Jn 4:43-54
43[Jesus] left [Samaria] for Galilee. 44For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
46Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
49The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. 51While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54[Now] this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.
Jesus returned to Cana. Gen. Douglas MacArthur promised, “I shall return.” Salmon are known to return to the exact spot of their birth in order to spawn. Criminals are said to return to the scene of the crime.
Jesus returns to Nazareth, to Galilee, and to places where he has been. He meets the persons he cured. He encounters the same crowd. He often returns to the mountains to pray. And he instructs his disciples to wait for his return.
Among Filipinos we quip: He who does not know how to look back is suffering from a stiff neck (a humorous translation of the famous Filipino saying, “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan”).
To return is to show gratitude, to confront our past peacefully and objectively, to be at peace with ourselves and our world, to bless our roots, and to recognize our beginnings. To return is to be humble and stand before our God, who is the beginning and end of our being.