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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Those who had diseases were pressing upon Him to touch Him

Those who had diseases were pressing upon Him to touch Him

Published Jan 20, 2022 12:05 am

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Reflections today

The healings in Mark are statements of the Gospel’s Christology: they reveal the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. These accounts also reveal how, in the person of Jesus, the longing of humankind for healing has found its answer.

Mark recounts a large number of people following Jesus. They are not only from Jesus’ home province of Galilee, but many came all the way from Judea, and even from neighboring countries: Idumea, the Transjordan, Tyre, and Sidon. Many have come to be healed, and so they press on Jesus and try to touch him.

In spirituality, one does not just approach Jesus because one’s needs are answered. It is a known fact that those who have committed their life to regular and consistent prayer will eventually find themselves in a state wherein God seems far away, and to have withdrawn all the good feelings that come with the prayer of a beginner. It is here that the person who prays learns to seek God for God’s sake, and not for the consolations that God brings. The person who prays learns to seek not the gift, but the Giver.

Gospel • MARK 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.


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