Troubled hearts and Fr. Healy

He never ceases to bring out a smile out of you.

Fr. Andrew Healy of the Tsukuba International Catholic Church has that special gift of bringing peace to each one's hearts, be these troubled or not.

Once he narrated, after he gave his name, he was asked if he was a real healer. And he retorted with a smile and in his usual humble soft voice, " No, I am not the healer. It is God who heals."

He said this incident took place in one Philippine hospital where he was given a list of names and room numbers to be visited. He entered one room and he saw the look of surprise in everyone's face.

"Their look seemed to tell me that they thought I descended from Heaven or something." Fr. Healy went ahead anyway to minister to the sick man in the room. After that, he was asked who sent him and he said he was visiting those in the list of names and room numbers given to him earlier by the hospital staff. When they checked the list, it was only then that Fr. Healy realized he went to a room that was not on the list!

His visit, he said, turned out to be providential, however. According to the family members, the patient had turned away from the Lord and Fr. Healy came at God's exact appointed time to touch that particular patient.

Some days later, Fr. Healy "chanced" again upon the same patient. This time, the patient and his family were ready to board the car that would take them back home. This time, it was the patient himself who thanked Fr. Healy and who personally asked him again to pray over his stomach that had cancer. Fr. Healy did as requested, he placed his hand on the man's stomach as they prayed and thanked the Lord together for healing. And again, he reminded the troubled patient, that is God who heals, not him.

Fast forward, December 31, on the eve of the New Year, at mass. Fr. Healy may have anticipated the anxiety about meeting the unknown and the new year in the hearts of his parishioners. The following is his beautiful homily that touched many of us and which we hope will also bring peace to those who will be touched among you.

Here are the highlights of that beautiful inspiring New Year Eve sermon of Fr. Healy:

"Happy New Year!" Every year, Time magazine chooses a Person of the Year. Once it was Mother Teresa, at another time, it was Cory Aquino. (Similarly), every year the Church chooses a "Person of the Year" and every year, it is "Our Blessed Mother."

Why does the Church choose Her as the Person of the Year? There are two reasons, I think. One, she is the Mother of the Savior, the Mother of the Son of God - a special gift. (But) as St. Augustine says, 'Before Mary gave birth to Jesus physically, she gave birth to Jesus in her heart. More than any person, 'She longed for the Savior.'

Secondly, Mary "listened" to the Word of God and practiced it. Remember once when Jesus was preaching, someone said to Jesus, "Your mother and sisters are outside and want to speak with you. Remember Jesus' reply? "Who is my mother, my brother and my sister?"…The one who does the will of My Father is mother and brother and sister to me.

For Mary, everyday, every hour was "new". Something like Let This Be The First Day of Your Life poster.

For Mary, everyday, God will give a gift!

Today, as we begin a New Year - we begin it with "the Woman of Faith" - Mary.

What will this year bring? No one knows.

There is this unknown story that goes as follows: I said to the Holy Man at the gate of a new year - Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.

And He replied, " Go out in to the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way. Mary did that. The future for Mary was also unknown but Mary put her hand in God's hand. So too, for us - like Mary."

Before I wrote this article, another Japanese parishioner came to greet us. As she described and shared her concern for the new year, how the crisis will hit especially the migrants in Japan, I told her that thankfully, there is God who will take care of all.

And she remembered Fr. Healy's homily and emphatically, confidently realized that all will be ok for all those who will put their hands in the hands of God.

Let us all put our hands in the hands of God. He will take care. All will be well today, tomorrow, through the years. He is merely waiting for us all to extend our hands to Him in complete trust and faith.

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