Getting to Know Jesus and Taking One's Needs to Him

In today's Gospel, John 4: 43-54, Jesus returns to Galilee, frustrated that he was not received in his hometown, saying: "...[A] prophet has no honor in his native place."  Experiencing the indifference and hostility of his hometown, Jesus goes to Galilee, where He is welcome. He actually returns to Cana of Galilee, where he performed his first miracle in changing water into wine. A royal official from Judea approaches him and begs Jesus to heal his son who, in Capernaum, is at the point of death. Initially, Jesus responds with a reproach: "Unless you people see signs and wonders you will not believe."  The royal official simply says to Jesus: "Sir, come down before my child dies." Go,  "your son will live."  On his return home, the royal official learns that his son actually began to recover at the very moment that Jesus said: "[Y]our son will live."

There are several learnings here. First of all, we learn that Jesus is a human person like us. Jesus experienced all of the emotions you and I experience when we are rejected, ignored, and/or treated with indifference. Jesus could feel frustrated and, also,  taken advantage of, as when he complained that people just wanted to "see signs and wonders."  Second of all, we learn that Jesus reads hearts, as with the royal official. The royal official did not approach Jesus just to see a sign. He knew that Jesus healed people and would heal his dying son! Third of all,  we learn that Jesus is a God of compassion and love. He cared for and about the royal official and his dying son!  He cares about us and our families, too.  Fourth of all, we learn the importance of approaching Jesus with our needs and doing so with faith!

As we reflect upon this Gospel, I also suggest that we ask ourselves the following questions: If I were a resident of Jesus' native town, if Jesus entered my  home, would I be indifferent to Him? Would I want him to leave or, much worse, want to "throw him over a cliff", as the people had attempted to do when he preached in the synagogue he attended as a child?

As we reflect upon the royal official'  faith, however, I suggest we ask ourselves the following questions: How do I relate to God? Do I approach God with a humble faith?  Or am I simply curious, wanting to see "signs and wonders"?  Am I a person who has heard about Jesus and the work He has done and does, but simply remain distant from Him, not taking time to get to know Jesus and His works and His compassion for me and my needs and those I care about?

If you want to grow in your faith, I suggest spending time in prayer, personal and communal, liturgical and familial; picking up the Bible and reflecting on passages that resonate with you. Also helpful is reading books that nurture your hunger and thirst for God.

Trusting Jesus

In today’s Gospel,  Mark 1: 299-39, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. As soon as Jesus entered Peter’s house, the disciples (Peter and his brother Andrew and James and John) told him that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick. Jesus immediately approached her, “grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them….In the evening, after sunset,….  the whole town was gathered at the door.”  Jesus “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.”

Let us, as the responsorial psalm, Psalm 105, invites us to do: “Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; make known among the nations his deeds",  as He is as active today, as in Peter's time. ” Let us “glory in his holy name; rejoice” and “look to the Lord in his strength; seek to serve him constantly” because “in the evening, after sunset,” that is, in the darkness of our current events and world, God is at work. The demons will be driven out of those possessed by hatred and bigotry and by misogynistic, narcissistic and prejudicial attitudes that will bring harm to the poor and to this country and the entire world.   

      

To what extent do you and I share our concerns with God, knowing that God will  heed our requests that sicknesses be healed, “demons” cast out, injustices squelched, sinful behaviors challenged, and wrongs made right.  Just as Jesus, as Mark tells us, “went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee, so, too, today,  does He do so throughout the entire world. Evil shall not prevail!  

Jesus, I trust in you.