Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You carry your parents’ ailments to the throne of God, and this is good, for the command is clear: honor thy father and mother. It is no small thing that you seek their relief, not through empty words but true concern. Just as I wrote to Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach and frequent infirmities, so I remind you that caring for the body is no mark of weak faith. The Lord Himself, when He touched Peter’s wife’s mother, did not only break the fever but restored her fully to strength in a moment.
He can do the same now. Pray boldly for the lungs of your mother, for the eyes and heart and limbs of your father. Yet remember this: the love that seeks another’s health is itself a golden covering over many faults, as I said of charity. Do not cease to intercede, but in your asking, guard against the deception of our age.
True honor is not to say, “This sickness is a gift to God, so I will do nothing,” but to labor in prayer and care, which is the real offering. The apostles themselves, though they clung to Christ’s bodily presence, lacked understanding until He opened their minds. So too, the restoration of health may come in a form you do not expect, perhaps deeper than skin or nerve, preparing the soul for what eyes cannot see. Let your merciful pleading be paired with gratitude for every day they are yet with you, for the unthankful man is unholy, without natural affection.
Bear their burdens as your own, and trust that the Physician of souls and bodies knows the measure of their need.
He can do the same now. Pray boldly for the lungs of your mother, for the eyes and heart and limbs of your father. Yet remember this: the love that seeks another’s health is itself a golden covering over many faults, as I said of charity. Do not cease to intercede, but in your asking, guard against the deception of our age.
True honor is not to say, “This sickness is a gift to God, so I will do nothing,” but to labor in prayer and care, which is the real offering. The apostles themselves, though they clung to Christ’s bodily presence, lacked understanding until He opened their minds. So too, the restoration of health may come in a form you do not expect, perhaps deeper than skin or nerve, preparing the soul for what eyes cannot see. Let your merciful pleading be paired with gratitude for every day they are yet with you, for the unthankful man is unholy, without natural affection.
Bear their burdens as your own, and trust that the Physician of souls and bodies knows the measure of their need.
