Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
(Mark 3:7-12)
The Ganges River holds a revered place in Hinduism. Men and woman in tremendous numbers converge on it for healing. People believe that by drinking its waters they might have eternal life.
In today’s gospel Jesus becomes a kind of Ganges River. He attracts huge numbers of people from the four corners of Palestine who seek healing of body and/or spirit. Jesus tells the demons whom he casts out not to mention that he is the Son of God. Evidently, he is not only concerned that the people would get the wrong idea of what that means, but any greater numbers would only create insuperable problems of logistics.
Today Jesus is more accessible to us in the Eucharist. But we Mass-goers might ask ourselves, why do we seek him? Is it for some acute need like healing? Or do we wish to learn from him the ways of everlasting life? Of course, the latter too is a critical need, but it recognizes that some effort on our part will be called forth. When we come to Jesus, we must be ready to change our ways. If not, no matter how much healing there is in his touch, in the long run it will not avail us the eternal life we seek.
