"Do not TELL anybody..."

I wrote the following reflection for my My 3rd Ordination Anniversary Mass last December 5, 2008. The Gospel was from Mt 9: 27-31.


It is rather surprising to note that Jesus did not want the healed men to talk about the healing that they received. First of all, Jesus would need all the mileage that he could gain. His was a herculean mission of establishing the Kingdom of God, and he had only three years to do it. So, he is supposed to need all the exposure he could get. If those healed would speak about their healing, then his popularity would grow and as more people will be interested with him, more people would flock to him, and he would have opportunity to preach to them. Second, it was almost impossible for the two healed men to keep the healing to themselves – after all, they used to be blind but now can see. So how could they hide the fact that they had been healed miraculously? Likewise, how could they keep to themselves the joy of being healed?

I would like to believe though, that Jesus had reasons to do so. First, if we look closely at Jesus, we find that he did not want the men to talk about him healing them because he did not want to promote himself. He wanted to promote the work of the Father. He wanted to fulfill and promote the will of the Father, not himself as a wonder worker. For me as a priest, as I celebrate my anniversary, I am reminded that I am a priest not for myself but for him who called me to share in his mission. I have to be cautious that in my ministry, I do not point to myself, rather, that I should point to Christ. I am reminded not to seek praises for myself, to work and minister not for recognition or acceptance. I have to bear in mind, and always be conscious that all that I do should never be for me, but for the greater glory of God.

The same challenge is also for us. Let us do good things, not to seek our own glory. We do good because somebody has been so good to us, and we do good in response to this goodness. This leads us to our second reason as to why it was surprising for Jesus to have forbidden the men to spread the news about their healing.

Second, Jesus did not want the men to speak about their healing, I believe, is because he knew that there is something more that they should do, more than just spreading the word of their healing, and this is that they be grateful to him who healed them, by a life worthy of the gift that they have received. There was a young man who was drowning at the river. An elderly man jumped into the water and saved him. The young man was so thankful to the elderly man. He asked him how he could thank him. He could give him some cash, since his parents were rich. The elderly man refused. He told the young man, “Live your life well, and that would be enough to thank me. In that way, you prove that your life is worth saving.” Jesus wanted the men not only to talk about their gratitude, he wanted them to live their gratitude.

For me, this is a reminder that I have to live my priesthood right and fully, if I were to be truly grateful to God for this gift. It is not enough for me to mouth gratitude if I do not take care of my priesthood, and do my best to be faithful, to struggle to be faithful.

For us all, this is a reminder to live grateful lives – we have received so much, and the best thanksgiving we could give to our donor is a life that is well lived.