Mark 6: 53-56
When Jesus and his disciples had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Carrying One’s Neighbor
As I read this passage from the Gospel of Mark, my imagination and heart sing a song by Bifrost Arts, "Oh God, Will You Restore Us." It is both a song of yearning - a plea for salvation - and a song of declaration, proclaiming prayerful participation in healing and bringing about God's justice and truth. Imagine with me, the men and women of Mark's Gospel scurrying to gather their ill loved ones and neighbors - bringing them in any way possible to places of gathering in the hopes of healing. Imagine people knowing and valuing their neighbors enough to advocate for them, to accompany them, even to carry them. Some might call this radical. Some might call this too much. As followers of Christ, let us call it what it is: restoration of God's Kingdom. Let us never tire of standing up for those who are wounded - whether in heart, mind, or body. Let us never tire of carrying one another. Let us be participants in each other's salvation.
—Amanda B. Angaiak is the Director of Catholic Schools of Fairbanks, and President of Monroe Foundation, Inc. in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Prayer
Lord, guide me. May I embody radical availability, seeing Christ in the least and most broken, and carrying others when I can. Lord, restore us. When we are weary on our march toward wholeness, may we draw strength from your promises of peace, justice, and healing.
—Amanda B. Angaiak
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.