Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr B. Feb 4, 2024.
Readings
1st: Job 7:1-4, 6-7
2nd: II Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
Theme: You Are Saved And Sent To Serve.
My dear people of God, today is Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr B. Our reflections would focus on the Theme as it reflects in all the readings of today. In all the people presented in today's liturgy, we each have models for ourselves when we feel depressed, dispaired, bored and discouraged. Job, in his pain and misery, turns to God for answers. Jesus, upset by everything that depresses the human spirit, spends himself to serve (sick) people in dire need. St. Paul views his salvation through the prism of his conscious attempts to be the salvation of others. Then, comes Peter's mother in-law. She believes that the only way to experience full healing oneself is to heal (serve) others. She immediately makes herself available for service soon after she is healed from fever. This saved and sent to serve spirit is amply demonstrated by all the key players in all our readings of today. Jesus Himself, though not saved, is sent to serve the most pressing needs of humanity. No matter how advanced and sophisticated technology may develop and progress, Jesus remains the only answer to all human problems. He comes to save and send to serve. Therefore, a "sitting" (non-serving) Christian" cannot claim to have truly experienced Christ. It is not for nothing that St. Paul sees and says of himself as "all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings".
The miserable and humiliating experiences of Job, which he bemoans in a soliloquy (speaking to oneself) are service to humanity in the true sense, relative to the lessons they teach on the mystery of suffering. We are aware that the particular experiences of Job transcend every period in human history - why should bad things happen to good people? Can one serve God selflessly? Where is God, and how far is He, in the face of suffering? Even if God would eventually act (at His own time) why the undue delay and evil (suffering) seems to always reign and dominate? These are legitimate questions but which answers have to wait untill the full restoration of Job. Note, that the only theology (knowledge of God) known during this time of Job is that the good prosper and the wicked suffer. Job's tradition knows nothing of heaven and hell, so God has to reward the good and punish the wicked in this present life. Our Christian perspective adds a new dimension - that to expect the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. It is only when we look at the experiences of Job with this eye of faith that we can see him (Job) as saved and sent to serve. His misery and humiliating experiences and his unwavering patience to endure them, defying the advice of all his friends, give faith its fullest definition and the surviving fruits (of faith) that can stand the test of time, and that is service in the truest sense.
The Gospel tells us of three people who see, understand and appreciate service to humanity as a sacred duty. After the hectic Synagogue service Jesus naturally deserves physical rest. However, if His decisive withdrawal is in search for a place to rest, He is soon to realize that the one who is truly sent to save and serve cannot claim any right to rest. His arrival in the house of Peter's mother in-law and the appeal to His power happen at the same time. Once again, He spends Himslf for others - the sick in particular. He is never too tired to help others. The needs of others always take precedence over his own desire to rest. It is very worrying and disappointing to be told in some of our present day mission houses that "Father is sleeping, so you cannot see him". What is awesome is that, this time round, Jesus does not require a large audience like that in the Synagogue in order to exert His powers. He is just as prepared to perform His miracle (of healing) in the little circle of a cottage as in the great crowd of a synagogue. Today many church authorities have great difficulty transferring priests and religious to rural areas to take up new appointments. Talking about the filmsy excuses Catholic workers at our time give to refuse appointments and transfers to rural areas to serve God's people, the least said the best. You are saved and sent to serve. Ingratitude is an insult to Divine providence. The disciples' kind gesture of timely alerting Jesus about the ill health of Peter's mother in-law also confirms a sense of saved and sent to serve. They know more than anyone that their call is not on any merit. If not grace, what?. So they have no reason to ever try to privatise Jesus. They have not even known Jesus that long or much, yet they are already prepared to take all their problems to him. As the hymn has it, "Take it to the Lord in prayer". This is the very essence of Christian life. Then appears Peter's mother-in-law. No sooner is she healed than she begins to serve them by providing their needs. She uses her recovered health for renewed service. Saved to serve. We pray for an increased sense of gratitude in which ever area/field God sends us to serve His people. In fact, in some instances, what God only demands of us is our availability, not our ability. May we be ever willing to avail ourself and God will do the rest. Continue to recite the Holy Rosary daily. God richly bless you and your family.
Rev. Fr. Thomas L. Debuo - Catholic Diocese of Damongo, Ghana. (0244511306/0243711926)