To Be Like Jesus

𝐉𝐀𝐍. 𝟏𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟏 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟑:𝟏-𝟏𝟎, 𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟒𝟎:𝟐, 𝟓, 𝟕-𝟖𝐛-𝟏𝟎 “𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝; 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐤 𝟏:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟗

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟑𝟖) 

         Today there is clear evidence of a renewed interest even among Catholics to read and understand the message that lie hidden in the pages of the Sacred Scriptures and there is nothing wrong with that. The danger, however, is that we could be missing a lot if we will just read the Bible as if it were just another book.

         That it may be regarded as just a book is not without reason as the Bible is normally one of the things that is given as a gift to couples who get married in the church but no one would even care explain to the newlyweds how such a book could benefit their relationship with God and with one another for that matter and it normally ends up being stacked in the book shelf.

         But the Bible is more than just a book. While it was written by men, the inspiration came from God Himself who through the Holy Spirit guided those whom God chose to turn the Word of God into written form that we now find in both the Old and New Testament. Because it was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, those who would like to really grasp its meaning and relevance must ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit through prayer.

         This Gospel narrative for today (𝐌𝐤 𝟏:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟗) is an example because it is so pregnant with meaning that it shows us three characteristics of Jesus that we can look at as learning curves for us to emulate and we’ll have to get right into the narrative to be able to fully grasp its relevance to our own setting.

         Here we see Jesus giving evidence of his being the Messiah when he healed Peter’s mother-n-law whose health was restored that she immediately moved about to serve Jesus and his disciples and as the day of the Sabbath ends, Jesus healed everyone by laying hands on each of those who came with various forms of illnesses and sickness.

          Not only do we see Jesus demonstrating with conclusive proof his divine power as he healed all forms (𝐯𝐯.𝟑𝟑-𝟑𝟒) of sickness and diseases, but it also brought to light His compassion for those who are in need. This was evident in 𝐯.𝟑𝟐 which says that the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed after sunset.

          After sunset could mean the time for people to rest and Jesus was no exception and he needed to rest after a tiring day of preaching and healing the sick. Yet he remained awake and healed many who had various diseases (𝐯.𝟑𝟒). This scenario should define our roles as disciples in terms of how we relate to those who are not as fortunate or blessed as we are regardless of the time.

          Like Jesus, we should be open to helping those in need even if we are being inconvenienced especially when we are on our way to work, to a vacation, to attend a party or on our way to the mall. Or do we forego these opportunities to be a Christian by withholding our help to those who come to us.

          At the house of Peter, Jesus demonstrated his heart that is predisposed to serving others as he did not have a chance to even grasp a deep breath as he went on to heal Peter’s mother-in-law and countless others who came after news of his healing power spread throughout the region like wildfire.

         This only shows us that as disciples we no longer own our time. That if we are to follow Jesus, we are to deny ourselves (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑) and we are to deny certain pleasures to come to the aid of others. We are to forego the luxuries that we enjoy in favor of the needs of others. In other words, we all must have the heart of Jesus that is bent towards serving others.

         When a person falls in love, what happens is that we lose ourselves as the love that we have for the other person fills us and that love controls us. The love of Jesus for us is so great that he gave his life to ransom us and this same love should move us to help the sick, the beggar on the streets, the homeless, out-of-school youths and, the spiritually impoverished.

         At his voice and command, Jesus demonstrated the second reality in this Gospel as the demons came out of the people who were at the house of Peter. As it was customary in those days to equate certain forms of illness to being possessed by evil spirits, Jesus healed everyone by laying hands on each one of them.

         As we read reflect on this Gospel passage, let us also ask ourselves what the demons in our lives could be that we should bring to Jesus. Could these be our vanities, judgments, criticality, prejudices, arrogance and pride, self-exaltation, wealth? Do our priorities stand in the way of our relationship with God? As we stand face-to-face with Jesus at the Eucharistic Celebration and at our Prayer Meetings, Jesus must take the place of the demons in our lives. This is the abundant life (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟏𝟎) that He promised us.

         A significant portion of today’s Gospel passage is found towards the end where we find that Jesus just had enough time to rest as he went out at daybreak to pray. This should be the same for us because evangelization which is our primary duty as Christians doesn’t start with programs or projects but with prayer.

         For many of us, life continues to be a blur because we don’t spend enough time in prayer which is our only link to God. Prayer brings clarity and purpose to the busyness of our lives and the confusion in our world. Often, we prioritize ministry work ahead of prayer, but Jesus shows us that communion with God through prayer must precede everything else.

         And finally, Jesus stopped those who were looking for him by telling them: “𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭.” 𝐯.𝟑𝟖. This resolve came after Jesus prayed and this gives credence to what he said in 𝐉𝐧 𝟓:𝟏𝟗 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟; 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬." And He went on to preach throughout Galilee because this was the reason why He was sent.

         This is the reason why we must give up the demons in our lives and allow Jesus to enter and take His seat in our hearts because if we are to become the Good News we have to have the humility to allow the Holy Spirit to move in us, take control of our lives and change us. If not, we become the bad news and we can’t preach that.      

         We, in fact, can experience the joy of being the gospel that we preach by allowing the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts and we can begin by allotting time for prayer as Jesus did, thence ministering to our marginalized brethren and, by denying ourselves, take up His cross and follow Him (𝐋𝐤 𝟗:𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟓). That’s when we become the Good News to others – the bearers of the Light of Jesus! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 14, 2026)