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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Today’s Gospel describes a full day in the life of Jesus.

We begin mid-morning. Jesus leaves the synagogue, having just cast out an unclean spirit – his first public miracle in Mark’s Gospel. 

“After lunch,” he enters Simon Peter’s home, where he heals Simon’s mother-in-law who is deathly ill. Word then spreads fast enough for crowds to start gathering around him, as the Lord continues his healing work well after sunset.

I’d imagine by the end of the night, he was exhausted.

But the Gospel tells us that he rose, “very early before dawn,” where he went off on his own to a deserted place to pray. I’d imagine Jesus began each day that way … up early in prayer.

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Prayer is what sustains our spiritual life, too.

And the Lord reminds us the best time to do it is “very early before dawn,” before the stress, the demands, and the weight of other commitments compete for our time. It’s like having a spiritual “cup of coffee.”

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How much time do I spend in prayer each day? Have I tried praying like the Lord, “very early before dawn?”

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If not, try it and see what happens over time. 

You’ll discover, as the Lord teaches us, that prayer is our deepest source of strength. A minute with God provides more strength than a day or even a year without him.

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Image credits: (1) Jericho Ridge Community Church (2) Healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law, John Bridges (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: Mark 1: 21-28

Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, 
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” 
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet!  Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
 “What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I think of a sacred space, I think of this church. Our newly installed crucifix. This altar. This pulpit. The Saints and the Stations of the Cross that line the wall of our church.

Sacred spaces are filled with holy things that point us to God.

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In today’s Gospel, there’s a man with an unclean spirit present in the synagogue. The synagogue is a holy place, so why is he there?

Surely, this man doesn’t belong.  

Or does he?

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I imagine him to be a conflicted man, both a sinner and a believer – a man who knew he was under the power of something stronger than himself.

Perhaps he showed up in the synagogue that day hoping to be set free.

As soon as the Lord lays eyes on him, he says to the evil spirit holding him captive, “Quiet! Come out of him!”

Suddenly, the struggle is over. This man is set free.

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This is the first miracle that Jesus performs in Mark’s Gospel, amplifying the meaning of it. Perhaps Mark uses this man as an image for all of us. 

Every person struggles with something – a particular sin, a lingering weakness, a wound in need of healing.

The best place to find what we’re looking for is here in the house of God, or in the grace-filled silence of prayer.

As the Lord later says, “I have come that they may have life in abundance.” Not only the man in the temple, but all who believe.

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Image credits: (1) Pantocrator, St. Catherine’s Monastery (2) Biblword.net (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: Mark 1: 7-11

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: 
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water; 
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee 
and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open 
and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, 
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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The verb baptize literally means, “to plunge; dunk; or submerge.”

Christians borrowed the word from the Greeks to describe what John was doing at the Jordan River – literally plunging people into water as a sign of their repentance. 

For this we call him, “John the Baptist,” but we could also call him, “John the Plunger!”

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The first instance scholars have found this verb – “baptize” – being used is from a pickle recipe.

The recipe states, “You must boil water. Add cucumbers. When they become tender, remove them from the water and baptize them in vinegar.”

If you simply dip a cucumber into vinegar and remove it, it isn’t a pickle. It’s more like a quickle. (A half-pickle).

If you want to turn a cucumber into a pickle, then you must baptize it, allowing it to soak in the vinegar before it becomes a fully-fledged pickle.

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In today’s Gospel, John says that Jesus will “baptize” us with the Holy Spirit. Most Christians receive this divine gift shortly after their birth – and anyone baptized at that age certainly has no recollection of it.

So, if we are to become fully “pickled” Christians, then we must remain in the Holy Spirit through prayer, worship, and charity.

A person who isn’t practicing their faith is like a quickle, a half-pickled Christian.

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How do I practice my faith? How do I remain soaked in the Lord?

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“I baptize you with water,” John says, “but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

If we’ve already received this divine gift, then our faith journey is all about churning that gift into an ever-greater sense faith, hope, and love. 

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Image credits: (1) The Baptism of Christ, Andrea del Verrocchico (2) Jar of Pickles, Fine Art America (3) Cruciform Church of Christ