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Assisting those in need, the role of faith

By Father Dennis Meinen
View from the scooter
 
“With a little help from my friends…”

John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beetles wrote this tune with a limited range, because of the vocal “limitations” of Ringo Starr. McCartney worked closely with Starr so he could sing this, perhaps the reason for its title. Did you know Starr changed one of the lines?  Speaking in the Anthology, Starr insisted on changing the first line which originally was "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?"

He changed the lyric so that fans would not throw tomatoes at him should he perform it live. (In the early days, after George Harrison made a passing comment that he liked jelly babies, the group was showered with them at all of their live performances.)
 
Recent passages in the Bible continue this theme of assisting those in need and one’s faith plays a vital role in this process.  Remember when 4 men brought a paralytic to Jesus, but had to lower him through the ceiling tiles because the crowd around Jesus was so numerous they couldn’t bring him in the normal way?

When Jesus saw them do this he said, “Because of your faith, this man is healed.” (Matt. 8:5-10).   Or don’t you think it was the faith of the centurion that led Jesus to heal his own servant? Jesus healed all 10 lepers but only one obeyed showing that he was the only one to possess true saving faith. Lk.17:11-19
 
And now for one of the most beautiful acts of faith I was privileged to be part of.  One time a Catholic family asked me to come out to their house to anoint a family member who was suffering dreadfully from cancer. I downloaded my scooter but could only go as far as the 4 steps leading to a back door. I paused as I stared at the looming “Rock of Gibraltar” I had to climb. Thankfully several guardian angels (strong men with young ladies “cheerleading us” forward) helped me up the 4 steps into their house.

I so hoped the Lord witnessed this event where several men helped, not the paralytic, but the “wounded soldier of Christ” who has the fiery Jeremiah passion to come to their home to pray the Apostolic Blessing and the sacred prayers of Anointing. I hoped Jesus would also say to the individual, “Because of their faith, you are healed.” Later on that evening the words of another Beetle song came to me. “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

The efforts of love showed by so many that day, I pray, are only a shadow of the love our Suffering Lord Jesus gave back to us!

Is there someone you can assist to receive medical or spiritual care?