Invited by Father Rodolphe Wakim, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Maronite Church, we joined the Maronite community of Pittsburgh, PA for their Saturday evening celebration of Divine Liturgy, then attended their annual dinner in honor of Saint Maron's feastday, which was on February 9. It was a blessing to pray with our Maronite brothers and sisters there and to see many of our dear friends. 
In his homily focused on the gospel passage of Luke 8:40-56, Father Rodolphe explained that many illnesses we have may be invisible such as the hemorrhaging women's illness. Unlike the man with leprosy (Mark 1:35-43) whose healing we meditated on last week, the woman's pain was mostly concealed to the human eye. She must have been weak and exhausted, desperate for an end to her pain. She spent twelve years in agony and humiliation, rejected by those who knew her ailment considered shameful at the time. She had drained all her resources in hope for a cure but found none. Then she decided to go to Jesus. Instead of Him being her first resort, He was her last, Father Rodolphe remarked. In many ways, we are like the hemorrhaging woman. We know Jesus is the Healer of our body and soul and yet we seek help elsewhere, away from Him the source of light and life. We have recourse to things that drain us from within and have a meager ability to cure us. Our faith in Jesus is our only hope and cure, Father Rodolphe concluded. Fervently he asked God to shower His love and mercy on us so that we can reach out to Him in time of need and touch Him and delight in His peace. 
