BIBLE STUDY #75
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
February 5, 2012

READING 1
JOB 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.

The Word of the Lord

READING 2
1 CORINTHIANS 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.

The Word of the Lord

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

Reflection

The healing of Simon’s mother in law begins today’s readings. We are still in chapter one of Mark’s Gospel, so Simon hasn’t as yet been transformed into Peter, which will take until Pentecost to accomplish.

This is the first of eight separate healing episodes, four of them being the healing of women (can you find them all?). The appearance of this healing miracle right after the exorcism reflects the close connection between illness and evil spirits; people thought evil spirits caused illness. It was thought that in the messianic age, that disease and death would be eliminated. By healing, exorcising, and rising from the dead, Jesus is showing us by his actions that he is the messiah, because he is doing what the messiah was supposed to do. Throughout this Gospel, the demons continually call Jesus by name and call him the Holy One of God. Jesus continually battles evil and defeats evil on the cross.

Over 200 verses of this gospel are taken up with healings, which is longer than the Passion Narrative. There are few healings (or works of power, as Mark calls them) in the second half of the Gospel, and these miracles are usually followed by an injunction not to tell anyone. Why? You’d think Jesus would want everyone to know. The reason is called the Messianic Secret. We need to look at the entirety of Jesus’ life to understand him. His teachings, miracles, and everything else he does must be understood in relation to his passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus is more than a dynamic, authoritative teacher; he is more than a healer; he is more than one who has power over life; he is the messiah, the savior, the Christ, who establishes the kingdom through his conquering of sin and death through his passion, death and resurrection. Everything he says and does is geared toward this saving event.

According to John R. Donahue, S.J. and Daniel Harrington, S.J. in The Gospel of Mark, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 2002, the “healing narratives exhibit a similar pattern that is found in 1:29-31 in concise form: (1) the arrival of the miracle worker at the locale of the sick person (1:29); (2) a description of the illness or problem (1:30); (3) a request for healing, implicit or explicit (1:30b); (4) the healing action either by gesture or word (1:31); (5) the effecting of the mighty deed; and (6) acclamation by the crowd or some external demonstration of the healing (1:31c).”

By curing “many who were sick with various diseases, and (driving) out many demons” Jesus shows his power and authority over evil and the many benefits that come from God’s saving power in the world. Jesus doesn’t allow the demons to speak about him because of the Messianic Secret, and he doesn’t want the demons to influence people in deciding who Jesus is (just a prophet, just a healer, etc.) so as to turn them away from belief in Jesus as the messiah and savior.

There is an aspect of discipleship in this passage. By healing Simon’s mother in law, Jesus shows that those he touches and heals are called to be his disciples. Her waiting on them signifies the offering of her time, talent, and treasure for Jesus (or for the building up of the kingdom). The response to being healed is to serve others. When any of us are touched by the Holy Spirit and are healed either spiritually or physically, we are called to a deeper relationship with the lord, but we are also called to serve other people just as Jesus did.

Jesus has balance in his life. He works hard but he also takes time for himself. He knows that to keep feeding the people, he needs to feed himself. He takes time to pray and be filled with God’s grace. After all, we can’t give away what we ourselves don’t have. Jesus prays before every important event in his life, which keeps him on track in doing his Father’s will.

It’s not a question of prayer or action, but prayer and action, which can make for a very busy life. We always find time for the important things in life. Sometimes Jesus is so busy during the day that he needs to pray at night, sometimes all night. He shows a commitment to God and he won’t be deflected in any way by anyone or anything. How committed are we to God? Do we make time for prayer? Do we make time to serve others?

Anyone who has suffered or is currently suffering should read the book of Job (1st reading). Job has everything his world offered, and he loses it all. He loses his family, his friends, his farm, his money, his influence, and he ends up sitting on an ash heap, covered with boils. He could get any lower and his life couldn’t get any worse.

Three friends come by to console him and try to explain things to him. God punishes sinners, they say, you’re being punished, so therefore you must be a sinner. But we know that’s not true, because Job is earlier described as “blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil (1:8).”

The end result is that we can’t understand suffering, which is so much more complicated and mysterious and resists easy explanations. Job realizes this, and submits himself to God, who is with us to console and strengthen us in our suffering. We can join in the redemptive suffering and mystery of Christ to receive meaning and purpose and hope. Like Job, we know the power of God and know that he is the one to turn to in times of trouble.

In the second reading from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Paul has had a personal experience of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and feels compelled to preach the Gospel because he received it directly from Jesus which he offers free of charge. He is very committed and he makes himself a slave to all to preach salvation to as many as he can. He says something interesting, “What then is my recompense?”

At funerals, my main concern in my homily is to give people hope that their loved one is in heaven. But what if that person lived a marginal life? A life directed more at earthly than heavenly things? Some day, someone is going to figure that out and say to me, “If it’s that easy to be saved, why be a Christian?” It’s St Paul saying, “What then is my recompense?”

My answer would be that virtue is its own reward. When we live as God commands and are virtuous, we are living the best possible life, which should fill us with meaning, peace and joy. It’s impossible to live well with the hope of a future salvation but nothing in the here and now; and God is not that stingy or demanding, anyway. God will not be outdone in generosity and will repay us 30 or 60 or a 100 fold for whatever we do. That is our recompense: an enviable life filled with God’s grace.

Fr. Phil