Jesus' Agenda: Integration & Restoration

Homily for September 4, 2019 | Wednesday

INTRODUCTION

Brothers in Christ, our Gospel for today is a presentation of how Jesus acted in the different faces of misery of people. He healed. He preached. He drove away demons. Jesus preaching to other towns is a manifestation of his sense of mission, the widening of the horizon of the invitation for the Kingdom. It is not just Israel but also other towns and villages. Paul in our first reading affirms the positive receiving of the Good News by the Colossians and the steadfastness in their faith.

Let us acknowledge our sins, and prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

HOMILY

Our Gospel for today portrays different faces of misery and human suffering, and how all the time Jesus acted to break misery from a position of power and authority. He healed Peter’s mother in law and the people suffering with various illnesses. He drove away demons. He preached to the other towns which were deprived of his proclamation.These are the faces of sufferings upon which Jesus centered his ministry; that of healing, teaching, and driving out of demons.

At the top of it all, Jesus wants to restore these people and integrate them into the community one more. Our first reading highlights the marvel of accepting freely the Good News which he calls gift and truth.

• Jesus restores life for service. Like the woman, when you get healed from your wounds and brokeness, choose to serve when you get the chance.

• When you you are assailed by your demons, hindering you from transcendence and holiness, simply acknowledge that you are powerless and only God can heal and integrate you into the order of life.

• The dessert is anything that that invites us to encounter God. Desolation and emptiness of the heart leaves us vulnerable, bare and devoid of defences, but they are signals to our innermost longings. Amen.