In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Monday 5 August 2019

Eigtheenth Week in Ordinary Time

Word for today
The Gospel of Matthew 14:22-36

At least the cloak

No medical examinations, MRIs, blood tests, medical consultations, not a minute in the hospital, no medical prescriptions, no chemical laboratory workups, no anesthesia, no therapy or rehabilitation, no medicines or bandages, none of any of this was needed to heal in the days of His presence among us.  Every ill person heals instantly and completely in the presence of Jesus, and for those who cannot reach Him because of the crush of the crowd, it is enough to brush against or touch His cloak to heal every disease and sickness. It is simple, direct, free, clean, powerful, undeniable, real and clear. It is so beautiful.
For us men it is all so complicated, cumbersome, vague, limited, and full of handmade obstacles, as in the case when Peter walked on the water. But why is that? Because Peter, as long as he trusted Jesus, lost his physical weight and became a light spirit, although still remaining a physical person. At the moment that Peter stopped trusting Jesus, he stopped feeding from Jesus' grace and living in His whole and eternal reality. At the moment Peter abandoned his total confidence and love in Jesus and started to think and to want to be in control,  fear grabbed him from within and dragged him down to where everything is difficult, complicated, troublesome, and suspended. It was then that Peter returned to his usual weight in the usual waters. This is one of the most colossal mistakes in reading and interpreting the Gospel. When Jesus invited Peter to go to Him by walking on the water, in part He wanted to show His power and to give a miraculous sign to convince everyone of His divinity. But that was not all and not even the most important thing. Jesus’ prodigious signs, miracles, healings, the multiplication of the loaves, His very resurrection are meant to show us the level of spiritual and existential evolution we could reach and live everyday if we followed with loving faith the Gospel procedures. Jesus heals people not only to say, “I am God,” but to tell us that we are God’s children and to show us what we can do by remaining in His love and following the Word. Faith, true faith,  trust in Jesus and love for the power of His Gospel procedures can give an unprecedented, extraordinary impetus to the history of our human evolution in every living dimension. When man understands that Jesus came not to find a religion but to make things easier, effective, beautiful, healthy, harmonious, full of life and peace on earth, according to His and Our Father’s will, we will witness humanity's touching and wonderful awakening.
If we do not make Jesus the center of our lives by faith, love, sharing and membership, we should at least follow Him as an act of astuteness and slyness. Human sciences, governments, culture should, at least out of astuteness and slyness, try to hang on to His cloak or touch it by listening to His Word, in order to simplify and improve life on this earth. At least for astuteness and slyness, we should grab the hem of His cloak.
In Jesus’ times poor, normal, busy and deceived people from all places ran to Him to be healed, always showed more faith, love, astuteness and cunning than all the leaders and priests of the temple put together. The leaders and temple priests never sought Jesus out to be healed, but only to criticize and accuse Him. When arrogance reaches that level even in the face of such amazing evidence, it becomes perfect stupidity.