February 4, 2018

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Job 7: 1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23; Mark 1: 29-39 With Lent beginning in 10 days, it is a good time for me to start to get in the ‘groove again’ as far as my relationship with God. It seems that after the rush of Christmas and for myself the return from a wonderful Holy Land pilgrimage, I need to settle down, put myself and my life back on track. I like regular patterns, I like to have a regular routine for prayer and spiritual reading coupled with a time to be still before the Lord. I’ve been slipping, time to ‘return to the Lord!’ The Lord has never ‘been away’ but I have been ‘wandering’ to say the least. Today’s readings are wonderful in making me stop and prepare so that I am journeying with the Lord, in the Lord’s way. From the very opening chapter of the Book of Job, we can see how deeply that God cares for Job’ The story begins: “One day, the Lord said to Satan, “Whence do you come?…From roaming the earth and patrolling it…the Lord said, Have you noticed my servant Job , and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil? Satan responds that it is only because God surrounded Job and his family with property, livestock, riches , etc. God then allows Satan to deprive Job and tempt him. ’Behold, all that he has is in you power; only do not lay a hand upon his person. So Satan went forth from the presence of God.’ Job suffers a sudden and complete reversal of fortune: losing his property, and children. He also experiences a repulsive disease but Job will not complain against God. How often the question comes from others and myself, ‘Why is God doing this? Why is God allowing such suffering for one family? Why do all these horrid things happen to the poor and homeless? Maybe God just doesn’t care? AND why am I hurting so much? POOR ME! Back to the story, Job imagines that God must have turned against him for ‘no reason whatsoever.’ His friends feel that Job must haves sinned because he suffers so much. Job disagrees, but don’t we feel this way too. I remember my saintly mother telling me when I stumbled and hurt myself, ‘God must be punishing you.’ God doesn’t do this, I do it to myself, I’m really a complete klutz. Job feels that he will never see happiness again…Not True! In the final chapter many gifts come to him. Franciscan Media comments, “This wiser Job will see the most fruitful way to live is to serve God at every moment, accepting life for what it is—a gift one could never presume to earn from God.” He has begun to understand the mystery of suffering. I’ve heard it said and hopefully I’ve put this in my past, life is not fair…why me. This leads to blaming others but it never changes our situation. The questions are: Where is hope in my life? Do I trust that God loves me? Can I surrender to His plan for me? The Corinthians were asking some questions of Paul. They wanted to know why they couldn’t use the meat that was sacrificed to idols. They had this ‘new freedom’ in accepting Jesus, so why would this be harmful. Paul said they must choose for the good of others. Do my actions show what I want or do I realize people watch me, are influenced by me? Do I realize that I never operate in a vacuum? Paul uses himself as an example saying that he shares the gospel free of charge. Thus slaves, the poor, Jews, Gentiles do not feel obligated to pay. The gospel is living what Jesus taught. Paul puts it this way, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. The Gospel is from Mark’s first chapter. Starting in verse 16, we see a typical day in the public life of Jesus. He calls disciples (1: 16-20), teaches and preaches (1: 21-22, 38-39, He exorcised demons (1: 23-26; 32-34), healed (1:29-31, 32, 34), and withdrew for prayer (1:35). So Jesus both speaks and does, He teaches and exorcises. Mark is very concerned about response of the onlookers and the spreading fame of Jesus. Today we hear that Jesus is teaching, but seldom do we hear exactly what Jesus taught. He apparently did not make references to sources outside of Himself. He spoke differently than the scribes. They would have constantly brought up references to their teaching—-this prophet said this… this king said this—Moses brought out… Jesus was His Own Authority. The Latin translations use the word ‘auctoritas’ meaning that Jesus has the right to teach as He does. In the same synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. Sometimes we think that these were people who were ‘possessed’. In reality they were understood to be the power of evil. Much of Jesus’ healing involves the power of evil versus the power of God. Jesus as the mediator of God’s power consistently defeats the power of evil. Jesus expels demons and charges them not to tell who He is … this is known as the Messianic Secret—Jesus wants the people to decide about Him for themselves and because He does not want to be known as a worker of wonders and performer of miracles, a magician. So Jesus had a very full day. BUT Jesus is not done. What is of utmost importance — a time of solitary prayer. He wanted to be alone. Mark said that Jesus had to be ‘pursued’… the word implies ‘hunted’ until He was ‘found’. These words Mark uses have negative implications…those who ‘had to be hunted or sought out do so to kill Him or to distract Him from His true mission. Notice that Peter is the spokesperson … shall we say, the voice of temptation. Jesus wanted and needed the remoteness of His prayer place. Jesus seeks prayer, relationship with God. The source of His teaching authority and power springs from this total dependence upon God. So many reflections come up: • How can I be led from my calling by well meaning people…or misguided ones? • How many have I turned away from God’s call? • How many have I judged for ‘wasting time’ alone rather than being engaged in an active ministry? • How do I pray to experience that God is with me? • Do I give God a chance when I pray, or do I have to do all the talking? • If I were to come before Jesus, what would I ask Him to heal? • Jesus heals everyone who asks for His healing. Do I ask? Am I afraid? Do I feel it comes with conditions I don’t want? Living the Word reflects on the gospel, “We need not rise early in the morning to pray as Jesus did. Some of us are night people. But we do need to make time for prayer. Even a short amount of times goes a long way. There we find that God is present in our midst. There we can discover true freedom, as Job, Paul, and Jesus did. To pray is to speak to God and listen for God’s voice in order to breathe as one with God, according to St. Francis de Sales. So take a deep breath. There is God. Exhale. Release anxiety, hopelessness, or a feeling of pressure. Repeat. Breathe deeply and be centered in the One who is the source of our freedom, who gives us hope, and empowered us to respond to every situation we meet in our lives.” Sacred Space 2018 states: “Jesus does His tour preaching and casting out devils. And we’re given to understand that these two are practically the same thing—and that, were it not for the devils (who here want to find their voice!), even disease and sickness would disappear. Jesus is going into battle, head to head, with the kingdom of evil. When I feel powerless before outside events, and before wayward tendencies in my own heart, I ask Jesus, the strong one, to come to my side.”