2 May 2020
Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church
As he was beginning his papal ministry, St. Peter travelled to the town of Lydda. This town still exists today. It is now called Lod and it is situated in Israel, not far from Tel Aviv. Once in that town, St. Peter performed a healing miracle for a paralytic, calling him by name and saying to him “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you.” Then, he added, “Get up and make your bed” (Acts 9:34). From the miraculous to the mundane! Having worked a supernatural miracle in which the laws of physics and biology were bent and sidestepped under divine authority, to the amazement and astonishment of all the witnesses, the first Pope pointed right back down to earth, to the simplest and humblest of daily tasks, to making your bed. Is this the mission of the Pope, of the Church, of Jesus Christ himself? To tell us to make our beds? Is this why Jesus Christ came to this earth, was crucified, died and was buried, and rose again? Is this why he sent the Holy Spirit among us?
Well, whose bed should we be making? What else should we be doing? Are we not called to make things right in our own lives first, with God’s help? The message of Jesus was “repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). To repent means to stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things. So, begin each day correctly. Make your bed, physically, just as St. Peter commanded the bedazzled and astounded ex-paralytic, Aeneas. You might also think about making your bed spiritually. Perhaps some little prayer daily upon waking?