Jesus heals many

Fr Paul reads the Gospel from Luke (4: 38-44) in which the authority of Jesus is emphasised as we see him cure the mother-in-law of Simon Peter.

Today, unlike many other times, Jesus does not touch Simon Peter’s mother-in-law to heal her. He simply leans over her, rebukes the fever and it leaves her and immediately, the Gospel tells us, she stands up and gets to work.  Then we hear that Jesus heals all who are brought to him by laying his hands on them. Fr Paul says we are even told of demons coming out and shouting that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus, simply, rebukes them to silence.

At the end of the Gospel, Jesus tries to go to a lonely place but the crowds come too.  As Jesus tries moves on, they try to prevent him from leaving but he says he must continue his mission and so he moves from Galilee to Judea to continue proclaiming the good news.

For our reflection today, Fr Paul says we might ask ourselves ‘What areas of my life need the healing touch of Jesus?’