“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom: and healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity, among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they presented to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and such as were possessed by devils, and lunatics, and those that had the palsy, and he cured them: and much people followed him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”
O zealous lover! See the Lord not waiting for people to come to Him, but, having His army in hand, goes out to love. This is done in a plethora of ways, from teaching those who desired wisdom: “The heart of the wise seeketh instruction” (Proverbs 15:14), healing those that sought temporal health: “All healing is from God, and [the physician] shall receive gifts of the king” (Ecclesiasticus 38:2), gave clarity for those that sought health of mind: “Be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2), and removed obstructions of the soul, specifically demons: “Thou wilt bring my soul out of trouble: and in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies. And thou wilt cut off all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant” (Psalm 142:11-12). See that love does these things. In your apostolate, teach the wisdom of love, which is Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Tend to the sick with both medical knowledge and tenderness, for eyes that say, “I love you” mend the heart as a physician mends the body. Take the suffering in mind under your wings and be a refuge, be patient with them when they are warring against themselves. Soothe the wounds with love and affection. Drive out demons with prayers that come from love. It is said of St. Teresa of Avila that one of her fervent prayers brought 10,000 souls to salvation, and this is asked of you: “We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, the work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old… Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise and cast us not off to the end… Arise O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name’s sake” (Psalm 43:2, 23, 26). It stands that His teaching was explaining the readings in relation to Himself: “This day is fulfilled this scripture in your ears” (Luke 4:21), and the sound of truth breathed her sweetness on the ears of those that heard: “Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures” (Luke 24:32). He did not stop at teaching though, showing that a good life goes beyond sacred doctrine: “Thy breasts,” that is, actions of love concerning God and neighbor that come from the heart, “are better than wine” (Song 1:1), a common symbol for doctrine or wisdom in Scripture. His healing of the sick, while concerning temporal ailments here, is more important for spiritual maladies, such as avarice, lust, or hatred, which are alleviated by knowledge of how loved one is, which His words give: “With meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Now, by the crowds bringing Him all their sick shows a method of praying that yields great intimacy with the Lord, which is a genuine look at your heart and the number of wounds that are in it. There are bruises and cuts without number, for such is the nature of living in a fallen world. There are places where you haven’t been loved, been rejected, been hurt, to the point that your heart could resemble the Crucified Christ, with seemingly not an inch of this poor little heart of yours left untouched by pain. Bring your heart to Him and let Him kiss each one, like a mother kissing the pains of a child to make it better. Each aspect of yourself that hurts can be brought to Him, not to revive and be cured, for even Jesus was resurrected with His wounds: “Then he said to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side” (John 20:27), but that the depths of your pain and brokenness may be loved. “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth” (Song 1:1). He desires to love you in every way, unfathomably, and has a Heart that can, thus He has the power and will to “cure all,” that is by leaving nothing about you unloved. Many, therefore, began to follow Him, which was prompted by many different aspects of the Savior: Heavenly teaching, curing of disease, rumor, and curiosity. It doesn’t matter what draws someone to Christ, only that they are brought to Him: “But what then? So that by all means, whether by occasion, or byt ruth, Christ be preached: in this also I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:18). It does not matter the means by which someone is captured by the Sweet Hunter, only that they are. Therefore: “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly” (Ecclesiastes 9:10), for when you love God, your actions will glorify Him, and love will keep you from doing what will offend Him. He will wash your feet from the dust that will inevitably cover your feet from your being human, but a life lived towards God will radiate love, which will and already has captured souls: “I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh, with my aromatical spices” (Song 5:1). Finally, the places from which people came shows that anyone, from any walk of life, is welcome to the divine banquet: Galilee, which means “turning,” signifies those that come from unstable backgrounds or families, Decapolis signifies those that broke the Ten Commandments, Jerusalem those that have always been faithful to the ways of the Lord, Judea shows those that have always been close to the Christian faith but either have not been zealous or not been brought into the fullness of the Catholic Church, and beyond the Jordan is representative of those that come from paganism or demonic influence. All that hold to Christ are His. Each walks in their own love story, each will find Him in their own way, each poem will be read in the heavenly land for the delight of the hearers. Ah, it is not the background from which one comes that defines them, but the love that they carry in their hearts, either now or in a time to come, for the Jesus that loves them so!