The Healing of the Royal Official’s Son

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. Hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son, as he was at the point of death. Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and portents, you will not believe.’

“‘Sir,’ answered the official, ‘come down before my child dies.’

“‘Go home,’ said Jesus, ‘your son will live’” (John 4:43-50).

St. John was speaking about a royal official, probably in the service of Herod Antipas, who, although he was the governor of Galilee (cf. Luke 3:1), was referred to as king (cf. Mark 6:14). Probably that official would have been someone of high rank in Capernaum. St. Jerome thought he was a palace courtier.

Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and portents, you will not believe.” Jesus seems to be addressing the people of Galilee, more than just the court official, who flock to Him to get Him to perform miracles and work wonders.

On another occasion Our Lord complains. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—He complains about them for their lack of belief.

“Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Still I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you.

“And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet” (Matt. 11:20-23).

St. Josemaría in The Way says, “I’m not one for miracles. I have told you that in the Holy Gospel I can find more than enough to confirm my faith. —But I can’t help pitying those Christians—pious people, ‘apostles’ many of them—who smile at the idea of extraordinary ways, of supernatural events.

“I feel the urge to tell them: Yes, this is still the age of miracles: we too would work them if we had faith!” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, Point 583).

The Galileans were more inclined to watch Him perform miracles than to listen to His preaching. Later on, after the multiplication of the loaves, they look for Our Lord in order to make Him king.

But they’re slower to believe when He speaks about the Eucharist (John 6:52,60). Our Lord asked them to have a strong, committed faith, which even though it may draw support from the miracles, does not require them. At the same time, Our Lord continues to work miracles, which help to bolster our faith.

In spite of Our Lord’s apparent coldness, the official keeps trying: “Sir, come down before my child dies” (John 4:49). There’s a sense of urgency in his words.

Although his faith was imperfect, it did bring him to travel thirty-three kilometers between Capernaum and Cana, and despite his important position, he was begging Our Lord for help. He truly loves his son: “Come down before my child dies.”

Our Lord likes this man’s perseverance and his humility. St. Josemaría says in The Way, “If your faith were the size of a mustard seed! ... What promises are contained in this exclamation of the Master!” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 585).

The Fathers of the Church compare this miracle with that of the servant of the centurion, contrasting the amazing faith of the centurion—from the start—with the initially imperfect faith of this official from Capernaum.

St. John Chrysostom comments, “Here was a robust faith[in the case of the official]; therefore, Jesus made him the promise, so that we might learn from this man’s devotion; his faith was as yet imperfect, and he did not clearly realize that Jesus could effect the cure at a distance; thus, the Lord, by not agreeing to go down to the man’s house, wished us to learn the need to have faith” (John Chrysostom, Homily on St. John, 35).

Our Lord says, “Go home, your son will live” (John 4:50). Our own lives are not free either from moments of darkness, of suffering, or of trial. But we have the assurance of Our Lord’s protection and of Our Lady’s help.

When the apostles had rowed about three miles, Our Lord came to them unexpectedly, walking on the water, to strengthen their weak faith and to give them heart in the midst of the storm. He drew near to them and said, “It is I; do not be afraid” (John 6:20).

There’s a story told about Pope Pius XII. It seems there’s a custom in Rome that when a new pope is elected his portrait is painted, and that he comes and looks at the portrait, and he signs it with his signature. But the painter who was doing his portrait was a rather modernistic, avant-garde painter.

When Pope Pius came to look at the portrait that he had done of him, he could hardly recognize himself. It’s said that instead of signing his signature on the portrait, he put a quote from Scripture: “It is I; do not be afraid.”

“The apostles were glad to take [Jesus] into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (John 6:21).

In our own life, there may be no shortage of tempests or threatening skies, of interior darkness, of misunderstandings—and, with more or less regular frequency, situations in which we should correct our course because we have gone astray. Then we should try and see Our Lord, who always comes in the storm of suffering.

Lord, help us to accept the setbacks with faith, as blessings from heaven to purify us and draw us closer to God.

“The man believed what Jesus had said and he went on his way to his home. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. They replied, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’

“The father realized that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live.’ And he and all his household believed. This new sign was the second Jesus performed on his return from Judea to Galilee” (cf. John 4:50-54).

Whoever recognizes the reassuring voice of Our Lord in the events that may sour our lives, of whatever kind they may be, immediately discovers the security of reaching dry land.

“They were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going”—where Jesus wished them to go.

It’s enough to be in His company for us to always feel secure. Insecurity arises when our faith is weakened, when we don’t have recourse to Our Lord because it seems that He doesn’t hear us or doesn’t care for us.

He knows very well what’s happening to us and He wants us to go to ask Him for help. He will never leave us in a tight spot.

The words of Our Lord on another occasion can inspire us with confidence: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am” (John 17:24).

It could seem on some occasions of greater or lesser duration that Christ is not there, as if He had abandoned us or didn’t hear our prayer.

But He is never the one who abandons. We’re told in the Psalms, “The Lord looks on those who revere him, to rescue their souls from death” (cf. Ps. 33:18-19).

If we remain close to Our Lord in personal prayer and the sacraments, we will be able to do everything. With Him the storms, both interior and exterior, are converted into occasions for increasing our faith and hope and charity and fortitude.

With the passage of time we may come to understand the meaning of these difficulties, the crosses that God has permitted. And we emerge from all those trials, temptations, and tribulations through which we have to pass if we are close to Christ, more purified, with more humility, with more love of God. Then we’ll always be able to count on the help of Our Mother in heaven.

In The Way St. Josemaría says, “You are not alone. Suffer that tribulation joyfully. It’s true, poor child, that you don’t feel your Mother’s hand in yours. But…have you never seen the mothers of this earth, with arms outstretched, following their little ones when, without anyone’s help, they venture to take their first shaky steps? You are not alone: Mary is close beside you” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 900).

She is there all the time, but especially when for whatever reason we are experiencing difficulties. May we not cease to have recourse to her.

And then we’re told that “he and all his household believed.” The miracle was so convincing that the man and all those in his house became believers.

All parents should try and do what they can to bring all their household to the faith. In the Letter of Timothy we’re told, “Anyone who does not look after his own relations, especially if they’re living with him, has rejected the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). St. Josemaría always said our first apostolate is in our family (cf. J. Escrivá, Conversations, Point 91).

When our faith diminishes, difficulties may seem greater.

Peter’s faith, great at first, was soon to diminish. He realized the force of the waves and the wind. St. John says that the wind was strong, that it was impossible for a man to walk on water.

He worries about the difficulties and forgets the only thing that was keeping him afloat: the word of the Lord. He paid attention to the obstacles and his faith diminished: the miracle was linked to complete trust in Christ.

At times, God may ask us for things that are apparently impossible, but which become a reality when we act with faith, with our sight fixed on Our Lord.

In one of the biographies of St. Josemaría by Peter Berglar, it tells a story of how St. Josemaría “told a daughter of his who was going to another country where there would be difficulties inseparable from the beginning of the apostolic work. He said, ‘When I ask something of you, my daughter, don’t tell me it’s impossible, because I know that already. Since I began the Work, Our Lord has asked me to do many impossible things…and they’ve become a reality!’” (cf. Peter Berglar, Opus Dei: Life and Work of Its Founder, Josemaría Escrivá, Chapter Seven).

And they have kept on happening! So it was with their apostolic work in many countries…and vocations came, and with them people who were willing to help out in that work with great generosity and attachment.

In many ways, he told them: “Men of faith are needed and the great works of Scripture will be repeated” (cf. J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 586). Those great works are done each day on earth. This is the way it has always been in the history of the Church”

It is God who keeps us afloat and makes us effective in the midst of those apparent impossibilities, of an environment which often goes against the Christian ideal.

In this past year here in Kenya, we’ve been celebrating 100 years of one particular religious order, an educational order for girls, the Loreto Sisters, who have been working here for 100 years.

There were six young nuns who arrived here in 1921. They couldn’t have imagined what was going to happen from their fidelity: schools, many of them, millions of students educated, the women of the country, tremendous grace for this whole nation, tremendous Christian influence.

All those miracles that we see in the history of the Church can happen again in the coming 100 years. We are the instruments to make that happen.

It is Christ who makes us walk on water—on one condition: that we keep our eyes set on Him and not allow any obstacles and temptations to distract us.

St. John Chrysostom points out that Jesus taught Peter, through personal experience, that all his fortitude came from Christ; left to his own devices, Peter could only expect weakness and misery (John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. Matthew’s Gospel, 50).

“When our cooperation is lacking,” says St. John Chrysostom, “God also ceases to help us.” That’s why as soon as Peter began to fear and doubt he also began to sink.

When faith diminishes, difficulties seem greater. One spiritual writer comments. “Living faith depends on my ability to respond to God, who calls me and wants to treat me as a friend, as One who is the great witness of my life. So if I respond to him and love him, and if he is someone familiar in my life, if I live close to him, I am safeguarding my faith, because my faith is founded on God.

“On the other hand, if I keep my distance from God, if I forget him, if I keep him outside of my life and am submerged in merely human and material things, if I let myself be carried away by what is immediately in front of me and God fades from my soul, then how will I [have] a living faith? If I don’t speak with Christ, what is there left of my faith?

“That is why, in the final analysis, all obstacles to a life of faith may be reduced—in their root—to a withdrawal, a separation from God: we cease to [deal with] him face to face” (Pedro Rodriguez, Faith and Life of Faith).

Then it is that temptations and obstacles gain strength. Peter would have remained firm on the waters and would have reached the Lord if he had not separated his confident gaze from Christ.

All the tempests put together, those within the soul and those arising from outside, cannot shake us as long as we have firm recourse to prayer. To abandon prayer, to pray with little intimacy or sincerity, exposes us to sink into discouragement, pessimism, and temptation.

Our faith should never falter even when the difficulties are enormous, even though they seem to crush us under their weight. “What does it matter,” said St. Josemaría in The Way, “if the whole world with all its power is against you? You…go forward! Repeat the words of the Psalm: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? … Though my enemies surround me, my heart shall not waver’ (Ps. 27:1,3)” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 482).

Jesus always comes to our aid. “Then Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus. But seeing the wind was strong, he was afraid; and as he began to sink, he cried out saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And Jesus at once stretched forth his hand and took hold of him, saying, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind fell” (cf. Matt. 14:29-32).

In the middle of dangers, obstacles, doubts, we should look to Christ. St. Paul says, “Let us run with patience to the fight set before us, looking towards the author and perfecter of faith, Jesus” (Heb. 12:1-2).

Christ should be a clear, sharply defined figure for us. We’ve contemplated Him so many times that we can’t confuse Him with a ghost, as the disciples did that night (Matt. 14:26).

They thought it was a ghost, but it was really Jesus. His features, His voice, His gaze are all unmistakable. He has looked on us so many times. He is the beginning and the culmination of Christian life.

St. Thomas comments: “If you want to be saved, look upon the face of your Christ” (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews).

Talking to him habitually, in prayer and through the sacraments, is the only guarantee of staying on our feet, as children of God, in the middle of the rough seas in which we live.

What’s more, together with Christ, the conflicts and labors we confront almost daily strengthen our faith and our hope, and unite us more closely to Him.

The same occurs to “the trees that grow in shady, sheltered places: while externally they appear to thrive, often they are feeble and easily hurt. However,” says St. John Chrysostom, “the trees that grow on the pinnacles of the tallest mountains, buffeted by many winds, constantly exposed to harsh conditions, beaten by fierce storms and covered by snow, these grow as strong as iron” (John Chrysostom, Homily on the Glory of Tribulation).

Peter stopped looking at Christ and he sank. But he knew enough to return immediately to Him to whom all is submitted. “Lord, save me!”, he cried. He cried with all his strength when he felt all was lost.

And Jesus, with infinite affection, stretched out His hand and pulled him up. We’re not told that Our Lord allowed him to disappear into the water, glug, glug, glug, let him stay there for a few minutes to teach him a lesson, and then pulled him out. We’re told, “Immediately, Our Lord stretched out his hand.”

If we see that we’re sinking, that temptations and difficulties are overwhelming us, we need to go to Jesus. He always stretches out His hand for us to hold on tight. He will never let us sink, if we do the little that’s required of us.

God has also placed our guardian angel next to us to help us in all adversity and to serve as a powerful aid on our road to heaven.

What a wonderful thing, that we can always turn to our guardian angel, our personal messenger, who is beside us night and day, 24/7. In any little difficulty, he’s a very logical person to talk to.

Lord, may I talk to my guardian angel more frequently, praying that Prayer to the Guardian Angel, saying it for my children, so that many years from now when they encounter difficulties or loneliness or challenges or problems in the course of their life, they also might have learnt from their youth to turn to their guardian angel and to ask him for help in small things and great things. And then, we’ll find the fortitude that we need for our victory.

We can ask Our Lady, Queen of Faith that is put into practice. May you help us to put our faith into practice in concrete ways each day.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

MVF