Luke 4:38-44

22nd Week in Ordinary Time Year 2
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Luke 4:38-44

A. Text/Context

• Jesus is again performing miracles of healing and exorcism upon seeing the pitiful situation of the people
• And Luke who has been reputed as a physician by profession in our studies in the Scriptures describes the mother in law as having a severe fever, perhaps having a convulsion of more than 39 degrees
• He also describes the sick people with various diseases. So by the look on the people around, Luke is already making a diagnosis
• People are living wretched lives because of the many diseases and sickness
• Anyway Jesus healed them all including the possessed; they were freed from the tentacles of the demons

B. Human Situation

• We experienced the same situation in the ordinary lives that we live testing how we stretch to the limit our virtues of charity and compassion
• We work hard for the betterment of the future of our loved ones and here comes a train of people wanting help, borrow money and all the favors that they ask from you and they come crying, begging, for our help and we can only help them as much as we can do
• Our charity is also limited and we cannot dispense charity to a full throttle, we can only give a little that we can afford
• In the gospel Jesus heals the sick, expels demons but the people want more
• Jesus would want to go to a retreat but the people tried to stop him from leaving them
• He told them: I am also needed in other towns, I have to go there
• The answer of Jesus explains the very dictum that we apply in the ministry
• If we apply full charity to everyone who needs it many others will be deprived because they will deplete our resources
• We can give assistance for as long as we can afford and we must also be able to discern if those who asked for help is already abusing our charity
• But if we are just, we share a part by the help we give, they also have to do their part
• After all, if we are just, we are also charitable in the end because justice is also charity in itself
• Jesus has to leave the people even though many still need to be cured. Why?
• Because God will still take care of them even if Jesus is no longer around; God will still take care of those who asked for our help even if we cannot help them anymore
• In the 1st reading, St. Paul says: I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it”
• We help people in their moment of need, but not to breed a culture of dependency. Eventually, they must grow and begin to help themselves

C. Challenge

• So today we are reminded, that while we work for our future we also remember helping those in need
• Luke was a doctor but he became an evangelist. He left his profession as a physician in order to grow spiritually
• The people tried to stop Jesus from leaving them but he has to leave because the others also need him
• We have to bloom where we are planted, and where we bloomed, we are ready to be uprooted
• We give others the opportunity to grow but just the same, while we help others to grow as Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God causes them to grow
• God is always the author of growth as we cooperate with his grace