Wednesday, September 4, 2002
22nd Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 Cor 3:1-9
Gospel: Lk 4:38-44
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law
was suffering from high fever and they asked him to do something for her.
Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she
got up and waited on them.
At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to
Jesus. Laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Demons were driven
out, howling as they departed from their victims, "You are the Son
of God!" He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they
knew he was the Messiah.
Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out
in search of him and, finding him, they tried to dissuade him from leaving.
But he said, "I have to go to other towns to announce the good news
of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do." So Jesus continued
to preach in the synagogues of the Jewish country.
Commentary
God's intent for humans is life in its fullness. Thus, where Jesus finds life threatened or curtailed, he gives wholeness to people. Luke shows Jesus to be a healer of body and of mind. Here he also shows that such healing leads to a confession of Jesus as God's Son, which is again a post-resurrection formulation. Are we, who nowadays repeat such confession, equally intent in seeking wholeness of life for people and nature around us?