February 5, 2012
Sunday

Job 7,1-4.6-7 / 1 Cor 9,16-19.22-23 / Mk 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.

In other words…

Today is Pro-Life Sunday. It will be well to ask: How is it to be pro-life, to live in the service of life? Let us answer this question in the light of the liturgical readings of today.

We see that life is not all a bed of roses. We heard Job’s description of it: "Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of a hireling?" Job’s life, he confesses, is made up of "months of misery" and "troubled nights." Isn’t ours too? That, perhaps, is why we seek all sorts of diversion: movies with friends, picnics and karaoke, basketball and chess, internet games and facebook chats, coffee and beer, and countless more gimmicks to while time away.

Not only that. Life is replete with all sorts of illness – psychic and physical, social and personal. Even Simon’s mother was lying sick with fever. And everywhere Jesus would go, he would be pursued by all who were ill or possessed by demons, sick with various diseases.

Very well known was the experience of Siddhartha Buddha who, after a life of ease and comfort in the security of his father’s palace, managed to sneak out of that security one night, only to see for himself sickness and old age, poverty and death.

As a response, Paul chose to become a missionary. "To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some." This was in imitation of Christ who "cured many who were sick and drove out many demons." Seeing Simon’s mother lying with fever, Jesus "approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up." And his ordinary days were spent going "to the nearby villages." For what? "That I may preach there also, he would say, "For this purpose have I come."

Christ came to preach not only by words but also by deeds. The socalled healing miracles were not meant to be a mere display of his superhuman powers. They were meant to teach the same lesson he also preached by words. "The Kingdom of God is at hand!" – this is the Good News which is the content of both the words and deeds of Jesus. Our mission, being also the mission of Jesus, is to proclaim by what we say and do the overcoming of death through life, the healing of all illness through personal conversion and repentance. By our life, we either heal or kill. A true disciple of Christ, however, brings life rather than death. Do we?

– Bro. Romy Abulad, SVD (USC, Cebu City)