Devotion - Monday, February 4

In today's Gospel lesson (Mk 7:24-37) Jesus heals two persons.  The first is the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman; the other a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment.  In both instances, Jesus shows his power, his authority, his connection to God.

We might read those stories or re-tell them in order to support our belief that Jesus is really the Son of God.  We tend to point to such stories as ways of proving that Jesus is who we have come to believe him to be.

But what if we read those stories differently.  What if we allowed those stories to illustrate for us how the interaction with Jesus changed the lives of those who came into contact with him?  What if we spent time pondering the story and how meeting Jesus altered practically every aspect of the lives of that little girl (as well as her mother) and that man who could now hear other stories and retell them?

Too often we look for proof of who Jesus is;  too seldom do we see the way in which an encounter with Jesus changes who we understand ourselves to be.

Jesus did cure illnesses and take away disease.  Jesus came and lived among us in order to provide a new direction for how we are to live our lives.  

Perhaps that is the reason he so often tells those whom he has cured to "tell no one."  Jesus doesn't want them to hear of the events which happened and come to some decision regarding the significance of those events.  Jesus seeks opportunities to transform us - to change the way we see ourselves and to alter the self-understanding which drives our thoughts and our actions.

In the end, it may be less important what we think about Jesus and more important to be open to allowing Jesus to set a new path for the way we live our lives.