A large number of people came to Him

News about Jesus' healing miracles have gone far and wide, and the crowds come to him in multitude.

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They are not only Jews from the Galilean towns but also from Judea and Jerusalem. There are also mostly pagan people from Tyre and Sidon, Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan.

We exercise our imagination and ask: What happens to those people who experience healing that day? Will they understand that the healing is an invitation to turn to God through repentance of sins? Will the Jews believe that they deserve to be healed since they belong to God's chosen people?

Will pagans who have been restored to good health make any effort to know Jesus other than as a healer or miracle worker? Will they too glorify the God of Israel on account of what Jesus has done to them? Jesus, elsewhere, would reproach the towns where most of his miracles have been done, since people have not repented (Mt 11:20). While receiving God's graces is a great grace, it should make us humble and repentant, moves that make us worthy of divine favor.

First Reading 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7