1st Reading: Heb 7:25-8:6
Gospel: Mk 3:7-12

Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the lakeside and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that he was doing. Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him, to prevent the perople from crushing him. He healed so many that all who had diseases kept pressing towards him to touch him. Even the people who had evil spirits; whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and cry out, "You are the Son of God." But he warned them sternly not to tell anyone who he was.

Remarkably, among the first to witness to Jesus' divinity were the demons, the unclean spirits. Jesus silenced them with a word. He seemed driven by the need to show us who he really was and at the same time he was restrained by a need for silence. Maybe, the reason for his tension was prophetic, so that it might be played out in our witness now, in the charge we have been iven to be bearers of the Word, voices for the Good News. What sort of witnesses does Jesus want us to be? We are witnesses for him by imitating him: speaking a word of healing, of peace, of charity wherever we find ourselves. Shining in our joy! Telling the truth about our forgiveness as freed men and women, and then putting that forgiveness to use as healthy food for our growth in holinesss! We are witnesses for Christ by doing everthing we can for the greater flory of God, by not seeking first our own benefit but the benefit of others, and always telling the truth about our faith in Him.