Category: Uncategorized

***

Gospel: Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him, 
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

This man healed from leprosy was quite the salesman! 

The Gospel tells us that he was so effective in telling others about Jesus that the Lord couldn’t even reach the edge of town without being bombarded by the sick, the paralyzed, and the possessed.

Everyone wanted the healing and the joy this man received.

***

I’m sure we’ve all acted like him before. 

Think about how you reacted the day you got engaged; the day you had your first child or grandchild; the day you got into your dream school or landed the perfect job.

When good things happen to us, we simply have to share it; it’s part of being human. Even as I was writing this sermon, a friend texted me saying, “Father, today I’m being sworn in as an attorney. Here’s the YouTube link if you have time to watch!”

Being healed by Jesus was no different.

Although the Lord commanded the leper not to tell anyone, his life was forever changed; he couldn’t hold it in. Something miraculous happened to him and everyone had to know. 

***

Have we had that same type of experience with faith? Has Jesus changed us so radically that we can’t help but tell others?

It could’ve been a moment of conversion when you felt God presence; when the Lord answered a long-awaited prayer; when he healed an illness; or just the consistent deepening of your faith that brings daily peace.

***

This is how the Good News of the Gospel first spread – and continues to spread this day. One person is changed by Jesus, then that uncontainable, life-altering joy is shared with others. 

Over time, entire families, communities, even the world is changed.

So, how might you share the joyful nature of your faith today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) ChurchLeaders (2) Our Lady of the Lake RC Church, Lake Havasu, AZ (3) Cool Springs Baptist Church

***

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.

***

***

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.

***

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.”

***

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

***

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.

***

***

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

***

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.

***

***

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.

***

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?

***

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.

***

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.

***

***

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