs of angels, or continual harp music (not sure how I feel about that one, I hope they allow guitars as well), or perhaps we see a place where we are surrounded by all our loved ones who have gone before us, or even a continual party of ceaseless rejoicing and merriment. All of these things are nice attempts at defining heaven, but I suspect they all fall tragically short. The one thing that seems to be well defined, is that we will be with God, and with Him in such a way as we have never experienced before. We will share an intimacy with Him that is unparalleled with anything that can be achieved here on earth. To know God in this way, means to know all of Him, and in turn to know all that He created on a level we cannot even conceive of now – to literally be so close to Him who created all that there is nothing that will not be revealed to us. What is more, we will experience love that is so pure and undiluted in nature that there will be nothing within us unfulfilled. For the first time, we will know true and complete contentment and fulfillment. I think that perhaps Saint Paul expressed it best when he said “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, what God has ready for those who love Him”.

The thing that we can take great comfort in right now, is that the same God who came to us as man, and who was willing to die for each one of us, has also promised us that when we live for Him, we will indeed live forever with Him in heaven. He does not ever lie, He is the God of truth, and has proven His word by His actions. There is literally no one else that we have more reason to accept as both reality, and as authentic in all that He said and did than our God. We may find it hard to wrap our heads around the concept of such a pure and powerful being. This is not surprising given how little we know, and how much we still seek to learn about the fabric of the universe that He created, because if the creation itself is that hard to fathom, how much more so the Creator. Our Lord has a plan for each one of us to learn, and to grow in intimacy with HIm, we simply need to allow His plan to work within us, in the appointed manner and time that He has defined. If we can trust in the things that He has provided to keep our fragile forms alive each day, we can certainly trust in His plan for those He loves so deeply.

Our Gospel today presents us with an interesting challenge, if we complete reading it without feeling a bit self-conscious, we probably need to read it again and spend more time contemplating it. It’s really easy to simply look at the contrast between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and walk away thinking that the Pharisee is a bit full of himself and then perhaps empathize solely with the Tax Collector. There isn’t much doubt that the Pharisee made a mistake in the way he thought of himself as being superior to the Tax Collector and even stated so in his prayer. Where he messed up was in contrasting himself with another human being, rather than humbly contrasting himself with God’s example and acknowledging how much room he had for self-improvement. The truth is, if we look at the Pharisee in the same way and compare ourselves with him, we have then fallen into the same trap.

There is literally no one that we are called to ever compare ourselves with as Christians and seek to emulate other than our Lord Jesus Christ – period. There is no other example so perfect. Nor is there anyone that we are ever called to judge by comparing their conduct with our own. This is the reason that our Lord was so adamant, and stated so often, that we were never to judge others, and that we were to conduct ourselves always with humility. He alone is the just judge, and we are the ones that need to always alert to the fact that we will one day be judged by Him.

The first reading today from Sirach paints the picture rather clearly with his opening statement – “The Lord is a God of justice who knows no favorites”. In short, the playing field is completely level in Gods eyes. No matter what our circumstance, His call to each of us is simply to obey His word, and to look to Him always for help. He will hear our cries for help and will never ignore them. He will also hear the cries of all of our brothers and sisters and will know how they are being treated. If we ignore them when they are in need, do we really think that our Lord will not be aware of this? If we oppress them, do we really think that our Lord will not see our actions? He is the God of justice, and knows their hearts and our hearts, He knows our capabilities, He knows our faults. There is absolutely nothing hidden from Him ever, and all these things will be weighed when He judges each of us.

If all this sounds a bit dire, the good news is that our Lord is also merciful. He sees not just our faults, but also our efforts, imperfect though they may be. As our Father, he loves our efforts, rather than focusing solely on our faults. He sees where we need help, and He anticipates our needs. When we ask for help, He is compassionate and generous in what He gives us. He seeks for us to understand that the love and mercy He shows us is the mercy we are called to show others, and the love that we are called to embrace them with.

There is a powerful exhortation in today’s readings to be persistent in our faith, our efforts, and our prayers. I think we sometimes are too easily discouraged when we don’t receive an immediate response from our Lord to what we ask of Him. Our Lord hears us, he never ignores us, but the timing of His response, and the content of His response are up to His plan alone. Yet we are called to be persistent in prayer and humbly asking Him for help, nonetheless, and this is especially so when we feel tired or discouraged in our prayer life.  

In our second reading today, Saint Paul offers a powerful solution to the spiritual tiredness or fatigue that can sometimes impede our prayer lives – it is the reading of Sacred Scripture. As he tells us, the word of God contained in scripture has a powerful effect on both the endurance and efficacy of our prayer lives, as well as supporting our skills in teaching and correcting others. If we come to know God’s words intimately, we come closer in intimacy to Him. This is crucial both to each one of us personally, but also to those around us who may be influenced by us. Who of us can continue to act against God’s teachings when we truly spend time reading and pondering His word, and letting ourselves be infused with His message, or are privy to others examples of His words in their actions? If we are really immersing ourselves in this way, I don’t think that is possible. Not to say that we cannot stumble occasionally, but overall, it changes us and draws us closer to Him at all levels. 

In our Gospel today, we hear the parable of the widow who must overcome the unjust judge. She does this through sheer perseverance, and unwavering resolve to obtain a just decision. The judge for his part, is both worn down by this, but is also frankly wary of the power that this poor woman wields through her continuous search for justice. We can learn a lot from this, it can be difficult to continue to pursue our call to be God’s people who demonstrate to others His commands when we become tired ourselves, and perhaps lose our zeal for showing His word to others through our actions. This is when we can look to her example and realize that it is exactly at times like these when we need to focus even more on staying the course. If others, like the widow, can do this, so can we. We simply need to use a mixture of both resolve, which we can obtain as a grace through prayer, and taking steps to re-strengthen and refresh ourselves through reading the inspired word of God in Sacred Scripture and allow it to recharge and perhaps show us new ways of dealing with a given situation. God’s word is complete in addressing what we may encounter in this life if we extrapolate from the content, and as we get to know it better, we will find that there is no shortage of examples and solutions that are present in scripture. When He ascended back to heaven, Jesus told His disciples that He would not leave them alone, and so He sent the Holy Spirit upon them, and through their inspired writings of the events of Jesus time here on earth we have the gift of very direct knowledge of Him. This is in the same tradition as the writings of the prophets who came to God’s people to deliver His message and to guide them, and it is has been powerful through the ages, just as it is now if we allow it to wash over us. With this powerful gift, we can be confident in our struggles and in our personal vocation to be God’s people who draw others to Him by how we live, how we speak of Him, and how we share His love.  

In our readings today, we hear of healing on a physical level, that of leprosy, but more importantly on a spiritual level that came as a greater gift to those who had only sought to have their body healed. They came in search of healing only of the physical ailment, without considering that they needed their whole selves to be healed, and our Lord in His mercy granted them the healing of both their bodies and their souls.  

In our first reading from the Second book of Kings, we hear of Naaman, who had been instructed by Elisha to wash himself seven times in the Jordan, and who was then healed of his leprosy. The cleansing that took place “left his flesh like that of a little child”, and perhaps had that same effect on his soul, because his eyes were opened to the only true God, and he accepted who He is with the willingness and openness of a child. He made the realization that the God of Israel was the only one deserving of worship, and so while he could leave no gift with the prophet Elisha, he instead left with several mule loads of the earth from Israel, so that he could use it to build a place of worship to God. He knew who to truly give thanks to for his healing.  

In our Gospel reading, we hear of another healing that took place. There were actually ten men who were healed of their leprosy, and yet one in particular stood out among them. He was a Samaritan, not even what then would have been considered a true follower of God by the Israelites he was surrounded by. He stood out though, as the only one who recognized the gift he had been granted and displayed the gratitude toward God that was appropriate. He came in search of Him who healed him and fell at His feet. The infirmity of leprosy was gone, and his understanding and belief were likewise cleansed so that he clearly saw who Jesus was.  

When we likewise ask God for healing, we can have faith that our Lord will hear our prayer and will heal within us that which is most in need according to His plan for us. We don’t always understand all that is in play when it comes to that plan, we don’t know what greater purpose God has in store for us. We can have faith that He knows our desires, but we must understand that He also knows what is truly needed, even if those are two different things. It is hard to accept this at times, especially when we are afraid and uncertain of what will happen to us. Yet there is reason for the greatest hope, as beings of both body and spirit, we have a duality of nature that is completely part of us, and that interacts to produce our whole selves. Our overall wellbeing requires that the healing which God provides comes to whichever part of our essence our Lord sees as needing it, and it in turn affects us as a whole. We can rejoice that we have a loving Father who knows of the needs of both these natures and will always look out for our complete good. We can trust in this, we need to trust in this, because it is only through this trust that we can know the peace that comes from God. This is the cure that will see us through, no matter what the infirmity, no matter how long a healing might take, and will ultimately result in our being drawn closer to both our God, and our heavenly home.