A Reflection on Luke 13:10-17
Imagine being bent over for eighteen
years, unable to look up at the sky, to see people's faces, or to stand tall.
That's how long this woman in the Gospel had been suffering. But when Jesus saw
her on the Sabbath, He didn't walk past. He called her over and said,
"Woman, you are set free!" With just His word and His touch, she
straightened up and began praising God. The religious leaders complained about
breaking Sabbath rules, but Jesus reminded them: if you untie your animals to
give them water on the Sabbath, how much more should a daughter of Abraham be
freed from her chains?
Here's something amazing: this healing shows us the whole mystery of the Rosary
in one beautiful moment. When we pray the Luminous Mysteries, we walk with
Jesus through His public ministry, watching Him teach and heal and reveal God's
glory. This woman, bent over, is exactly the kind of person Jesus came to save.
She's been carrying her cross for eighteen years, unable to lift her eyes to
heaven. And Jesus, moved by compassion, reaches down and lifts her up.
Think about how we hold the Rosary beads in our hands. Each bead is a prayer,
and as we move through them, we're actually doing what Jesus did for this woman,
we're slowly, steadily reaching up toward heaven. The woman was stuck looking
down; she couldn't even try to look up. But after Jesus healed her, she could
finally raise her eyes to God and worship Him properly. That's what the Rosary
does for our souls. When we're bent over with worry, sadness, or sin, the
Rosary helps us straighten up spiritually, one Hail Mary at a time, until we're
standing tall before God again.
And here's the deeper connection: Mary herself knows what it means to stand
when others fall. At the foot of the Cross, when everyone else ran away, she
stood. In the Sorrowful Mysteries, we see her standing in her pain, never bent
over by despair, always trusting in God's plan. She teaches us through the
Rosary how to remain upright in our spirits even when life tries to bend and
break us. Every time we pray "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us,"
we're asking her to help us stand as she stood, with faith, with hope, with our
eyes fixed on Jesus.
The crowd rejoiced at the wonderful things Jesus was doing, and that's what
happens when we faithfully Pray The Rosary too. We start bent over with
our problems, but as we meditate on Jesus's life, death, and resurrection
through Mary's eyes, something shifts inside us. We remember we're daughters
and sons of Abraham too, children of God who were made to stand tall and praise
Him. The beads become like Jesus's healing hands, straightening our souls one
prayer at a time, until we can finally look up and see heaven clearly again.
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
