February 8^th 2015.  Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL Mark 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped, her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’

And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the first reading, Job speaks of the misery and anguish of life. In the Gospel, all the miserable and anguished present themselves to the Lord and the Lord heals them. Our anguish and despair is the door by which the Lord gains entry to our lives. Don’t worry about your illness! Don’t be anxious about your limitations and inadequacies! These are the very means by which Jesus reaches you; this is the space in which the Lord moves!  We have two choices open to us, as Job had. We can complain about the fact that life doesn’t bring us the self-satisfaction that we crave; complain about the demands of others on us. Or we can see these limitations and the demands of others as an opportunity to go beyond ourselves in joyful service. How different it is to consider our body as an instrument for our own satisfaction, or to look on it as an instrument of service for others!  How different it is to look on our own lives as a failed venture in seeking our own advantage, or to look on it as a process of continual formation in the art of love, a journey of opening our hearts to the transcendent. In the Gospel story, Jesus is presented with the opportunity to enjoy the adulation of others, But he rejects that and states that he was sent to go and preach elsewhere. Like Jesus, we too were made to go elsewhere, to go beyond, to no longer live for ourselves and to give ourselves in joyful service to others.

The first reading from Job presents us with a picture of an afflicted humanity. We see the same afflicted humanity in the sick people who pursue Jesus.

The first reading presents us with the bitter picture of the suffering of Job. Job describes the suffering and anguish of the human being on this earth. His days are lived like a hired mercenary who longs only for his wages. At night he wonders when will it be morning, but when day comes he wonders will it ever end. The Gospel that follows is divided into two parts. Firstly, Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to the house of Simon. The passage from synagogue to house is symbolic of the beginning of the church. Here in the house we meet the very suffering humanity that Job has told us about in the first reading. The mother of Simon is ill. Jesus confronts the vulnerability and limitedness of the human condition and performs a healing. The lady rises and serves them, demonstrating in the act of service that she is no longer the victim of her condition but is capable of looking after the needs of others, an example of the true healing of the human being! It is the Sabbath day and there is a Jewish prohibition on movement. But when night falls, all the afflicted people in the locality present themselves at Simon’s door. Jesus heals the sick and drives out demons. Then the Gospel changes tone and we move into the second part. In the early hours, Jesus goes away by himself to pray. Simon searches for him, saying that everyone is looking for him. Jesus replies that he must go to other cities to preach there, for that is why he came.

Our anguish and despair is the door by which the Lord gains entry to our lives

How can we illuminate these two parts of the Gospel in the light of the first reading? The anguish of humanity described in the first reading is the lead up to something else. It is the prelude to encountering the Lord! Our poverty, our “fever”, our limitedness, our fatigue, is the space in which the Lord can enter, the landing ground for his power to descend on us. It is in our poverty and illness that we experience the healing power of the Lord. Therefore let us not be anxious about our illness. It is a way for us to encounter the Lord! Every human limitation is a doorway for God to enter our lives! Our anguish, our desperation, our bitterness, is the space for the sweetness of God to be manifested.

Our role in life is either to be mercenary or missionary; to work for our own satisfaction or to serve others

Job speaks of the man who lives a life of drudgery and service on earth. He is a mercenary who is useful for as long as he has a job to do. After his work is done and he has received his pay, he no longer counts for anything. This bitter vision is completely overturned by Jesus’ view of himself and his mission. The Lord rises early to pray. Everyone searches for him and he is confronted with the temptation to enjoy his success. His response is, “Let’s go elsewhere! I came to preach in other places too.” He goes through all of Galilee driving out demons and healing people. This illustrates something for us: We can see our role in life as being mercenary or missionary. We can consider life to be an obligation in which we are required to do certain unpleasant things, or as an adventure in which we have been entrusted with something wonderful. How different it is to look on our daily life in a mercenary fashion, or as a mission to be accomplished! How different it is to look on the demands of others as a burden to be avoided or as an opportunity to go beyond ourselves in joyful service. How different it is to consider our body as an instrument for our own satisfaction, or to look on it as an instrument of service. How different it is to look on our own lives as a failed venture in seeking our own advantage, or to look on it as a process of continual formation in the art of love, a journey of opening our hearts to the transcendent. Like Jesus says in the Gospel, we were made to go elsewhere, to go beyond, to no longer live for ourselves. We were brought into the world in order to complete beautiful works. When we see a child we must immediately think, “Who knows what beautiful thing this person will accomplish!” When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we should ask ourselves the same question, ask ourselves what good thing we will achieve this day. Let us not look on life in the bitter fashion of the mercenary! Let us look at it as someone who has been called to love and serve others!