After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s Gospel takes place immediately after the disciples spend the entire night in a harrowing storm, crossing the Sea of Galilee without Jesus.
Frazzled and relieved, they are now safely ashore. I’m sure all Peter and the others wanted to do was pause and take a nice, long nap.
Before they can blink an eye, however, crowds filled with sick and possessed people are pressing in on them, hoping just to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak.
How do you think these drowsy disciples responded to the sight of the crowds? How might you have responded?
Do you think Peter and the others brought people to Jesus? Or, worn out from the last several hours, did they try to whisk Jesus away in order to rest?
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The Gospel doesn’t tell us how the disciples responded, only that Jesus healed every person he touched.
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What a difference it would make if we followed the Lord’s example of patience, compassion, and generosity, in spite of how we might be feeling at any given moment.
For example, imagine the difference it’d make if we were patient with other drivers on the road, even while in a hurry ourselves.
Or the difference it’d make in our hearts if we readily forgave people who offend us.
If we took the time to listen to our neighbor, even while preoccupied with our own thoughts; if we did the chores; made dinner; or responded to other people’s needs without complaint.
Or, in the disciples’ case, the difference it might’ve made if they brought someone to Jesus, in spite of their own exhaustion.
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As Mother Teresa once said, “Christians are called to love until it hurts.”
What might make us feel that pinch of love today?
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Image credits: (1) AZ Quotes (2) Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt (3) LinkedGo Vinyl
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.”
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
