5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel Reading: Mark 1: 29 - 39

29 On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew.

30 Now Simon's mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straight-away.

31 He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32 That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils.

33 The whole town came crowding round the door,

34 and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

35 ln the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.

36 Simon and his compan­ ions set out in search of him,

37 and when they found him they said, 'Everybody is looking for you.'

38 He answered, 'Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.'

39 And he went all through Galilee , preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

Meditation

Today's gospel passage is in three sections:

•  verses 29-31: Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law;

•  verses 32-34: a general statement on Jesus' ministry of heal­ ing;

•  verses 35-39: Jesus chooses to expand his ministry to neigh­ bouring towns.

We can take one section at a time, on its own; or we can try to discern a movement flowing through the entire passage - this is the approach I propose. The passage then reveals a new dimen­ sion of Jesus' ministry, the general outlines of which are drawn in these first Sundays of Ordinary time.

On the Third Sunday, Jesus announced the overall goal of his ministry - the kingdom of God . The Fourth Sunday (Mark 1:21 -28) showed that his ministry is a ministry of casting out unclean spirits with authority.

On this Fifth Sunday, we get the further insight that Jesus will always be restless, he will never 'have somewhere where he can lay his head.' He will always be on the lookout for new areas where his gospel needs to be preached.

This has also been the mark of Jesus' followers. In every age and culture, the church has had its 'missionaries', men and women of generous spirit, happy and successful where they were, who realised that the gospel was not being preached among cultures, ethnic groups or social classes which were neglected by society and by the church. They stepped out coura­ geously and moved into these 'neighbouring country towns' so that the gospel of God's love could be 'preached there too'.

Paul and Barnabas were the first. They left the prosperous community of Antioch to bring the good news to the Greek cities of Asia Minor . One thousand years later, St Francis of Assisi turned his back on his noble and wealthy family and lived as a brother among the poorest people of his area.

In our time, Mother Teresa, comfortable and successful in a well established religious order, decided to move out and found a new commu­ nity entirely dedicated to the dying on the streets of Calcutta .

In the secular world too, all great people come to the time when they must step out into an area their movement has ne­glected up to now. Nelson Mandela, for example, decided at some point in his life that he would work for reconciliation with his oppressors. People have given up successful careers in law, medicine, finance, education or management to work for the ad­vancement of neglected communities.

It happens to all of us, at one time or another, that we find the courage to break new ground, to be reconciled with someone who had hurt our family, to move into some field where our ser­vices are needed. This passage celebrates such moments of grace - in the life of Jesus and in our lives.

In recent years, our church has often made similar moves in many countries. It has given up its prestige and influence, risked loosing the patronage of the wealthy and the powerful, and stood at the side of the oppressed, 'preaching there too'.

It would be good to spend some time with the expression 'be­ cause that is why I came'. Like so many phrases in the Bible, it is brief and seemingly simple, but it can transform our conscious­ ness radically. When the church neglects the marginalised it is always because it has forgotten the reason 'why it came'.

The gospel passage reminds us that we will not take bold new decisions unless we are inwardly free, as Jesus was. It also teaches us the secret of his inner freedom - his regular, deep, personal prayer, the fact that he would 'leave the house and go off to a lonely place to pray there' - another haunting little phrase.

Prayer 

Lord, answering your call is often difficult.

Sometimes we are discouraged by our failures,

but at other times it is success that prevents us.

Like Jesus, we must go against those who admire us

and the work we are doing.

They want us to continue where we are,

they remind us of the good we do for people,

as friends, teachers, doctors, nurses or counsellors,

how we take them by the hand and help them,

so that the fever leaves them and they can wait on us.

They point out the people bringing to us all who are sick,

and those who are possessed by devils,

so that it feels as if the whole town is there

crowding round the door or our house.

We ourselves are pained to leave the many who are suffering

from diseases of one kind or another,

or who need devils to be cast out.

Teach us to follow the example of Jesus;

remind us that if we want to do your will

we must learn to get up in the morning, long before dawn,

and leave our house to go off to a lonely place and pray there,

so that when others come in search of us saying,

'Everybody is looking for you,'

like Jesus, we will be free enough to choose

what we know is right for us.

We will go to neighbouring regions where no one else has gone,

relate to those we have been keeping at arm's length,

so that we can bring the good news of your love there too,

remembering that this is why we have come into the world.

Lord, forgive us, your church, that we have become complacent, that we are content to congratulate ourselves at whole towns crowding round our doors.

We pray that we will never lose the missionary spirit of Jesus,

so that, just as he went through all Galilee ,

the church too will go through all areas of society

and all cultures,

preaching your love wherever people are gathered,

and casting out every kind of evil spirit.