4 SEPTEMBER (Lk 4,38-44)

There is a big difference between Jesus and Moses. On the mountain, this latter went only twice before God. When he had to receive the tablets of the Law. On the contrary, Jesus almost every night goes to his Father, puts himself in prayer, delivers him his life, so that it is the Father the one to drive it at every moment. In Jesus everything is always from the Father.

Jesus is never from the persons, from the people, from his disciples, from his Mother, from his relatives and from his friends. He is always from the Father. He lives only to do the will of God. Never has there been a single course correction of route, in the sense that Jesus has decided one thing and then by the intervention of people he changes and takes another one, conforming to the suggestion that comes from below. In Jesus, this never happened. In Moses, instead, his conviction comes also from men.

The Lord said to Aaron, “When you are to go to the meeting tent, you and your sons are forbidden under pain of death, by a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations, to drink any wine or strong drink. You must be able to distinguish between what is sacred and what is profane, between what is clean and what is unclean; you must teach the Israelites all the laws that the Lord has given them through Moses.” Moses said to Aaron and his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the cereal offering left over from the oblations of the Lord, and eat it beside the altar in the form of unleavened cakes. Since it is most sacred, you must eat it in a sacred place. This is your due from the oblations of the Lord, and that of your sons; such is the command I have received. With your sons and daughters you shall also eat the breast of the wave offering and the leg of the raised offering, in a clean place; for these have been assigned to you and your children as your due from the peace offerings of the Israelites. The leg of the raised offering and the breast of the wave offering shall first be brought in with the oblations, the fatty portions, that are to be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. Then they shall belong to you and your children by a perpetual ordinance, as the Lord has commanded.” When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering, he discovered that it had all been burned. So he was angry with the surviving sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, and said, “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sacred place, since it is most sacred? It has been given to you that you might bear the guilt of the community and make atonement for them before the Lord. If its blood was not brought into the inmost part of the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten the offering in the sanctuary, in keeping with the command I had received.” Aaron answered Moses, “Even though they presented their sin offering and holocaust before the Lord today, yet this misfortune has befallen me. Had I then eaten of the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing to the Lord?” On hearing this, Moses was satisfied (Lev 10,8-20).

This is the uniqueness of Lord Jesus. Never, not even once, his life, his thought, his will, his desires and his discernment are from men. He is always from the Father in all and in everything. Light comes to him from above, never from below.

After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Today, Peter wants to shed light on the mission of Jesus. He wants to outline his program of life. Jesus does not let himself be illuminated from below. His light comes only from the Father. The Father commanded him to go and preach elsewhere and he obeys, leaving all the sick people to the Father, so that He is the one to take care of them. This is his mystery.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints help us to be from above.