Many of us turn to Jesus for so many reasons. We seek Him for help, for things, for wants or needs to be granted, for comfort, for advice, for so many different reasons indeed. In our zeal to ask Jesus for this or that, we may inadvertently fall into a consumerism mentality. We may begin to behave as if Jesus is like some sort of vending machine or like Santa Claus, where we constantly seek Him and pester Him to give us what we want or need.
Whatever Jesus may grant us, many of us may ask for more and more, and we may even almost crush Him in order to get what we want from Him. As we read in today's Gospel, Jesus even had to get onto a boat to keep Himself from being crushed, so that He could continue to heal the people. But some questions we need to ask ourselves are: Are we grateful and thankful to Jesus for the things He has done for us? Or have we become accustomed in expecting Jesus to grant all of our desires, and when He has not yet done so, we begin to throw a tantrum, complain, get angry, pout or go elsewhere for help? What have we done for Jesus in return?
Today's reading reminds us that "the power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him." While Jesus is there for us to care for us and to save us from our sins, perhaps we should take an honest look at ourselves: How are we bringing Jesus' message of love and compassion to others? What are we willing to give up and offer to Him as a loving sacrifice?
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