The word about what Jesus is doing is getting out. He is a healer, an exorcist, a blasphemer. All of which draw people from the surrounding region. Those gathering around Jesus surpass now the number of those who were coming to see John the Baptist and with the interest and growing need, people are moving in at such a steady number in an effort to touch Jesus that he asked his disciples to get his boat ready. He could then get in it and avoid being crushed by the crowd.

Jesus is meeting the need of the hunger of the people. Who doesn’t want to be free of physical ailments and unclean spirits? Ultimately, the account in today’s Gospel is a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom, for Jesus as he announced at the beginning of his ministry is the “kingdom of God at hand.” He who is united with the Father through the love of the Holy Spirit has become one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity.

Jesus can still meet the deepest needs we yearn for in the depths of our souls of wanting to belong, be seen, heard, healed, and loved. What ushers in this reality for us is the same choice that needed to be made back in Jesus’ time. Do we believe that Jesus is who he said he is? And the answer to this question is not a one and done answer. This needs to be answered and on our mind more often than not if Jesus is going to be relevant in our lives.

Who and what is important to us we make time for. When we make time for Jesus, Jesus will become more real to us. Setting aside time to pray, to participate in Mass, read and meditate upon the gospels, invite him into our decisions, thank him for our daily successes and ask him for help in our struggles, see him in our relationships with others, and being silent and still together, are ways that we will encounter Jesus and grow in our relationship with him so that we too can experience a foretaste of heaven.

Photo: Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Poquonock, CT during my visit back home during our Christmas break. Mass, where heaven and earth are wedded together.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, January 18, 2024