When people begged Jesus not to leave after he healed the sick,

Many people focused on the immediate.

Jesus came to preach the message of the kingdom of God and

provide spiritual salvation, not just perform endless physical wonders.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

I could not,

Friends, speak to you as spiritual persons but as fleshly people, for you are still infants in Christ.

I gave you milk, and not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and, up to now, you cannot receive it,

for you are still of the flesh. As long as there is jealousy and strife, what can I say,

but that you are at the level of the flesh, and behave like ordinary people.

While one says: "I follow Paul," and the other: "I follow Apollos," what are you,

but people still at a human level? For what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are ministers;

 

and through them, you believed, as it was given by the Lord, to each of them. I planted,

Apollos watered the plant, but God made it grow.

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God,

who makes the plant grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work to the same end,

and the Lord will pay each, according to their work. We are fellow-workers with God,

but you are God's field and building.

 

Ps 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21

Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Luke 4:38-44

Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon.

His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked him to do something for her.

Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.

At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying his hands on each one,

he healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims,

 

"You are the Son of God!" He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.

Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of him, and finding him,

they tried to dissuade him from leaving. But he said, "I have to go to other towns,

to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do."

And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Proclaim the Good News.

Like Jesus, everyone loves a kind and helpful person.

Because of the many miracles he performed and the healing of the sick,

people did not want Jesus to leave.

But Jesus said to them: "I must also announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God

 

to the other cities, for this is why I was sent." Unlike Jesus,

it is human nature not to want to leave a place once you like it,

more so when it provides comfort and security. Jesus expects us to imitate him,

especially by doing good and sharing his love with all people and places.

He calls us to proclaim the Good News in every corner of the world.