February 28th 2021.  Second Sunday of Lent

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

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

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GOSPEL Mark 9:2-20

Jesus took Peter, James, and John

and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them,

and his clothes became dazzling white,

such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,

and they were conversing with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,

"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!

Let us make three tents:

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;

from the cloud came a voice,

"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone

but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,

he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,

except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

So they kept the matter to themselves,

questioning what rising from the dead meant.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

SHORTER HOMILY . . . The Gospel on Sunday describes the transfiguration of Christ. The first reading also has the story of the ascent of a mountain: the sacrifice of Isaac. The call to sacrifice Isaac comes at the end of a long process of difficulties and trials. A son is born to Abraham and Sarah, despite their great age, but then God calls Abraham to offer this precious son in sacrifice. They are living in the land of Canaan, which is populated by gods who demand human sacrifices from their adherents. Do we consider it strange that the tribes of Canaan made sacrifices of children to their idols? The sacrifice of children is commonplace nowadays. Many people today find themselves at the end of their lives with few or no offspring. Their idols demanded the sacrifice of their children, either by refusing to have any, or by terminating the ones they had already generated. What are these idols that we adore? Our worldly interests, fears and anxieties. We pursue them instead of God, because we consider God to be a harsh taskmaster. But God is always much different to what we expect. As Abraham discovers, it is only when we abandon our lives to God that we realize that he does not want our life; he wants our heart! If God seems to be asking something from us, it is only because he wants to give us much more. 

    This is a prelude to understanding the transfiguration. What is essential for Lent? The most urgent thing in the spiritual life is always to change our ideas about God. When Abraham comes down the mountain with Isaac, he knows God in a different way. Peter, James and John must ascend the mountain with Jesus to discover that the Lord has a different face to the one they imagine. In Eden, the serpent destroyed in Eve the image of God by speaking negatively of him. The action of the Holy Spirit is the opposite: he speaks well of God and we discover him to be Father. It is only after the resurrection that the disciples realize that the transfiguration event was an authentic experience of prayer in which their image of God was transformed: they experienced the fatherhood of God. Let us take it step by step. First, Jesus takes them away from the world. This process of being taken out, separated, is always an essential aspect of prayer. Then they encounter Moses and Elijah, who represent Sacred Scripture (the Law and the Prophets). These Scriptures speak of Jesus, revealing who he is. Then Peter remarks that it is beautiful to be here. What they are experiencing is not just a matter of rational comprehension of Jesus, but a beautiful encounter with him. The Father then speaks, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him”. The word “listen” in Hebrew always includes the element of obedience. 

    So what is this wonderful time of Lent calling us to? To know the face of Christ so that we begin to obey him. To see his beauty, to be happy to be with him, to want to always be with him, in acts of obedience, acts of abandonment to his sacred will. 

LONGER HOMILY FOLLOWS

The Transfiguration is a revelation of who Jesus is at the deepest level

The second Sunday of Lent is traditionally reserved for the account of the Transfiguration. But what has the Transfiguration got to do with the subject of the first reading – the sacrifice of Isaac? Why does holy mother Church consider this reading a good way to approach the mystery described in the Gospel? The true etymological meaning of “transfiguration” is that of metamorphosis – to go beyond something’s form. In other words, to change a reality, not by replacing it, but by going beyond what it already is, or how it appears – in a certain sense, to unveil the truth. The disciples see Jesus “beyond the form”, beyond what is visible. St Paul tells us to fix our gaze on invisible things. By the grace of God, Peter, James and John are able to see who Jesus is in a profound way. They perceive his mysterious reality and hear the voice of the Father. In the Old Testament, the voice of God represented his most intimate form of revelation.

The Transfiguration of Christ is intimately related to the transfiguration of humanity

What was the motive for the Transfiguration? In his letters, St Paul says that from glory to glory we are transfigured into his image. But are we talking about the transfiguration of Christ or our own transfiguration? Are these two separate things? What is our transfiguration? From the moment when God first calls Abraham in Chapter 12 of Genesis, it is the transfiguration of Abraham by God that is in progress. He is an elderly man with no sons and a sterile wife. His life seems to be at a dead end, but he will become the father of a nation and the progenitor of many descendants. His very name will be transformed. “I will make your name great”, says the Lord. This is the meaning of transfiguration – the work of God in us.

It is God alone who removes the veil and reveals our true beauty, our true paternity. It is in encountering his beauty that we become beautiful ourselves

Where does it lead us? In the case of Abraham, he seemed the lowest in every sense, and yet he had in himself the potential to be the father of a great nation. It is God alone who can reveal who we are. Each one of us needs God to reveal who we are. We need the experience of God to lead us to our beauty, to our true paternity, to the greatness of our name. Every woman and man has a wonderful grandeur, but it is God alone who can make this beauty reveal itself. How does this happen? The eventual transfiguration of Peter, James and John will occur when they come to know the true face of Christ. Curiously we are transformed, not by working on ourselves, but by encountering the Lord. When he changes in our eyes, we too are changed. When we see his beauty we become beautiful ourselves. In his first letter, John says that we don’t know yet what we will become but we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. What a curious thing!

Like the pagan gods, our materialistic gods demand the sacrifice of our children through abortion, neglect, or the refusal to conceive

It is often forgotten by many commentators that the Canaan in which Abraham lived had gods like Baal and Moloch who demanded human sacrifice. It was normal for the Canaanites to offer their first-born sons to their false gods. Our modern idolatry demands the sacrifice of children as well. To advance our careers we renounce children. If a life is not exactly as we hoped it would be, then we abort our children. There is nothing new about this. For money we sacrifice our children. Our careers demand the sacrifice of children. Worldly success demands children, children that are never born, or aborted, or neglected. We do not take care of them because the idols of this world demand our attention. The Canaan in which Abraham lived offered their first-born to the Gods. When God asks Abraham for his son, he seems to be a god just like the others. Abraham will discover that his God is completely different, but he will only make this discovery when he has shown himself completely willing to sacrifice his son. Many people are horrified when they read this account, but the person who was least surprised at God’s demand was Abraham himself! When God said, “Take your son and give him to me”, Abraham simply takes him and begins the journey. The gods, after all, all asked for that which one was most attached to; they made humanity pay the necessary taxes for existence. Abraham obeys and climbs the mountain, and there he discovers that God does not demand this sacrifice at all.

At the sacrifice of Isaac, God reveals to Abraham that he is a God of love who does not ask anything from us, but only wishes to give. Whenever we undergo a trial and are afraid, let us trust in the Lord and then we will be transfigured; we shall see his face, and when we encounter his beauty, we too will become beautiful

In Jesus Christ we will discover eventually that the Father does not demand the firstborn son but offers us his own. The ram that Abraham finds caught in the bushes is a sign of the providence of the Lord: he will provide the sacrifice. On this mountain, the Lord reveals to Abraham who he is. It is not simply the mountain where God does not ask for the life of Abraham’s son: it is the place where Abraham follows the Lord to the limit and where God reveals himself as the one who gives life. He is not like Moloch who demands the firstborn son. The true God is the one who offers his own son. It is here that Abraham truly becomes the father of a multitude because of what the Lord is doing with him. We too discover that the Lord does not require anything at all from us. He only wants to give to us, and when he appears to ask for something, it is only because he wants to give us more. If he seems to be asking a sacrifice from us and we are afraid, then let us trust in him, because it is in these situations that we will see his face, and when we see his face, we will be transfigured. The transfiguration of man is the encounter with God which draws out his authentic beauty, an encounter in which he discovers that God is much different than he thought. He is a God who does not ask for anything, but has so much to give us.

February 21st 2021. First Sunday of Lent

GOSPEL: Mark: 1, 12-15

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

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

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GOSPEL: Mark: 1, 12-15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,

and he remained in the desert for forty days,

tempted by Satan.

He was among wild beasts,

and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested,

Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:

"This is the time of fulfilment.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel."

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

SHORTER HOMILY . . . The first Sunday of Lent presents us with Jesus’ time in the desert before he begins his ministry. Mark’s version is very dense and concise compared to the other Gospels. In fact, he mentions just four elements of these forty days: it is the Holy Spirit who drives Christ into the desert; he is tempted by Satan; he is in the company of the wild animals; and he is ministered to by the angels. The reference to the wild animals recalls the fact that the harmony between humanity and the animals was disrupted by the Fall. The mention of the angels serving him is also interesting because service is the sign of the new life of the redemption. After the time in the desert, John is arrested and Jesus begins to preach the Good News of the Kingdom. The first reading recounts the covenant between God and Noah which comes after the purification of the flood. Similarly, before we can arrive at the proclamation of the Good News, it is necessary to go through purification. We recall also that Jesus has just spent thirty years in silence before he begins preaching! In our culture of touch-button ordering and mindless channel-switching, we expect everything to happen immediately. But if something is to be authentic, then it needs a foundation! The preaching of the Gospel requires that the preacher be someone who has lived that same Gospel in his life. He must have gone through a period of purification in which that very word of God has formed him. Just as the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert, so the Holy Spirit brings us to these bitter and difficult trials. Salvation must be deep, not superficial. We need Lent! We need to pass through the desert in order to arrive at Easter. Using the weapons of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we can be transported to things that are more important, more significant, more beautiful. If our life is simply gratification and security, then we will never learn to love truly. We need the defects of those around us to challenge us to move out of ourselves, to purify us and thus become children of God by grace. We need Lent! We cannot do without it. The Good News is not to be understood in an intellectual sense; rather it must be lived and experienced. It must challenge us. This time of Lent is a time of simplicity and truth, a blessed and sacred opportunity for each one of us.

LONGER HOMILY FOLLOWS

In life we all need signs like the rainbow, signs that show that our struggles have meaning

As always, the first Sunday of Lent presents the account of the time spent by Jesus in the desert. We are called to begin the period of interior struggle that is necessary if we are to arrive at Easter. The phase in the desert is a very important part of our journey. The first reading recounts the end of the Flood. In a sense the Flood is a negation of creation. The Genesis account tells of the separation of the waters on the second day of creation. In the Flood, these waters reunite and bring an end to much of life, apart from that saved by Noah who follows the indications of the Lord. After the tragic event of purification a sign appears in the sky, a rainbow, which marks the end of the time of destruction. Humanity needs this sign! Apart from the beauty of this phenomenon of the refraction of light - a beauty that appeals to everyone especially children - there is a sense of rebirth with the appearance of a rainbow. We all need signs like the rainbow to indicate that our problems have meaning, that they lead us to somewhere better, that there is something other than destruction, that there is a solution to the mysteries of life.

Lent, like the desert, is a place of passage. The human condition is incomplete and in need of the transformation that requires passage through the desert

The fact is that humanity finds itself in this desert, and this point is underlined by the season of Lent. The people of Israel had to spend forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land and experiencing the new condition of freedom. When Jesus spends forty days in the desert, it is an image of the condition of humanity. All of us are in a place that is incomplete and inhospitable. The typical characteristic of the biblical conception of desert is that it is a place of passage, a place of trial. Mark is the oldest of the Gospels and he recounts the events in his usual succinct fashion, keeping his account to the essentials. In other years, we read the versions of Matthew and Luke in which various details of the events of the temptations are given. These profound passages, rooted in Scripture, are interesting and inspirational, but Mark summarises it all in a few simple words. Every element of these words is precious. Jesus has just been baptised, and this might seem to indicate that he is ready to begin his mission. But no, there is a passage that he cannot avoid. The Spirit drives him into the desert. The desert is a category all of itself. Scripturally speaking, it is the place of formation, the place where the people of Israel were formed over the course of forty years. And that is why the number forty appears again in the account of Jesus’ time in the desert. During those forty years of evolution, a people of slaves is transformed into a people who are ready to settle down and govern the Promised Land. From being a disordered conglomerate of people, they are formed into a unified and ordered people. The desert has this positive role, but yet it remains a place of passage, a place where one cannot live or settle down. It is a place where issues are confronted in order to arrive at maturity.

Jesus enters the desert in order to be with us because humanity is in the desert

St Augustine asked why Jesus would need to go into the desert? Because humanity finds itself in the desert! Humanity has lost the Garden of Eden and finds itself in this problematic state of incompletion. The Hebrew word for desert is midbar, a term that means “where the word is absent”. When we think of desert we tend to think of a sandy place like the Sahara. The deserts of Sinai or Judea are not like this. They are rocky with a lot of shrubbery. There is life in the desert, but it is an inhospitable and ungovernable place, not organised by humanity. In contrast to the presentable and orderly dimension of human life, there is the desert where the wild animals, spiders and insects hold sway. These animals represents what is unresolved in man. It is there that Christ must go. It is there that Christ must bring these wild beasts into contact with the angels. To be “with the beasts” is to affront the place within ourselves that is the desert. The Greek for desert is eremos, the place that is isolated from everything else. Jesus does not begin with abstract theology, he begins with the problem of humanity, his solitude, his interior beasts, the issues within him that are unresolved. Lent is a wonderful time to enter into these unresolved issues of our lives and discover that here, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can find angels. Christ is truly human and he wants to bring humanity to salvation. He does not want man to throw away a part of his life, nor exist with his life divided into different sections. Christ wants to redeem that part of man which is bestial, ugly, fearful, unresolved, alone and separated. Lent is a time for humanity to discover peace by confronting himself. Christ did not come to save the presentable aspect of humanity, but to save humanity in its entirety, especially its side that is filthy and neglected.

 February 14^th 2021.  Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

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 1:40-45

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, ‘Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.’ The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people from all around would come to him.

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

SHORTER HOMILY . . . The prescriptions of the first reading reveal the lonely existence of the leper, who must stay away from the community. Many have experienced such loneliness in this time of pandemic! In the Gospel, the leper asks Jesus to heal him and Our Lord does so. Then Jesus tells the man very sternly not to speak to anyone but to carry out the series of instructions stipulated by the Law. As we discover, the man is disobedient and proclaims the healing abroad to such an extent that Jesus cannot even enter the town and must remain in deserted areas. But why did Jesus warn the leper in such a severe manner? This prescription of silence from Jesus is referred to as the “messianic secret”: in other words, Jesus wishes to disclose his identity to the world only gradually, until he makes the full revelation during the trial before his crucifixion. In our times, there is the tendency to reveal everything immediately. Social media is full of the most banal and superficial “news”. Every sort of trivia is communicated and expressed. All of this is the result of a lack of an authentic interior life. To be healed and not to understand the meaning of being healed is almost worse than not being healed at all. Not everything is to be shared! The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when we speak with our heavenly Father then we should enter into our room and speak to him in secret. Many people never manage to do anything important or significant because they do not have this interior life. To do great things we must have an inner depth and awareness. We must learn to keep the sacred silence of Christ. The indiscretion of this leper excludes him from a true relationship with Christ. In our world of over-communication, we end up living on an instinctive, superficial level. We must learn to live the entire experience that this Gospel is calling us to. First, we must become aware of our loneliness and isolation, as this leper did. Second, we must kneel before Christ as he did and experience the Lord’s transforming compassion. Third, we must learn to be silent and enter into deep union with the Lord, otherwise we strip our relationship with Christ of its intimacy, uniqueness and greatness. Yes, the Christian must speak out, but with love, not superficially and according to impulse. We must announce the Gospel with love, but having first experienced love in the silence of our hearts. May the Lord allow us to spend time in the desert with him, to experience with him the convalescence of love, so that we learn the capacity to love profoundly and spiritually. Then, coming from the love of Christ and according the love of Christ, we can say the right thing at the right moment with discernment.

LONGER HOMILY FOLLOWS

The first reading gives the Old Testament regulations regarding leprosy. The leper was basically excluded from society

The first reading provides the perfect introduction to the Gospel and gives the regulations that are to be followed by those suffering from leprosy. Because it was such a contagious disease, the leper had to show concrete signs that he had the condition, such as torn clothes. He had to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” This made other people keep their distance. The leper, in fact, was required to remain on his own apart from the rest of society.

The leper appeals to the will of Jesus. What is God’s will for us? That we be healed in the fullest sense of the word!

In the Gospel, a leper approaches Jesus and says, “If you wish, you can cure me”. This man appeals to the will of Jesus. What is the will of God for us? When we pray, “Thy will be done!” we are speaking of that which God truly wants. Is what God wants something that has little regard for us? Or is the will of God totally bound up with his care for us? What God wants is that we are healthy, whole, and full of life! He wishes us to be clean and pure. When he sees the leper, he is moved to compassion. Our term for “compassion” derives from an expression that means “to suffer in solidarity with another”. But the Greek word for compassion in the original text of this Gospel means to be dramatically moved interiorly. Jesus is profoundly affected by his desire to heal this man. God, at the depths of his being, wants humanity to be happy.

The difference between being sick and being healed is not simply the absence of disease. We must live a healthy life. When God gives us a grace, we mustn’t just take it, end of story. This grace is not just an event in itself, but must be nurtured by us so that it becomes the beginning of a new way of life.

Jesus touches the man, even though he is a leper and the rules did not permit the touching of lepers. “Of course I want to!” Jesus says, “Be purified!” This is the will of God – that we be purified. The leprosy disappears, but Jesus then gives him some instructions that concern his convalescence. What does it mean to be healed? Does it mean to be simply without leprosy? Or does it mean to begin to possess a new state of existence that consists in living a life without leprosy? Many people ask for healings and graces. But graces are not simply received, they must also be possessed. The difference between being sick or healed is not solely the absence of illness. Being healthy involves living a healthy life with healthy attitudes. Otherwise a person cannot remain healthy for long. Jesus tells the man to go to the priest and to make the offerings prescribed by the Law. In other words, the healing has not finished here. He must now begin the process of living a spiritual life. Similarly, we should not simply “obtain” graces unthinkingly. When we return to our seat from Communion, do we start chattering about silly things with our neighbour? Do we spend even a moment contemplating what we have received? Do we give this grace a container in which it can be possessed for at least a moment?

When we receive grace, do we assimilate it and nurture it? Or do we use it frivolously and stupidly?

Jesus wants this man who has been freed from leprosy to remain silent about his healing and go through a process by which he can assimilate the gift that he has received, but he does not do so. The first reading tells us that the leper is someone who must remain excluded from society. We do not know how long the man in the Gospel had been ill, but it may have been a significant time, and during all that period he would not have been able to speak to anyone. So, instead of taking the time to possess his healing, he immediately exploits his new-found permission to speak with others. And how he speaks! He speaks with everyone and this means that Jesus is unable to enter the town. It is a curious fact: before the healing the man was expected to remain in desert places; after the healing it is Jesus himself who must remain in the desert because of the fuss that this event causes. How Jesus takes upon himself our illnesses, the consequences of our condition, and also of our stupidity! In our churches and parishes we receive innumerable graces, but it is an undisputable fact that we often manage these graces with frivolity and stupidity. We receive new and wonderful gifts, but we assimilate them according to the habits and attitudes of the “old man”. The leper in the Gospel has been given the gift of being restored to human society, but he uses this gift impulsively and reactively. His previous condition of being not allowed to speak conditions his response to being healed.

Being purified by God is not a once-off event. It is the beginning of a process of living a healthy and beautiful life. God wants us to possess the graces that he gives us and bring them forward, nurturing them into a way of life.

This Gospel tells us of the desire of God to heal us and purify us. But it also relates the need for each one of us to possess the graces we have been given and nurture them. We must not be content with the bare reception of the grace itself! This is only half of the real picture! God does not want us simply to escape from some vice, anguish, suffering or illness. He wants us to begin the process of living a life that is healthy, beautiful and pure in the fullest sense of the world. Becoming purified is not a once-off event. It is the beginning of a process that never ends. For all of our lives we must take possession of what is healthy, holy and what really counts.

February 7th 2021.  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 entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.

They immediately told him about her.

He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.

Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,

they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.

The whole town was gathered at the door.

He cured many who were sick with various diseases,

and he drove out many demons,

not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left

and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

Simon and those who were with him pursued him

and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."

He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages

that I may preach there also.

For this purpose have I come."

So he went into their synagogues,

preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

SHORTER HOMILY . . .  In the Gospel, Jesus walks out of the synagogue and goes to the house of Peter. This journey is very significant. Once, we would have had to enter a synagogue to encounter God. But now God, in the person of Jesus, has come out of the synagogue and into our daily lives. During the tribulation of this pandemic, we have become aware more than ever of the essential domestic dimension of the faith. The faith is something that must be lived in our homes, not just in church! Jesus goes to the house of Peter and encounters human suffering there in the person of Peter’s mother-in-law. After her healing, the woman does not begin to do frivolous things, but begins to serve them. True healing involves discovering that life is a mission of service. We can be healthy and beautiful, but if we do not know how to love and serve others, then what use is our wellbeing? Jesus wishes to bring us to the fullness of life, not just wellbeing of the body.

After sunset, those who are in need of healing are brought to Jesus. Why after sunset? Because it was a Sabbath, which ended at sundown. The day after the Sabbath is Sunday, the day of resurrection, the day of mercy, the day of salvation. It is on this day that Jesus heals the people. Sunday represents the day of our experience of the power of God. The passage goes on to tell us that Jesus rises early and goes off to pray, to spend time with his Father. Then he tells Peter that he must go further to preach to others. This “going further”, this “going beyond” represents the act of entering into the will of his Father. Jesus came to bring us beyond, to lead us into the greatness and beauty of this life.  Do we wish to be healed of this pandemic so that we can do what we like? No, if we are healed then it must be to go beyond, to discover that we are called to love, to be with the Father so that we can be liberated from ourselves, to enter into a life of service. If this pandemic does not bring us to service then it is of no use. As Pope Francis says, the real danger of this pandemic is that we do not allow ourselves to be changed by the experience! Let us spend time with the Father and discover that our life is beautiful, extraordinary, relevant, eternal, noble.

LONGER HOMILY FOLLOWS

What is the Christian response to suffering?

The first reading on Sunday presents us with the enigma of the human condition as we hear Job cry out in suffering. The book of Job is a challenge that must be faced by anyone who wants to undertake a deep journey in spirituality. This book will eventually resolve the enigma of suffering in an unexpected way, a way that cannot be comprehended directly by the intellect, but must be lived and experienced. Sunday’s liturgy presents us with the moment in which Job cries out in desperation. This emphasizes that life is not something superficial, like a pantomime with little meaning. Instead it is something serious that demands a mature response from us. What response can we make to the suffering that is proclaimed in the first reading?

Once, you had to go to the synagogue to encounter God. But now Christ becomes one of us and comes to touch us where we are

In the Gospel, Jesus comes out of the synagogue after the healing of the man with the demon. He goes to the house of Peter and Andrew in the company of James and John. Up to that time, the synagogue was the place to go in order to listen to the word of God. The Gospel mentions the journey from the synagogue to the house. This is not a casual reference: it points to an important innovation in Christianity, a break with the old conception of the sacred place that comes with the incarnation of the Son of God, the God who situates himself concretely in our daily lives. The possibility of living the new life that comes from Christ is given in an ordinary house. It is significant that the Church in its early days developed in the homes of families. Once, you had to go to the synagogue to encounter God, but Jesus now comes out of the synagogue and inserts himself in the existence of ordinary people.

Peter’s mother-in-law is not healed because of her own abilities, but because she is touched by the hand of God

And what does he find? He finds suffering. The mother-in-law of Simon Peter is in bed with fever. This fact is recounted to Jesus. The story of her condition is mediated to him by a family, a community, a fraternity, that surrounds the woman and tells of her illness. How important it is to pray for each other! To speak to Jesus about the sufferings of those who are near us! Often an excess of words brings us nowhere, but a supplication that comes straight from the heart can bring about real change. The passage tells us that Jesus approaches the woman and then we hear a story of two hands, the hand of Jesus and the hand of the woman. The hand of the woman is the hand of a sick body, but it touches the hand of Jesus, which is the hand of God. He is the Messiah, the one sent by God, and his hand is the hand of the power of God, of the right hand of the Father who comes and brings with him the power of God. She is not healed because she is good or talented or integrated, but because she is touched by the hand of God.

Humanity is sick when it is unable to love, unable to serve others. We cannot remedy this by making more effort, but by encountering the power of God

The fever leaves her and she serves him, according to the text. This detail is important: we could simply have been told that she was healed and felt better; but instead we are told that she was healed and served them. The hand that was ill was no longer able to do anything, and it recalls the hand of humanity that is ill and is unable to serve, unable to be love for others; the hand that is paralysed and in bed and unable to move. This is the real illness of humanity. We seek to heal ourselves by trying to become more integrated or by applying more effort. What we really need to do is touch the hand of God. Jesus lifted her up and now she became able to serve. What must we do when we become unable to love? We need to be touched by the Lord and raised up by him. This is what heals us.

Suffering is the place where we encounter the presence of God in our lives

So far we have only considered the first part of the Gospel, but it gives us a perspective on the rest. This woman is healed because she has come in contact with the power of God. The first reading tells us how humanity is when it suffers alone. But, later in the book of Job, everything is resolved in the encounter with God, in the apparent absurdity of the situation when he realises that his suffering is the location of the presence of God in his life. In the same way, Peter’s mother-in-law discovers that the fever is the prelude for her meeting with the power of God.

Jesus moves on to heal other villages. Once we have encountered God, we cannot remain fixed in this position. If we are touched by God then we must go out to others so that they are touched by him also

Then the day is over and the evening comes, which signals the end of the Sabbath, the day in which they gathered in the synagogue. According to the law, no-one was allowed to go anywhere on the Sabbath day, but after sunset the day is considered over and everyone comes to see Jesus. He heals them, but when dawn comes they find that he has gone away to pray. Jesus, we are told, cannot remain in the same place. He must go beyond in order to touch more people. Jesus wasn’t sent in order to remain in Capernaum or to heal just one mother-in-law. He heals this lady and many people in Capernaum, but then he goes to heal people in the other villages nearby. This is the experience of the Church. Every one of us is a prelude to others. We can’t stop once we ourselves have been restored to order. We are healed in order that others may be healed. We are touched in order that others may be touched. Our life is a mission that is truly splendid. The grace of God in Christ is always the beginning of an even greater adventure that we must learn to discover.