Commentary on Mark 1:12–15 from “Living Space”

Commentary on Mark 1:12-15 from “Living Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

WE ARE NOW into the great season of Lent, when we spend six weeks preparing to celebrate the high point of our faith: the Paschal Mystery, the suffering, death and resurrection of the Incarnate God. Formerly it was a time of severe penance as a way of purifying ourselves from our sinful habits and being ready to celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with a renewed commitment to follow him. Even though we are no longer asked by the Church to observe the severe penances of former times, it is surely fitting that we make some of form of preparation. It should be a time for personal reflection on where we stand as Christians. Only a little reflection will convince us that, on the one hand, there are many ways in which we fail through word and action, through our thoughts and through our failure to be the kind of people that the Gospel challenges us to be. But our reflections should not only focus on the negative. What are the positive things which should be part and parcel of my daily life? What kind of a person am I in relation to my family, friends, working colleagues and other people with whom I come in contact? How active am I as a member of my Christian community e.g. my parish? What difference do I make to other people’s lives? What do I do, within my limitations, to help eradicate the abuses which are part of our society? These are just some of the questions I can ask myself during these six weeks. And it is never too late to get started. Let us not rigidly think that, because Ash Wednesday has already come and gone, that I cannot start today. Remember that even those who came to the vineyard at the eleventh hour were paid the same amount. But the earlier I start the better.

Some of the things I can do are:

Celebrating the Eucharist each day or at least on a few days in the week.

Setting aside some part of my day for personal prayer.

Reflecting on some Scripture, alone or, better still, with others. The Scripture readings for each day in Lent provide excellent material.

Setting aside some money that I might spend on myself for a meal, entertainment or clothes and giving it to an organization which takes care of the less fortunate in our society.

Similarly, if I decide to abstain from smoking or alcohol, the money not spent can be given to those less fortunate.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 11, 2024

God can heal us; we can be healers too

Mark 1:40–45

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Music Meditations

• “Healer of My Soul” (John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “Lord I Need You” (Matt Maher) [YouTube]
• “Untitled Hymn” (“Come to Jesus”) (Chris Rice) [YouTube]
• “The Lord’s Prayer” (sung by Andrea Bocelli, feat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) [YouTube]
• “Give Me Jesus” (sung by Fernando Ortega) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Lord we give our lives to you in obedience to your word. May your word and our response to you cleanse and renew us and lead us to eternal life. I pray by name for those who are sick, isolated, rejected, lonely. [Pause and recall those for whom you want to pray, saying after each name: “Heal him/her, O Lord.”] Help me to be a healer in your name. I ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from Jude Siciliano, O.P. in “First Impressions” 2008, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

The treatment of lepers, as spelled out in the Book of Leviticus today, seems harsh. But let’s not demonize the Israelites. With little understanding of the cause of leprosy, but noticing its awful consequences on the bodies of its victims, the community was frightened of contagion. To keep themselves and their families safe they isolated the sufferers. The diagnosis of leprosy was approximate, to say the least, since any skin lesion, scab or rash might be labeled leprosy. Guided by Leviticus’ code, the Levitical priests were directed to diagnose the symptoms, make a decision and, if the person were thought to have the disease, he or she was to be excluded, ordered to “dwell apart.” Having leprosy was bad enough, but for Mediterranean people of the time exclusion from the community was like death. Without a community a person would be considered a non-person. Indeed, in such a hostile world, where community support and protection were sometimes essential for survival, loss of your community could mean actual death. For Israelites, God was worshiped in the community; being cut off from that community also meant being cut off from God. Added to all this was the belief by many that people so afflicted were being punished for their sin. So, a leper who passed by with the required rent garment, bare head, crying, “Unclean, Unclean!” might just as well have been shouting, “I am a sinner, I am a sinner.” To be cured of leprosy then was like being raised from the dead. The leper needed a life-giving touch from a compassionate God and he got just that when he heard Jesus’ cleansing words and felt his healing touch.

The community wanted its members back as whole and full participants. Thus, a person healed of leprosy would be considered a whole person again. When Jesus healed the leper he was restoring a full person back to the community; in the eyes of his neighbors and family, the man was both physically and spiritually cleansed—no more disease, meant no more sin, which supposedly was the cause of the disease. Jesus freely dispensed his mercy in response to the man’s request, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

By curing the leper Jesus was showing his mastery over sin. But he didn’t want the cure and its accompanying significance to be a private matter between just him and the man. That’s why he told the man to go to the priests for verification (check chapter 14 for the process the priests were to follow). It sounds like Jesus wanted to include the priests and the community in this cure so that they might come to know that someone had arrived who could help them overcome sin and all its consequences. And the consequences of sin are legion. Who hasn’t experienced the effects of the leprosy of sin in our personal and communal lives? The selfishness of sin cuts a person off from family members and friends when: lies are told; goods squabbled over; siblings exhibit rivalry; parents play favorites; spouses argue excessively and don’t seek help; success is measured by the size of income; students cheat in school. Hansen’s disease, the medical name for leprosy, is treatable with drugs. Sin and its fragmenting and isolating effects are not so easily eliminated.

Mark is telling us that each hearer of the gospel experiences Jesus’ compassion and desire to heal us. What he said to the leper is offered to a sinful world and to each of us as well. There it is—we reach out to God through Jesus and ask to be cleansed. Jesus’ quick and willing response to the leper is our reassurance that, once again, he says to us, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

But the leprosy of sin isn’t just a personal affair; its effects shatter the people and nations of the world. Unfortunately, it is too easy to find evidence of this. I am currently on a plane, so I can’t check the internet or reference books for proof positive of the signs of sin’s effects on the world. But I do have a newspaper and the debris left by sin is right there on the front page.

As you might expect these days, the major stories are from the financial world. Here are a few things I read: a major bank cut its losses and withdrew hundreds of millions invested with Bernard Madoff, accused of cheating people of 50 billion dollars. But the bank never informed its investors of its concerns and their notes are “probably worthless.” More from Wall Street: despite the multi billion dollar bailouts and the collapse of some major financial institutions, some of the most prominent names in the business world collected an estimated 18.4 billion in bonuses last year. There was a string of arsons that destroyed 15 inner city houses in Coatesville, Florida. Five teenagers are accused of killing a Latino man and attacking others on Long Island. It is believed still others were involved in the racially-motivated attacks. Several guards are accused of encouraging attacks by prison gangs on teenagers at a juvenile facility. On the sports page today there is still more evidence that some top athletes have used steroids to artificially enhance their abilities. Then, of course, there are Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Gaza, global warming, famine, etc. There is just not enough space to list the evidence of sin and its effects on our world’s people. Will we ever be able to come together as a community, or will our leprosy keep driving us apart, constructing walls and causing us to settle our differences with might?

People who get seriously ill or are infirm for a long time say they feel cut off from the community—the fate of lepers. Society tends to forget these members easily and moves on to other preoccupying concerns. But in our church community we don’t forget our infirm and isolated sisters and brothers. We have volunteers who take the Eucharist to the homebound, those in nursing homes and prisons. These ministers represent us and, through them, Jesus once again reminds them that they are still part of our us. And who are we? We are a community of people always in need of cleansing; always stretching out our hands saying to Jesus, “If you want, you can make us clean.” And he responds quickly and with compassion, as he did for the leper and continues to do for us, “Of course I want to, be clean.”

Further reflection:

• Commentary on Mark 1:40–45 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

If you wish, you can make me clean

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Who are the lepers in our society today?
• Who are the lepers in our church today?
• One of the side effects of illness, contagious or not, is loneliness. Why is this so?
• Do I know someone in this situation?
• Is there someone I need to stretch out my hand to?
• Has there ever been a time in my life when I recognized the ability of another to help me and accepted that help?
• How do persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities proclaim the gospel in my faith community?
• How do we balance faith in the healing power of God with faith in the medical establishment and faith in science?
• When I ask God for help or a favor, do I understand that God is not obliged to answer?
• Have I ever been angry at God for not seeming to answer prayers for healing for myself or a loved one?
• How have I experienced God’s compassion through illness or disability?
• Jesus breached the law by touching someone who is unclean. When is this unwise, and when is it necessary?
• How do you know when you should stick up for what you believe and when you should relinquish your own preferences so as to advance the common good?
• Has there been a time in my life when something so wonderful happened to me that I could not keep it to myself?
• Why do I think Jesus did not want the cured leper telling others of his cure?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Just imagine for a moment that you are living in the time of Jesus. You have developed a persistent skin disease, which requires that you to go to the priests in order to be diagnosed. The priests confirm your worst fears. You are a leper. They tell you to rip your garments and go with your hair uncombed to proclaim publicly that you are a sinner. They tell you that you must live outside the village and whenever anyone comes near you have to shout: “Unclean, Unclean” to warn them to stay away. So here you are, alone and shunned by all, agonizing over the fate of your family. The children will probably have to beg, or worse, steal, to put food on the table. You miss them terribly—miss their laughter, their hugs, their kisses as you bid them good night. There are no friends with whom you can talk about this. They want no part of you. Banned from religious gatherings which used to be so much a part of everyday life for you, you are truly alone. The fear and revulsion with which you are viewed keeps you isolated, worrying about your family and wondering if your shame has affected the way people in the village are treating them.

Imagine, then, the courage it must take for you to risk approaching Jesus and speaking to him. Will he shrink away like all the others? Somehow, you have faith that he will not. So you beg him, on your knees: “Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean.” And Jesus, touched in his very soul by the sorry figure you cut in your torn and dirty rags, by the desolation in your eyes, the pain in your heart, or your simple human need, reaches out and touches you. Jesus touches you, a filthy, leprous beggar, and you are healed, not only in your body, but also in your heart and in your relationship to the community. How does that make you feel? Now imagine that you are Jesus. Why do you respond to the leper the way you do? In your own life, how do you respond to: A) your own illness or imperfections and B) those in your life who are desperate, sick, lonely, despairing?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From Sr. Barbara Reid, O.P. in “America”:

Those who suffer chronic illness may experience themselves as being outside all of the usual spheres of human activity. As the workplace carries on without them and their family goes about its business, they can feel isolated, out of the loop, helpless to contribute to the daily doings, left alone with their own suffering. While Christianity does not have regulations concerning ritual uncleanness and separation from sick persons, certain contagious conditions may require physical isolation. Even when this is not the case, however, many avoid persons with illness. It can seem to such a person that even God is keeping at a distance. The loneliness can be as bad as or worse than the illness itself.

There are a lot of “lepers” in our society whom people have shunned out of fear or moral superiority: people with AIDS, those in prison and their families, the homeless, immigrants, especially the undocumented ones, the elderly. Try to do what you can about just one other person who might need a friendly face. Be a pen-pal to a death row inmate, go on an immersion trip to the Border or Appalachia, march in a safe and orderly peace demonstration and bombard your congressperson and senator with letters, work in a soup kitchen, when it is safe to do so, visit some patients at the local convalescent hospital whom no one ever goes to see, go to a movie with a person in your living situation no one ever talks to. Be Christ for someone.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Look at two versions of God helping humanity:

From Exodus 17:8–13:

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry.” Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. When Moses’ arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites.

From Mark 1:40–42:

A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.

Here we see represented two sort of opposing views of what God is like. In Exodus, God demands a superhuman effort on the part of Moses—so difficult that he needs help from his assistants. And if Moses fails, all of Israel will suffer. This is a God that places conditions on granting a petition, even if that petition is for the safety of His entire people of Israel. In Mark, all the leper has to do is trust in God’s/Jesus’ kindness; all he has to do is simply to ask, and the leprosy leaves him immediately. These stories show us what a hard time we have in really understanding God and God’s relationship to us. Some of us lean more to a view of a God who is all powerful, and whom we must appease, and others of us think of God as a dad who understands His child’s pain, and works to alleviate it.
Which idea of God’s nature are you more comfortable with?
Do you toggle between the two views?
How does that work for you?

Poetic Reflection:

The following poem illustrates the sense of isolation one can feel when serious illness takes over your life. (This poem describes suffering and the sudden loss of one’s prior life and powers, but they also celebrate the gifts that arise from the heart of suffering—the importance of the smallest things and the ability to pay fierce attention to them.) Which of the sentiments would apply to the leper in today’s gospel?

“Stranded”

Grasping at the bed’s edge
you cling to the sour pillow
of sand, flounder through
the briny sheets, held
out of your damaged body’s
element. You keep struggling
in the shadows for the right
kind of breath. Something you can never fathom
drove you here. Think hard,
so hard it hurts.
Call out all you want.
You can’t get back to the rest
of your life, to finish it.

—From Words Like Fate and Pain by Karen Fiser

Closing Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Commentary on Mark 1:40–45 from “Living Space”

Lepers were among the most piteous of people in scriptural times. Although little was known of the origin of the sickness, it was clearly known to be contagious and therefore greatly feared. The only solution was to isolate the victim and not allow him/her to approach people. So, apart from the appalling physical disintegration of body and limbs, there was the social ostracism, the contempt and the fear which the victim engendered.

What was probably even more tragic was that many who were branded as lepers were suffering from some other ailment, which may not have been contagious at all – such as ulcers, cancer or other skin diseases (some of them perhaps purely psychosomatic). The signs for diagnosis are given in chapter 13 of the Book of Leviticus and, by our standards today, are rather primitive indeed. The room for a wrong diagnosis was huge. It was a question of being safe rather than sorry.

The leper in the story indicates his great faith and trust in Jesus, a necessary and sufficient condition for healing in the Gospel. “If you wish, you can make me clean,” he says. He knows this because he has undoubtedly seen or heard of what others have experienced.

Jesus is filled with a deep sense of compassion for the man’s plight. Highlighting the emotional feelings of Jesus is a characteristic of Mark’s gospel and is seldom found in Matthew. What Jesus feels is compassion not just pity. In pity we feel sorry for the person; in compassion, we enter into the feelings of the other, we empathize with their experience. And in doing so Jesus does the unthinkable – he reaches out to touch the leper. This must have been a healing act in itself. The leper was by definition untouchable. “I do will it.” says Jesus, “Be made clean.” The man is immediately healed. But that is not the end of the story because the man has still to be reintegrated into the community – this is the second part of the healing process. He is told to go to the priests to make the customary offering of thanksgiving. They will examine him and then pronounce him fit to re-enter society.

He is also told not to say anything to anyone about it. Jesus wanted no sensationalism. But how could the man refrain from telling everybody about his wonderful experience of coming in contact with the whole-making power of Jesus? He becomes an ardent evangelizer, a spreader of good news – something we are all called to be.

What is the outcome of our experience of knowing Jesus? How come we do not have the enthusiasm of this man? It is worth noting that that experience was the result of his first having been the victim of a terrible cross. It is often in our crosses that grace appears.

Once again, Jesus goes out into the desert to avoid the enthusiastic crowds. Jesus was not interested in having “fans”, only genuine followers. He would not be ready until his full identity was recognized. That would only happen as he hung dying on the cross (Mark 15:39). Before we leave this story, we may ask who are the lepers in our society today? One very obvious group are those who have contracted contagious diseases like HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases which are becoming ever more widespread. Even though these are of little danger to most people who have no physical contact, the victims are often rejected in fear or disgust or embarrassment by family members, friends, employers, colleagues, even medical people.

There are also people like homosexuals. If many of them are not lepers it is simply because they dare not reveal their orientation. They dare not do so because they are most likely to be “leper-ised” by even family and friends. There are other marginal groups – nomadic groups like Romanies, drug addicts, poor single mothers, the homeless, alcoholics… Indeed, we have many lepers among us. Let us examine our attitudes today and revise them if necessary.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 4, 2024

Jesus came to preach good tidings about God and to heal

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.

Music Meditations

• “Healer of My Soul” (John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “Lord I Need You” (Matt Maher) [YouTube]
• “Untitled Hymn” (“Come to Jesus”) (Chris Rice) [YouTube]
• “The Lord’s Prayer” (sung by Andrea Bocelli, feat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) [YouTube]
• “Give Me Jesus” (sung by Fernando Ortega) [YouTube]

Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, Let us not only pray for miracles, but teach us to listen to the words of hope and wisdom you spoke to those to whom you brought health and comfort. Teach us to be open to your message of love and compassion. We offer to your care those whom we name now who need your help and courage. [Pause to say those names aloud.] Help us to share your good news with others in our lives. Amen.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

As I read Mark’s brief and animated gospel I am reminded of the musical, “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” The play (also made into a film) had a pounding pace with frenetic scenes of excited crowds pushing in on Jesus to touch him; crying out to him with pleas for help, “Do something!” The people were desperate and they saw Jesus as the “superstar,” the one who could instantly help them. This gospel also reminds me of one of those old time movies, with the characters moving in quick, jerky movements at twice the normal speed.

Jesus was just in the synagogue where his teaching was interrupted by the rants man possessed by an evil spirit. After he drives out the spirit, Jesus leaves the synagogue and, immediately upon entering the house of Simon and Andrew, he is taken to Simon’s mother-in-law who, we are told, “lay sick with a fever.” Jesus cures her, but there isn’t much time for him to rest because at sunset people bring him “all who were ill or possessed by demons”—and more, “The whole town was gathered at the door.” See what I mean, quick paced, frenetic activity caused by a desperate people who look upon Jesus as a miracle worker who can help them. The gospel will show us that Jesus doesn’t want to be seen merely as a wonder worker. In order to get a break from all the hustle and find some quiet for prayer and reflection, he leaves very early in the morning for a deserted place. But Simon and his companions seem caught up in the frenzy, and they “pursued him.” The original language is reminiscent of hunters tracking down an animal. The disciples aren’t cast in a very flattering light in Mark’s gospel. They are like hunters. They want to find Jesus and bring him back to the crowds where he, and they by association, are the center of attention.

People who do various forms of ministry, paid or volunteer, hear this gospel and say, “My life too!” Are we ever off duty? Where is the time clock? When can we punch out and have a break from the many needs we encounter each day? Parents, teachers and those in the helping fields say the same thing. The good work we want to do seems to have no end in sight; our “to do” list has a lot more we need to check off. Jesus’ ministry doesn’t seem to have any clearly drawn lines; no demarcation that sets off his personal from his ministerial lives. Indeed, the needs for help follow him even into a synagogue. That’s what it feels like for many of us too. Here is something else that is like us: most of Jesus’ ministry is conducted outside the sanctuary and “holy places.” His healings and good works take place in domestic settings: like the healing in Peter’s home, on the road, in a fishing boat, walking through a wheat field or on hillsides. Mark’s telling of the story of Jesus’ ministry sounds a lot like our own lives, with no strict lines of demarcation and few “off hours.” We are not part-time Christians and the call to serve can happen at any time and place in our day. So, we feel like we are in “full time ministry.” We are conscious of a child’s needs which interrupt our schedule and plans; a friend’s recent biopsy; a neglected spouse; an aging parent needing doctor’s visits; a son’s wedding; a daughter’s breakup with her boyfriend; a shopping list and a meal to be prepared; a relative who got downsized; the tasks we need to do at our local parish and in our community, etc. We do see these and so much more, through the lens of ministry; in Christ’s name we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned and preach the good news through our actions and words.

Mark’s gospel throws up cautions to disciples. He makes us aware that even the disciples closest to Jesus miss the fuller picture of who he was and what his mission would be like. They got sidetracked by Jesus’ popularity and the acclaim of the crowds. The disciples hear Jesus proclaim “good news” and they think it is a crowd-pleaser that will bring them into power along with a popular Jesus—later James and John will ask him to sit at his right and left when he comes into his “glory” (11:37). Jesus has to remind those disciples that if they aspire to greatness, they must serve the rest. What kept Jesus so focused as his reputation spread throughout the land? What gave him perspective and balance as he wove through the wildly enthusiastic crowds of people reaching out to touch him and get the healings and help they needed? It is too easy to say that he was the “Son of God” and so he knew exactly what he must do and say all the time. Mark stresses Jesus’ humanity, as we say in the fourth Preface at Mass, he was “like us in all things but sin.” When Jesus goes off to pray by himself to a “deserted place” away from the excitement of the crowds and the glory-seeking of his disciples, he seems to do so to get the focus he needs to continue doing the will of the One who sent him. It is as if in prayer Jesus allows God to do for him what Jesus did for Simon’s mother-in-law. In the quiet places, as rare as they are for him in this gospel, Jesus would come to know again that God had a firm grasp on his hand and would never let go, even while he went through the depths of pain and humiliation at his crucifixion. Jesus’ going apart to pray doesn’t mean he will cut back and do less—not in Mark’s gospel! In fact, he has every intention of doing more as he tells Simon they must move on to other places to preach. But he is not deluded or seduced by his reputation; he knows exactly what he must do: he must go to Jerusalem.

We are not nuns or monks in cloisters. Still, we will need to find some quiet places, some mini-Sabbaths, as Jesus did. We Christians have much to do as Jesus’ followers and we need to make space to allow God to reach out to us, quiet the fevers of our minds and hearts, so that we can return to our current places of service or, hear the call to the next places we must go. The pace of our lives probably will not change dramatically; there will continue to be temptations to lose focus and lean into success; there will always be the disciples’ temptation to shun the cross and, of course, there will be many deaths along the way—of loved ones, but also of our plans and dreams. But if today’s gospel is any indication, Jesus will never let go of our hands, never stop driving out the fevers of anxiety and burn-out, never stop raising us up—what he did for Simon’s mother-in-law assures us of that. Jesus travels well and he is no longer trapped by the limits of time and place.

He comes over to us now at this Eucharistic celebration. He extends a hand to help us go further on our journey with him. He strengthens us in the area of life where we are trying to be more generous in service to others—as we also try to fulfill commitments we already have. This Eucharist is our coming aside for a while, not to a deserted place, but with a community of faith, people to whom Jesus is also extending a hand of support and encouragement.

Further reflection:

• Commentary on Mark 1:29–39 from “Living Space” >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

For this purpose I have come

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• What is the difference between curing and healing?
  Do you let your woundedness define you, or are you looking to move on and be healed?
  How does God help in this process?
• In his exhaustion, Jesus went to pray in order to find his true home in the midst of need and chaos. What is my true home?
• As worn out a Jesus was, he was moved by the needs of others to continue to preach and to heal.
  Have you ever been exhausted by the demands of work or the needs of those close to you, but felt you had to muster the energy to continue on as someone really needed you to be there for them?
  Was this a work necessity which you needed to complete because your job or reputation demanded it, or was it a work necessity that affected the well-being and safety of others (such as happens to first responders)?
  Is there a difference?
• What brings us more awareness, sickness or health?
• Is there a danger to yourself or others when you carry on beyond total exhaustion?
• In the time of Jesus, to be sick was to be in a socially devalued state.
  How much is sickness intertwined with a feeling of uselessness, of being irrelevant, or discarded?
  How is sickness isolating?
  What exactly, are the physical, emotional and spiritual consequences of poverty or helplessness?
• Jesus’ first healing was of a woman and a widow, which made her a marginalized entity in his culture.
  What does that tell me about Jesus?
  What does that tell me about who I should be caring for and helping?
• What do you think of Peter’s mother-in-law’s response to being cured?
• The word “service” (in Greek, Diakoneo) as described to Jesus’ later calls to discipleship is the same word Mark used here for Peter’s mother in law and her “waiting on” them after she was healed. How do you see service/discipleship/waiting on as a mission of yours?
• How available am I to those in my life?
  Do I need Jesus to give me energy to serve?
• Do I only turn to Jesus when I am in trouble of some sort?
• The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus’ ministry as constantly busy. Why do you think this is so?
• Some say these events in Mark’s gospel are not about Jesus healing, but about Jesus preaching… How could that be so?
• What do you think is the reason Jesus came into our history?
• From Sr. Barbara Reid, O.P.:
  How has God transformed you with healing love in times when you felt hopeless?
  In what ways do you help others experience divine mercy?
  How are both personal healing and preaching of social justice needed to bring about the reign of God?
• From Jude Siciliano:
  At this stage of our journey with Christ, how do we experience his hand reaching out to sustain us?
  Who is the outstretched hand of Christ for us?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from an article by the director of Pax Christi, 2015:

Upon entering the home, Jesus is told that Simon’s mother-in-law in sick. This verse has a few clues for us to consider. One, Jesus has not demonstrated his power to heal up to this point in Mark’s gospel (the earlier passage is an exorcism, distinct from healing), so to assume that Simon or Andrew bring up her sickness as a request for Jesus to heal her seems a little bit of a stretch. One person this week suggested that maybe the assertion that the mother-in-law is sick with a fever functions more as a warning to Jesus, i.e. Jesus should steer clear of her to avoid illness himself.

The second consideration is the status of Simon’s mother-in-law. Since she’s living with Simon and her daughter’s family, we can assume that she has no husband to care for her. As a widow then, she fits into that specifically Jewish list of those who are consistently the most marginalized and vulnerable in society–the widow, the orphan and the stranger/foreigner/immigrant.

So when Jesus touches her in verse 31–even though he has been warned to stay away, and even though she is a widow, i.e. a person of no account–it seems to be less about any miraculous healing and more about Jesus’ preferential option to see those who are typically rendered invisible, touch those who are typically deemed untouchable, take account of those who are typically considered of no account. Even the muted nature of the miracle–she’s in bed with a fever, not blind or lame–asks us to look elsewhere for deeper significance in the action. The passage asks us to consider how much sickness is intertwined with the feelings of being discarded, ignored, or uncared for by others, as much as it is about the actual physical discomfort. Jesus has not allowed the people’s astonishment or amazement toward him [verses 21-28] to inflate his own sense of self-importance that he would dismiss the sickness and loneliness of this silent widow.

So, what do we take from this analysis?

First, that we are called to respond when a need is evident, even if the situation seems insignificant or the recipient insignificant? Who do I consider outside my sphere of ministry/help?

Second, we are called to respond when a need is evident, even if it is inconvenient. Have there been times in my life that I have had to rearrange my priorities because of another’s illness, sorrow or loss?

Third, there might be a possible cost either physically, psychologically, or monetary when were are called upon to help someone. Have I ever had to weigh the costs of helping someone against the personal costs to me or to those I love and am responsible for?

Four, we sometimes snicker about the mother-in-law getting up from her sick bed and waiting on them, thinking how sexist the passage is. (We should also note that the Greek word interpreted here to say that the widow then “waited on” Jesus and his disciples is the same Greek word used later in Mark that is specific to the “service” that is associated with discipleship (see 15:41). The work of seeing to another’s need is recognized as an authentic exercise of discipleship, not devalued as “unimportant” work to be done by those of lesser status). So How do I view discipleship? Is it “waiting on” others or is discipleship for me something with a little more status? Do I take to heart Jesus comment that to be a disciple is to be of service to others, not to sit in places of honor? How hard is it to remember that?

And finally, even though this gospel portrays Jesus as a man constantly “doing”, a man “in a hurry”, Jesus still needs time to recharge his batteries and connect with the source of his purpose and the major relationship in his life—God. Even in the midst of terrible sorrow and need, Jesus had to carve out some time for himself. Have I regarded taking time for myself to pray, reflect, or simply to rest and relax a failure on my part? Have I ever experienced “burnout”? How did I handle it? Why do we often see time to rest as self-indulgent?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

The following passage from Job is more than a complaint; it is a form of Jewish prayer called “Lamentation”. The psalms are full of these lamentations, written by people who are willing to lay themselves bare before their Yahweh, knowing Yahweh understands and cares. In this prayer lamenting life’s sorrow and losses, we see Job laying his sorrow and frustration before a God to whom he can speak honestly. Too often, we put on our “prayer party dress” and speak to God as if we are merely being polite. This passage teaches us to level with God about how we are feeling, trusting that God knows how we feel and what we are going through. Read the passage slowly, reflecting on which of these words might actually speak to your life, now or in the past. Share with Jesus your anger, your frustrations, your fears and, yes, your hopes… If you wish, write your own psalm of lamentation.

Is not life on earth a drudgery, its days like those of a hireling?
Like a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for wages,
So I have been assigned months of futility, and troubled nights have been counted off for me.
When I lie down I say, “When shall I arise?” then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind; my eye will not see happiness again.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read Luke 5:17-26 (The healing of the paralytic). The lengths they went to bring the man to Jesus’ attention was truly remarkable. This was certainly proof to Jesus that they had faith in God’s ability to heal the sick. Do we see healing as a necessary ministry we inherited from Jesus? Make a little extra effort to do something truly special for someone who is ill, in pain, disabled, or elderly, even if it is only saying a daily prayer for that person.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Rewrite the responsorial psalm from this Sunday, using the first person instead of the third person. It is your personal psalm of praise and hope. The Alleluia line is an example of this transposition to the first person: “Alleluia! I praise you Lord, who heals the brokenhearted”

How good to sing psalms to our God;
how pleasant to chant fitting praise!
The LORD builds up Jerusalem
and brings back Israel’s exiles;
he heals the brokenhearted;
he binds up all their wounds.
He counts out the number of the stars;
he calls each one by its name.
Our Lord is great and almighty;
his wisdom can never be measured.
The LORD lifts up the lowly;
he casts down the wicked to the ground.
O sing to the LORD, giving thanks;
sing psalms to our God with the harp.
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares the rain for the earth,
making mountains sprout with grass,
and plants to serve human needs.
He provides the cattle with their food,
and young ravens that call upon him.
His delight is not in horses,
nor his pleasure in a warrior’s strength.
The LORD delights in those who revere him,
those who wait for his merciful love.

Poetic Reflection:

This prayer reflects the difference between Jesus’ sensibility and that of his frequently clueless disciples:

A Christian Confederate Soldier’s Prayer
(Anonymous—alleged to have been found on a CSA casualty at the Devil’s Den, Gettysburg)

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but got everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, we have heard your call and it compels us to follow. Let the truth of the Gospel break the yoke of our selfishness. Draw us and all people to the joy of salvation. We especially pray for all those in need of your guidance and your comfort at this time, particularly those suffering in Palestine, the Ukraine and at our very borders. We pray for a world in need of your call to serve others and the natural world. [Pause to recall the issues you want to pray about.] Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.

Commentary on Mark 1:29–39 from “Living Space”

We continue from yesterday’s reading, following a day in the public life of Jesus. It was still the Sabbath and, after the synagogue service, Jesus now goes to the house of his two disciples, Simon and Andrew in Capernaum. (As it was the Sabbath, people could not go very far or do anything which could be labelled ‘work’.)

In the house Jesus finds Peter's mother-in-law confined to bed because of a fever. When he is told about it, he immediately goes to see her, takes her by the hand, lifts her up and heals her. Immediately, she gets up and begins to serve them. This is not simply because that is the role of a woman in the home. Rather it is a way of saying that it is the role of the whole Christian – man or woman – to serve. Healing is not just to make one well but to enable one to become again an active, serving member of the community.

In the evening, once the Sabbath was over, people were free to move around. So large numbers come seeking out Jesus to be healed of their sicknesses and to be freed from the power of evil spirits. “The whole town was gathered at the door.” That is the door of the house where Jesus was. Many times we will see a reference to the “house” where Jesus is. It seems to be a symbol of the place where Jesus is gathered with those who are close to him, a symbol of a Christian community, of the church. When the poor and the sick and unfree no longer come to the doors of our community seeking healing and wholeness, we need to reflect on the quality of our Christian witness.

The following morning, Jesus leaves, goes to the hills to be alone and to pray. His disciples come in search of him. “Everyone is looking for you,” they tell him. Although there are many demands being made on him by the people of Capernaum, Jesus

1. needs time for himself to renew his spiritual energy and be in contact with his Father, and

2. has to think of the needs of other people as well.

Jesus may have been the Son of God but he could only be in one place at a time and, during those three years of public life, he really only reached a very small number of people. To reach the rest, he needed and still needs our help. When Jesus returns from his prayer he does not go back to Capernaum, although there were certainly more people to be healed and helped there. Instead he went on to synagogues all over Galilee proclaiming his message of the Kingdom and making it a reality by healing the sick and liberating those controlled by evil forces.

This scene brings up the importance for us of availability. We do need to be available to all those who are in genuine need. At the same time, there is what we might call the ‘poverty of availability’. No matter how generous and self-giving we are we can only give so much. We need to find a balance between people’s needs and our limited resources. We do not help people by working ourselves to the point of ‘burnout’. We also need ‘quality time’ to be with God, to pray and to reflect on our priorities. Jesus gives us an excellent example here.