TUESDAY of 14th WEEK, uneven numbered year
"They had only just left when suddenly a man was brought to him, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was driven out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed and said, ’Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel! ’But the Pharisees said, ’It is through the prince of devils that he drives out devils.’
The signs Jesus does are the object of an interpretation that can be either positive or negative.Jesus chases the demons, he announces the Good News, he heals the sick and the infirm. The Pharisees say ’’It’s in the name of Beelzebub, the chief of the demons that he expulses the demons!’ whereas the crowd is in admiration : ’Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!’ The same event or word can give rise to anger or else turn the hearts of the spectators completely around.God makes a commitment with us and takes the risk of not been received! but those who do receive him are in admiration! It is in welcoming the work of the Salvation of Jesus that we can be saved. This Salvation puts us on our way and being put back on track in a unique way we remain in the Unique God. It is in the relationship with God in prayer that we work with Jesus who lives the combat between the forces of evil in the mystery of his agony : ’Lord, not my will but may your will be done.’ Jesus’ prayer accompanies us throughout the whole of our daily lives when we enter into this ’following Jesus’. We commend ourselves to the Holy Spirit in what we have to live, and so we hold fast in the combats of each day ; God is there to save us!
’Jesus made a tour throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and all kinds of illnesses.’
Every conversion passes through the positive interpretation of the sign of God in in the history of mankind., and in the personal history of each one of us. It is
perceived as a message from Jesus that concerns me and interests me. The harvest is infinitely more abundant and more fruitful when witnesses to the Gospel and those who put down signs of salvation are more numerous. Jesus invites his disciples to pray the Master so that he sends workers to his harvest. The Pharisees who contest Jesus didn’t hear the cry of God in the first Covenant : ’I saw, I saw the misery of my people!’ With Moses we had already heard God’s sorrowful cry! Seeing Jesus, God comes to the help of his People. We can understand that the crowd was in admiration and say ’Never before was anything seen like it in Israel!’ Yet we experience a day when the refusal of the Pharisees in this great combat of the salvation of the world : ’’It’s by the chief of the demons that he expulses the demons.’ If Jesus took flesh of the Virgin Mary, it is to ’make body’ with all of our human reality, he is our strength. Still today, seeing the crowds, Jesus has pity on them, because they are tired and discouraged like sheep without a shepherd. We must accomplish God’s Will that the Holy Spirt gives us with great determination! With Jesus, we give our lives so that the work of sanctification by God may be accomplished in the world
’And when he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ’The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to the harvest.’
We question if our hearts are opened enough.Are we like the crowd, attending healings, hearing the Good News announced and letting ourselves be won by admiration, capable of marveling before the work of the Spirit in the heart of men? We let ourselves be carried with gratitude by the invisible multitude of these men and women for whom admiration for Christ has changed their whole life. We learn from them how to look at Him and hear him in an altogether new way. Compassion dwells in Jesus’ heart, with Him we are witnesses also of our brothers’ misery. Through His Presence, Jesus helps us to be present to every kind of distress! We turn now towards the Father begging Him to send workers to His Harvest, for this Presence of God who heals humanity passes from now on through our own hearts! We are the Presence of Jesus in the world. ’Jesus made a
tour throughout all the towns and villages proclaiming the Good News, healing the sick." We are sent with Jesus who reveals his Mystery of Love in our fidelity.