Year: 2024

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Gospel: Mark 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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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What does a normal day look like for you?

Perhaps you spend time in traffic, at the office, responding to emails, at your children’s sporting events, or by day’s end, sharing a meal with family.

Today’s Gospel provides us with something similar: a full day in the life of Jesus. 

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After calling his first disciples, Jesus begins his day teaching in the synagogue, where he drives out an unclean spirit. Then he heads to Simon Peter’s home, where he heals Simon’s mother-in-law.

By sunset, word has spread about this miracle worker, so neighbors bring loved ones who are sick and lame, placing them at the feet of Jesus, who heals them. Early the next morning, he goes off by himself to pray.

Although our schedule may sound quite different from the Lord’s, there are a few things we can learn from him – and apply to our daily lives.

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First, Jesus blesses our domestic lives; to him, homes – and by extension, families – are sacred. John Paul II later labeled our homes, “a domestic church.” What happens within it is holy.

In fact, more than 90% of Christ’s life on earth is spent with families inside people’s homes, where he heals, prays, dines, and teaches.

His first 30 years were spent quietly at home with Mary. Then, when initiating his public ministry, the Lord turned water into wine at a newlywed’s home in Cana.

Afterwards, Jesus brings a twelve-year-old girl back to life at her home; he cures a paralytic inside a neighbor’s home; he heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law at his home.

Then he concludes his public ministry the way it all began – inside a person’s home, breaking bread with his Apostles at the Last Supper.

Home is where the heart is. It’s where we laugh, cry, rest, dream, eat, sleep – and often enough, encounter the Lord in the face of our loved ones. 

The home is sacred ground. 

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In this full day with Jesus, we also find one of his top priorities: healing people. In fact, 13 out of 18 miracles that Jesus performs in Mark’s Gospel are miracles of healing. 

Fortunately, the Church has retained this divine power.

In my own priestly ministry, I’ve seen blindness removed; cancer, brain damage, and double pneumonia disappear. 

It can be hard to hear about – even to witness these miracles firsthand – without also wanting a miracle of our own. How many of us hear about stories like this and wonder, “Why not me?”

Perhaps it’s better for us to ask, “Did the Lord perform any other type of miracle? Anything less dramatic?”

Did Jesus ever sit at the bedside of a feverish person and simply hold their hand? Did he approach a blind beggar, stop, sit, and listen to their story? Did he weep with families who lost a loved one without bringing that person back to life?

Did the Lord do such “ordinary” things? 

I imagine so. And so should we.

We can all hold the hand of a loved one who’s sick at home; listen to one another’s stories; weep with those who weep; pray over a person who’s suffering. 

Such face-to-face encounters, when motivated by love, are in themselves a type of healing. As Mother Teresa once said, “If you want to change the world, then go home and love your family.” 

Pray. Listen. Encounter. Embrace. Heal.

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Before the sun rises the next morning, the Lord goes off to pray, which he does frequently in the Gospels.

For example, after his baptism, Jesus prays. Before choosing his Apostles, he prays. After healing people, he prays. Before walking on water, he prays. Before – and even during – his crucifixion, he prays.

The Lord sets an example for all of us – if we want God to guide and bless our journeys, then we should set aside a few moments each day to pray. As the prophet Samuel once said, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

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So, what does a full day in the life of Jesus reveal?

That our homes and families are sacred, a “domestic church.”

That each of us can be an agent of healing, even if in ordinary ways.

And that every disciple is called to pray.

As the Lord says, “As I have done, you also should do.”

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Image credits: (1) The Raising Supaman Project, Hourglass.jpg (2) (3) CL Murphy Creative, Etsy

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Gospel: Luke 2: 22-40

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

    “Now, Master, you may let your servant go 
        in peace, according to your word,
    for my eyes have seen your salvation,
        which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:
    a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
        and glory for your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
—and you yourself a sword will pierce—
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I once knew someone who placed his shoes underneath his bed. 

Although they remained within arm’s reach, he’d make sure they were pushed far enough underneath that he’d have to kneel down to retrieve them.

Such a simple gesture put him on his knees twice a day, reminding him to pray both in the morning and at night.

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In the Gospel, the prophet Simeon makes a dramatic discovery. 

There are hundreds – if not thousands – of people passing through the temple that day. But when Simeon sees the Child Jesus, he realizes this is the long-awaited Messiah.

To anyone other than Mary and Joseph, Jesus was an ordinary baby. In fact, many who will come to know Jesus throughout his life will see no more than that – an ordinary person.

Why did Simeon see something – someone – that others didn’t?

I’m sure there are plenty of answers, but one of them must be this: 

He prayed.

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Prayer allows us to see the world differently, as if there’s a fourth dimension.

We recognize Christ present in others; we recognize Christ present within ourselves; and we recognize his guidance throughout our lives.  

Prayer can be tremendously fruitful. But sometimes we struggle finding time for it, or even understanding how to do it.

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Consider sliding your shoes a few inches underneath your bed. Then you’ll find yourself in a prayerful position twice a day. If you’re not sure what to do next, just ask the Lord.

That itself is prayer.

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Image credits: (1) Bed Time Prayers by Mike Ivey (2) Simeon, Buildingontheword., Fr. George Smiga (3) Store Space Self Storage

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Gospel: Mark 6: 7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why did Jesus insist on such austere poverty from his Apostles? And what difference might this command make in our lives today?

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Part of the reason why Jesus instructed them to take no food, no sack, and no money in their belts was to lend credibility to their message. 

By performing miraculous acts of healing for free, the Apostles will demonstrate that they are not looking to get rich; they are looking to save souls.

That’s an important reminder for all in ministry – the Church exists not for the sake of power or personal profit, but for salvation. As the Lord commands us at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Go, make disciples of all nations.”

And elsewhere, “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and decay can destroy… but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.” 

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Secondly, the Apostles must learn how to trust in Divine Providence. Not knowing where their next meal will be coming from, or who will shelter them that night, strips the Apostles of that natural human tendency towards self-reliance.

Although they’re empowered with Divine authority, they can neither feed nor shelter themselves. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” 

A reminder to us all, in the words of Saint Paul, “to bear one another’s burdens.”

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The Church remains empowered with this divine authority to heal the sick and to cast out unclean spirits. 

But we are also challenged to model that type of poverty – or detachment from worldly things – which the Apostles first experienced.

In what ways am I “poor,” or detached from worldly things? And how do I bear the burdens of others?

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“Take nothing for the journey,” the Lord says. Rather, learn to rely upon the charity of one another.

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Image credits: (1) Go Where I Send Thee, If I Walked With Jesus (2) Two Apostles, Peter Paul Reubens (3) Medium