Today's Gospel shows Jesus "withdrawing" to the sea, followed by a "large crowd." A few verses later, it shows even more crowds pressing in on Jesus to touch him, because they wanted to be healed. The scene reminded me very much of my childhood experiences of Mardi Gras parades, with the crowds pressing in on the floats (and my Mom anxiously calling out to us, "Get away from the floats! You're going to be pushed underneath the wheels!") and the outstretched arms, all reaching upwards: "Throw me something, mister!"
No wonder Jesus told the demons not to say who he was. Everyone would just keep coming to him as if he were a Mardi Gras masker with bags and boxes of trinkets to toss to the crowds. Instead, Jesus wanted us to know what his grace really consisted of. The way St. Paul put it, "the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me." And Jesus would say to us, as he did to the scribe (after the parable of the Good Samaritan), "Go and do likewise."
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