05/02/2006 - 5TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY
TIME - Year B
In Italy, Day of Life!
First Reading Job 7:1-4; 6-7 Psalm 146/147
Second Reading 1Corinthians 9:16-19; 22-23 Gospel Mark 1:29-39
"You shall not have other gods before me"! Last week I called your
attention to something which is unknown to most of us, but which creates and
spreads much suffering. It is the absence of faith in God, the Father which
leaves room for superstition and the desire to reach out to the world of the
occult. Through many means of communication, you often see assurances from magicians
and mediums that make promises of happiness, wealth and health through their
means of magic, mascots, lucky charms and other strange things, which are not
verifiable. Why does God not want His children to get close to the world of
the occult? He loves us, and He knows, as we ourselves must realize, that this
is deception; not just deception by man but, worse yet, it is an evil deception.
They will draw you in with promises of greatness and well-being and, sometimes,
they may keep these promises but, later, they drag people in and take away their
sense of peace, to the point of desiring evil and the willingness to make it
happen. Interest in these things, and deciding not to reject them, can take
entrap someone in groups and sectors organized by people with evil intentions
and eliminate faith and communion altogether - communion with family, as well
as communion with other Christians.
There are groups of adults who, by being interested in the occult, draw children
and young adults in these groups and encourage them to rebel against their parents,
and a little at a time, condition them and blackmail them so much so that they
are not able to pull away, nor keep from committing other crimes. They will
become so pre-disposed to become the same type of adults who can really be called
'the reign of Satan'! Often, interest in the occult takes the road to drugs,
or similar alternatives. It is not the drug or other exercises which are to
blame; it is our small interest, or that fact that we're not prepared to discern
those eventual spiritual dangers, combined with these practises that make us
vulnerable. We must be firm in observing the First Commandment, loving God with
all our heart, and seeking His help in getting to know His will, so that we
can become an instrument of His love for all men!
In the First Reading we hear one such complaint, which we hear, more or less,
every day and which we unload on those close to us! Here is Job who complains
to God about his illness, certain that He can appreciate our life, even though
to us it appears to be futile and wasted. "My life is a breath", and
'breath' is the name of Abel! My life is like that of Abel, a life full of suffering,
but always appreciated by the One who gave it to me!
The words of the first disciples of Jesus echo these words, as they talk to
the Master about Simon's mother-in-law.
Why did they speak to Him about her? Could it be to suggest that He stay away
from her because a woman with a fever is filthy and will dirty those who touch
her? It was probably so! However, we prefer to think that the disciples spoke
to Master about the woman so that He could cure her, just as He did. In the
synagogue, He had just freed a man from the evil spirit; certainly He could
free a woman from the fever, the heat which comes up from hell as a sign of
eternal animosity from the devil! It is nice to see Jesus coming closer to the
sick woman, looking at her with tenderness, not being afraid to take her by
the hand and lift her up. Illness always throws one in the path of death; freedom
from illness is a prelude to resurrection!
And the woman "began to serve them"! The healing takes place not so
that she can be well, but so that she can exercise her love, so that she can
serve. Health is not different from illness; it is the ability to serve! When
the man who loves serves, he is alive, he is great, he is fulfilled and he is
joyful!
The healing takes place in the house. The house is not a sacred place, as is
the synagogue, where the Word of God is praised! Yet, since Jesus entered the
house, it, too, is a sacred place because the Word, which was proclaimed in
the synagogue, is lived in the house. How great is the gift that Jesus gives
us with His presence! He sanctifies all our homes. It is there, through the
strength that we receive by His presence, obedient to His Word, gathered in
Church, that His Word becomes flesh; that is, it is the concrete experience
in our life, the human actions which, together, are divine!
The Evangelist, later, brings to our attention the choice Jesus makes: He gets
up early in the morning and seeks a deserted place so that He can pray. This
is how the day of the Christian begins! Do you, also, want to know Jesus' prayer?
Mark will tell us at the end: Jesus' prayer is the listening to the Father and
welcoming His will. "Not my will, but Your Will be done"! He does
not stop at the suggestions to success; He does not go to those who are looking
for miracles, but He continues to speak of the Father's reign to those who have
not heard about it. The Word of God is more important than the miracles. His
Word heals us, His Word reveals the face of God, His Word gives us life! Speaking
His Word is the duty and the joy of the Apostle; it is the duty and the joy
of the Church! It is the Word which reveals the significance of the life of
man, and it gives man the strength and the joy to welcome every life from beginning
to end!