WALKING  AND  TALKING! 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Monday after Epiphany is, “Walking and Talking!”

Walking and talking: two simple realities. They can be profound or not so profound or just so so. So it’s an all depends.

Walking and talking: two things people have been doing since the beginning of the human story.

Just walking …. Just talking …. Just moving along somewhere - in some place ….

To understand Jesus is to understand walking and talking - two things that don’t necessarily go together.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel from Matthew 4:12-17 - 23-25 - has Jesus moving in a odd shaped triangle - going from the wilderness area in Judea in the  south - where he was in the desert after he was baptized by John the Baptist  - going back to Nazareth where he  grew up. This would be a trip of about 80 miles. Then Matthew says he left Nazareth and goes to Capernaum by the sea. This would be a trip of about 20 miles.

I’ve been to Israel once. If you’ve been there, pinch yourself, because you hear the scriptures differently. If you get a chance to get there, go for it.

As I read today’s gospel - or any of the gospels, I picture what I saw in Israel in January of 2000 or I start looking up what I can learn about a text. 

Then there are the wonderings - the questions - that pop up:

Did Jesus travel on foot? I assume so. That’s what it sounds like in the gospels to me.

Did he travel alone - like in today’s gospel - after leaving the desert?

What did he see - when he looked out those eyes?

Did he see differently than before he was baptized by John and then go into the desert?

Did the arrest of John trigger the movement in his being to start  walking and talking - teaching and preaching?

BY BUS

I saw Palestine - Israel - the Holy Land - by bus.

I was with 22 priests. We had the benefit of a Scripture Scholar - Stephen Doyle - a Franciscan - as our leader and commentator - the one who could answer our questions.

In a way I saw more by bus. I remember looking out the window and seeing something that looked like a pen - a fenced in stockade - with both sheep and goats together - on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

We landed in Tel Aviv - took the bus to the Lake of Galilee - saw the north - for the first few days. 

Then we took headed from Capernaum to Jerusalem - a journey of 120 miles. We went down the eastern side of the Jordan River - through Jericho - taking a side trip to the Dead Sea - and then back up to the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

Stephen Doyle said we would be where the Old Road would have been - provided it didn't rain. It didn't.

I saw first hand from a seat at a bus window - what I would not have seen from the road - how easy it would be from robbers to leap down from a small cliff and rob someone on the road to Jerusalem or from Jericho.

Going slow - sometimes you see and hear more ….

Going low - sometimes you see and hear more….

Going high - sometimes you see more because you’re at a distance …..

BY BOOK OR GOOGLE OR INTERNET

One great way to read scriptures is to use the many Biblical Picture books that are around or abound. Another way is to type into a search engine - if you’re a computer user - a name like "Nazareth", or "Judean Desert" or "Capernaum" - and see the pictures and listen to the information that pops us.

CONCLUSION

The title of my short reflection is “Walking and Talking”.

One great way to grow in the spiritual life is to walk and talk to a friend - and tell each other what you wonder about. That’s a good New Year’s resolution.  

Important as well - is to walk and talk to yourself - and pick up what Jesus thought about and figured out as he walked along the roads of this life as well. Amen