“When Daylight Came, He Left”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus breaks the power of sickness and sin and shows Israel that he truly is the Son of God.

You can imagine the joy these people must have felt having Jesus cure them from their sufferings, knowing that the Son of God was now among them to save them. 

And then Jesus leaves the town.

It sometimes feels this way to follow Christ. In times of suffering and need, it feels like Jesus has moved on from us when we desperately want him to be close.

We are blessed to know that Jesus has promised to be always with us, and we can reflect on those times in the past where we know he has changed us forever.

But Jesus moves in our lives as he wills.

God is not magic. He doesn’t work like flicking a switch to turn a light on. Prayer is not saying magic words.

When we pray, we are attuning ourselves to the heart and will of the God who loves us. In this trusting relationship, we can be confident to bring our needs and concerns before Jesus.

And then we trust him to give us what we need.

We can all recall times in our life when God blessed us with something in abundance to know that, even in the desert when God feels far from us, his will is still working for our good.