Jesus went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. -Matt 4:23
God is good, all the time.
Friends: Today's gospel taken from Mt 4:12-17, 23-25 reminds us how Jesus commenced his ministry traveling around Galilee to preach and present himself as the truth that men and women should seek. The gem of that ministry was his words and actions in the spirit of inclusiveness.
Jesus didn't exclude anyone from his company or stop them from benefiting in his church. Matthew tells us that "great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him."And when they “brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.”
Christian sensitivity to others is something we learn from our Lord Jesus. True Christian spirit leads us to become sensitive and open to others-identifying with those who are not like us in age, language, religion, color, and perspectives-without outright exclusion. In Jesus, we see something more than an intellectual recognition of others to practical willingness to embrace and act towards them in good faith.
In one of his reflections, Pope Francis noted that Christian truth is not found in an encyclopedia, but "its the meeting with the highest truth, Jesus, the greatest truth." If we have met Jesus or are striving to meet him and become illumined with his truth, people must only encounter us, and they will become enamored with the reality of Christ.