By Ishongkun Kurbah –
Readings: 1Jn 3:22-4:6; Mt 4:12-17, 23-25
As a person, I deeply feel that Jesus keeps saying to me, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near,” and he is saying those words with love and mercy. In a personal relationship with Jesus, how much I have hurt, how many times I may have inflicted pain to his loving and merciful heart, only I know. And I believe you too are aware of what you have done in your personal relationship with Jesus.
I stand in need of repentance always because I continue to fall. I am also in need of his healing touch just like he healed the people of his time when they were sick. I guess all of us need his healing touch. We hurt others and others have caused us pain in our life. Let us listen to Jesus, wait for him. Let us not run away from him and lose patience. We must not replace him by seeking comfort and happiness from something else; by indulging in temporal habits. When we feel lonely, let us go to him, when we feel rejected and unwanted, he is there to embrace us. When we feel we do not have friends, he is there.
When we feel we have committed sin and hurt someone, he waits for us with love and mercy. When we feel broken and afflicted, he will heal us. But we need to spend time and talk to
him. He will give us refuge and comfort, healing, and peace in different ways. Let us place our trust in him for he is truly God and human, and he understands us better than ourselves.