Monday after Epiphany – Matthew
4:12-17, 23-25
Today we continue to celebrate the mysteries of Christmas,
even though most of the world has moved into “ordinary time!” For most people, the Christmas tree and
decorations have come down. Yet the
Church continues to celebrate the coming of Jesus.
The focus of the Gospel reading for this day is the beginning
of Jesus’ public ministry. The reading
begins as Jesus receives word that his beloved cousin and friend, John the
Baptist, had been arrested. Matthew
writes: “Jesus left Nazareth and went to Capernaum.” There Jesus begins His ministry of preaching
and teaching. Jesus began calling the
people to “repent.” He told His
listeners that the “kingdom of heaven” was near.
Word of Jesus’ power and preaching spread throughout the
region. Jesus healed the sick, cast out
demons, and ministered to the people according to their needs. People from many cities and towns came to see
this man, Jesus. They came to hear Him
preach and to be healed. Imagine that
you are in the crowd of people gathered around Jesus. What do you hope to see or experience? Do you want to hear Him preach and
teach? Or do you simply want to see Him for
yourself? Are you hoping He might heal your infirmity?
We can come to Jesus today as well. We may simply listen to what He has to say to
us, or we might tell Him our needs and hopes.
Do we trust that Jesus will listen to us? Do we believe that Jesus will heal us in some
fashion? Today, may we place our hope
and our trust in Jesus. He will not fail
us!
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