Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I
Jb 7:1-4, 6-7
Job spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed 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;
I shall not see happiness again.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 147:1-2, 3-4,
5-6
R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
1
Cor 9:16-19, 22-23
Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.
Gospel
Mk 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.
COMMENTARY
The first reading is Job’s soliloquy. Job’s friends have rejected his appeal and he therefore stops addressing them (for background on this read preceding chapters of the Book of Job). Job continues his lament by comparing human life in general to forced military service, to the work of a day laborer and to simple slavery – three proverbially wretched states of life.
For Paul, preaching the Gospel is the expression of his very being, and for this he deserves no special credit. Because he assures his own livelihood, Paul is not subject to the constraints of the financially dependent. Paul submits himself to the conscience of the week: to win the weak, as will become clear in subsequent passages, means that the hearts of the weak also needed to be challenged. To be all things to all people is Paul’s way of putting into practice his love for all regardless of their religious or social situation.
In the Gospel story, Peter’s mother-in-law’s condition is described; Jesus heals her; and her serving proves the completeness of the cure. Two terms – ēgeiren, “he lifter her up,” and diēkonei, “she served” - may suggest some symbolic-theological currents in the story, but that is unclear. The four disciples mentioned are those that were called in 1:16-20. Archaeologists may have discovered the house where this miracle took place, south of the synagogue at Capernaum (the house of Simon-Peter?). That the story mentions Simon’s mother-in-law is an assumption that Peter was married at the time of his call. The importance of the mother-in-law serving them: “diēkonei” demonstrates the suddenness and completeness of the cure, and is proof of the miraculous nature of Jesus’ healing action.
As in Mark 1:24, the demons recognize Jesus’ true identity. Jesus’ refusal to allow them to speak is usually taken as part of the so-called messianic secret in Mark. While the preternatural opponents of Jesus know who he is, human beings (represented by his disciples) need to get a fuller picture of Jesus before they can know him as the dying and rising Messiah.
Jesus’ withdrawal to pray puts the healing activities into perspective. His motive for withdrawing appears to have been communion with God. Since there are no deserts around Capernaum, the idea of a deserted place must be that he went to a lonely place away from other people.
REFLECTION
Pain, illness, and suffering are all part of our lives in one way or another. For many people, life itself is a constant struggle against all types of suffering. In a way it can even be said that technology is a result of man’s desire to avoid suffering and hardship. In today’s world, those who suffer feel the need for vindication, compassion, and help. Many will place the blame of their suffering on others: their family or society at large.
When suffering becomes too great for someone to bear alone, many will seek the “quick fix” of engaging in drugs, violence, or hedonism as an escape from the reality of the human condition, and with increased frequency many who suffer are turning to another alternative – ending the suffering by ending their lives.
In the few years that I have been an ordained minister, I have been to several wake services (funerals) of people who have committed suicide. These are perhaps the most difficult of all the services I have performed because they have been young people with an entire life ahead of them. How great must their suffering have been that in their mind the only recourse was to “end it all”. Who is to blame? Is God responsible? The Book of Job offers some insight into the mystery of suffering but only through Jesus Christ can any sense be made of suffering. Only through Christ – the true light of the world – can the darkness that hovers over suffering be lifted.
God’s infinite love for us is manifested through the incarnation because through this great mystery, God united himself with our humanity in its entirety. Throughout the Gospels, and specifically in today’s Gospel story, we see that Jesus had predilection for those who suffered, despite their social, economic, cultural, or sinful condition. The many miraculous cures that are inserted into the Gospel’s are a sign of the total redemption that he offers us – the solution to our suffering – our cure, if you will – and all that is asked of us is faith. Through pain and suffering, we are given an opportunity to review our lives, our faith, and our relationship with God. It allows us to grow and understand the mystery of our own human existence and allows us to recognize that our lives are in reality in the hands of God who is the only one who can heal us, and not just our infirmities of the body, rather and more importantly, the infirmities of our soul. Through suffering we become united with the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ in a way that is more intimate because we can share in the very mystery of redemption. We can never forget that just as we participate with Christ in his life, passion, and death, so too will we one day share with him in the glory of the resurrection where there will be no suffering or pain. Let today's Gospel then, bring us hope that all our pain and suffering can and will be healed through the love that God has for us.
Biblical
Sources:
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Alonso Schökel, L., “Job”; Murphy, R.E. “Job”, Wisdom Literature; Morphy-O’Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology; Theissen, G. “The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; The Collegeville Bible Commentary; Schweizer, E., “The Good News According to Mark”; Tuckett, C. (ed.), “The Messianic Secret”; Kingsbury, J. D., “The Christology of Mark’s Gospel”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.
Reflection:
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa