Key
Bold
= verse commented upon
Blue = comment
Highlight
= direct command
General comment
God tells us of His
sheer goodness in today’s readings.
They start out with a
wish that we receive “grace” and “peace,” two wonderful
things. The Greek word used for “grace”
means “good will, loving kindness, favor,” and the
Greek word translated as “peace” refers to a “tranquil state of the soul ... fearing nothing from God
... content with its earthly lot.”
Those are very, very good things.
The first reading continues by discussing
“the hope” those who follow Jesus
develop, and that too is a very good thing. The word translated as “hope” is
understood to mean a “joyful and confident expectation.”
The readings continue with God telling us
how he came—in the flesh—to “bring glad tidings,” and how He demonstrated His
good and benevolent nature by healing the sick.
Together, these readings bring to mind the
wonderful description of Jesus in Wisdom 7:22-23: He “loves
what is good,” is “kind, and a friend of humanity” (Good New Translation).
So how do we respond
to this goodness? Today’s readings identify several ways.
One is by letting God
know that we are grateful for His abundant, copious, love. The Psalm tells us
to “thank [Him] always for what [He
has] done.”
Another is by trusting
in God’s goodness. The Psalm also tells us to “[t]rust in the mercy of God forever and ever.”
That trust allows us to effectively engage
in the third response here—to actively serve Him. Peter’s mother-in-law gives a
great example of this. She responded to the way Jesus showed His goodness in
her life by “immediately’ beginning to serve Him and her fellow believers (‘the
“them” in Luke 4:39). We can be bold to serve because we
know we can trust God to empower us to do what needs done.
Finally, we are to respond by reflecting
God’s love in our lives. The first
reading commends believers who “love in the Spirit.” The word translated as
“love” means "affection, good will" and
"benevolence" –a very good description of the great
goodness discussed above.
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy ones and faithful brothers
and sisters in Christ in Colossae: grace
to you and peace from God our Father.
We always give thanks to God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. Of
this you have already heard through the word of truth, the Gospel, that has
come to you. Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, so
also among you, from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in
truth, as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a
trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
I, like a green olive tree in the house of
God, Trust in the mercy of
God forever and ever. I will thank you always for what you have done, and proclaim the goodness of your
name before your faithful ones.
The
Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to
proclaim liberty to captives.
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered
the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and
they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and
it left her. She got up immediately and
waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He
laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out
from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not
allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a
deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they
tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other
towns also I must proclaim the good news
of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he was preaching in the synagogues of
Judea.
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