Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

 

When Jesus disembarked, the people recognized Him at once. They came from all parts, bringing their sick. The enthusiasm of the people who look for Jesus, recognize Him, and follow Him is surprising. What impels people to search for Jesus is not only the desire to encounter Him, to be with Him, but rather the desire to be cured of their sicknesses. Hurrying through the countryside, they brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard He went.

 

And wherever He went, they laid down the sick, begging Him to let them touch even the fringe of His cloak, and all those who touched Him were saved. The Gospel of Matthew comments and enlightens this fact quoting the figure of the Servant of Yahweh.

 

Right from the beginning of His apostolic activity, Jesus goes through all the villages of Galilee, to speak to the people about the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. There, wherever He finds people to listen to Him, He speaks and transmits the Good News of God. He accepts the sick, in all places: in the synagogues during the celebration of the Word on Saturday, in the informal meetings in the houses of friends, walking on the street with the disciples, in the desert, on the mountain from where He proclaimed the Beatitudes, in the Temple of Jerusalem. 

 

To cure and to teach, to teach and to cure, that is what Jesus did the most. This is what He used to do. The people were amazed  and they looked for Him. He not only spoke of God, but He also revealed Him. He not only announced the Good News. He Himself was the Good News, the Good News which attracts!