Tuesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
July 7, 2015 6:30am
I am taken by one sentence in
today’s gospel.
Scripture scholars say this is
kind of a summary sentence for this section of Matthew’s gospel.
It says: “Jesus went around to all towns and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and
illness.”
I am really taken by three words
that summarize what Jesus is doing: teaching, proclaiming, and curing.
So, Jesus teaches.
His teaching in these towns must
have been what Matthew has already recorded from the Sermon on the Mount.
Teachings like: “I came not to abolish the Law, but to
fulfill it.”
“And so, besides not killing someone physically, don’t kill them
emotionally or psychically or spiritually and do whatever you can to enhance
the life of others.”
So, he teaches, and then he
proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom.
This means that he proclaims the
Good News – the meaning of the word Gospel – that God is here – the meaning of
Kingdom.
He proclaims that God is with us
– Emmanuel – and that he will always be with us – Jesus’ last words in
Matthew’s gospel – “I will be with you
all days.”
What comfort, what a revelation
this is – that God is with us, actually abides with us.
So, he teaches, he proclaims, and
he cures.
This means that Jesus makes
humanity and makes us whole.
He offers a wholeness to us as
persons that we can find in no other place.
And this wholeness, because it is
of God, is holiness.
This remains the basic blueprint
for us who continue Jesus’ mission today:
teach, proclaim, and cure.
