December 3/First Wednesday of Advent
Moving on from there Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee, and going up onto the mountain he sat down there. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them. ~ Matt 15.29
The Jesus of Matthew’s gospel is a man of action. He traverses the towns of his disciples, proclaiming his message and healing the sick. He strides through grain fields on the Sabbath, crosses the Sea of Galilee in a boat, and even travels outside Israel to Tyre and Sidon. Yet some of the most important moments of Jesus’s ministry – including the Sermon on the Mount – occur when he is sitting down. On one level, writing for a Jewish audience, Matthew is indicating that Jesus teaches as a rabbi would (following the ancient custom of standing for the reading of the Scripture scroll and sitting afterwards to expound on it). But the evangelist also suggests that Jesus ministers powerfully through the simple fact of his presence. For us, the lesson in our busy, even frenetic lives, is that sometimes the best thing to do is. . . nothing. Or rather, to show up, let go of our own agenda, and let the Holy Spirit guide us to understand what is needed. To sit with a friend who has been hospitalized, to visit an older person who struggles with mobility, to spend time with a young child reading book after book, to stop on the sidewalk and chat with a recently widowed acquaintance – these are all ways that we can minister to others with our presence. (By the way, friends, this also entails putting away those darn phones, which disrupt our capacity for meaningful human interaction with every ping and buzz!) This small vignette of Jesus sitting as the crowds flock to him is a reminder that doing is not always the best way to heal the broken world. Being truly and fully present to others, and listening for the call that is embedded in the situation at hand, is a life-giving ministry.
O God of peace, Speak to us in the quiet spaces of our lives and help us find the balance between doing and being. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120325.cfm
To hear the Wells Cathedral Choir sing “Breathe on Me, Breath of God,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzQo2p5LGkA
