Reflection for January 22 Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time: Mark 3:7-12

Gospel: Mark 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. 

He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

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Reflection:

Do we believe in the saying, “To see is to believe”?

Large numbers of people from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, the region across the Jordan, Tyre, and Sidon followed Jesus because of the physical and spiritual healing He worked among them. After experiencing His healing touch, they could not keep it to themselves. They naturally spread the news by word of mouth and by every means they could.

This situation is not very different in our own time. Whenever we hear that someone is being healed in the name of Jesus, the news quickly goes viral—it spreads and soon fills social media and the internet. And, naturally, many of us would want to go there (if we could), to see and experience it for ourselves. As the saying goes, “To see is to believe.” We go to see, and once we see, it is as if on cue—we immediately believe.

Yet, there is also a silent majority among us who follow Jesus not because of His miracles and healings. They follow Him simply because, deep in their hearts, they know how much they need Him. It does not even matter to them whether He heals or not. They already follow because of their love for the Lord and their deep thirst for His presence.

These are the followers who touch the very heart of God—those who remain faithful even without signs, wonders, or extraordinary experiences. They walk by faith, not by sight. They trust not because they have seen, but because they have already experienced the love of the Lord.

And so, we are gently invited to look into our own hearts today: Are we among those who follow even when no miracle happens? Or do we still need to see and feel something extraordinary before we truly surrender our lives to the Lord and walk with Him in faith? — Marino J. Dasmarinas