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February 8, 2009 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) Dr. Terrance Callan Job 7:1-4, 6-7 X 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 X Mark 1:29-39
When we have received some good news, we spontaneously want to share it with others. The better the news, the more eager we are to tell our family and friends. We can hardly wait to let others know about the good things that have happened to us. In the reading from the gospel according to Mark, Jesus says to his companions, who have found him praying in a deserted place, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Jesus’ mission was to proclaim some very good news; as his followers, this is also our mission. The reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians shows that this was true for Paul. At this point in the letter Paul uses himself as an example to argue that Christians should give up their rights when necessary for the good of others. As one who proclaimed the good news, Paul had the right to be supported by those whom he served. However, he did not make use of that right, and instead supported himself by manual labor while he proclaimed the good news. Similarly, the Corinthians (and all other Christians) should not insist on their rights to the detriment of others. In making this argument Paul says that he is compelled to preach the gospel. He may do it willingly or unwillingly, but he must do it. Paul proclaimed the good news willingly, and did so free of charge. Not making use of his right to be supported by those he served is only one of the ways Paul subordinated everything to the goal of proclaiming the good news. Paul says that he has made himself “a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible.” He has made himself “all things to all, to save at least some.” Paul says that the good news “saves” people. The reading from the gospel of Mark shows some ways in which Jesus brought good news that saved people. When Jesus went to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John, he found Simon’s mother-in-law ill with a fever. Jesus “grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her....” That evening the whole town gathered outside the door, and Jesus cured many who were ill or possessed by demons. After leaving the town, Jesus went through all of Galilee proclaiming the good news and expelling demons. Recovery from sickness and freedom from demons are visible signs of the good news of salvation. Our deepest need is not for health, but for meaning and hope. The reading from the book of Job expresses the experience of life without meaning or hope. Job asks, “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?” He says that he has been assigned months of misery and troubled nights. He cannot sleep at night, so the nights seem endless. By contrast the days go by faster than the shuttle flies back and forth on a loom. He says, “I shall not see happiness again.” Job says this after having experienced great hardship – he had lost all his possessions; his children had been killed; his body was covered with sores. And all of this has made him aware of the emptiness of life without God and the hope of ultimate union with God. The good news we proclaim is that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has joined us to himself now and promises us full union with God forever. |
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