"Everyone is looking for you!" Peter says to Jesus. And indeed we are. Like the crowd in today's Gospel we are all in need of healing from our ailments; we are all seeking deliverance from what possesses us; we are all yearning for nourishment and companionship at table. These are the things Jesus provided during his life on earth, and when we search for these things we, consciously or not, seek the presence of the One who provided them in his lifetime.
We might be surprised when we actually discover the presence of the Lord in our own lives. We think we are going to encounter a bearded man clad in sandals and tunic, but in reality the presence of Jesus in our lives is the same person in this Gospel portion - it is Peter's mother-in-law: one who has experienced the healing, deliverance, and nourishment of the Lord in her life and who then sets about to provide these things for others in her life.
If we are about finding the Lord in esoteric and abstract ways it is because we fail to find people who are about this work of the Lord, and we in turn fail to become the Lord's presence on earth in providing these deeds of healing, liberation, and feeding. Today our task is to be like Peter's mother-in-law - to be the presence of the Lord on earth, to be the instrument of healing, delivering, nourishment, and fellowship that is the work of a disciple.
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