Fr Kevin Kilgore

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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.

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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.

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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. Being healed by Jesus was no different for this leper.

Although the Lord commanded him not to tell anyone, his life was forever changed. How could he keep it a secret? 

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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’s presence; when the Lord answered a long-awaited prayer; or just the consistent deepening of your faith that brings you daily peace.

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This was how the Good News of the Gospel first spread – and how it continues spreading today – through ordinary people like us whose lives have been touched by grace. Suddenly, our joy becomes contagious.

But, unlike leprosy, Christianity doesn’t poison the body or community.

It renews it.

Haven’t we experienced that first-hand in our beloved parish?

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In what ways might we share our love for Jesus with someone else today?  

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Image credits: (1) Oceans in the Desert (2) Independent Catholic News (3) Sharing is Caring, Facebook

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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. Then word spreads fast enough for crowds to start gathering around him, so 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 the next morning, 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 also what sustains our own spiritual life. 

The Lord reminds us the best time to do it is “very early before dawn,” before the stress, demands, and 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?”

And what is my prayer life like?

Often it changes over time. Some weeks, even months or longer, might be spent in silence; other moments can be filled with scripture study, spiritual reading, uplifting music, journaling, or heart-to-heart sharing with the Lord.

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Over time, a certain peace settles in which cannot be taken away, leading us to discover what the Lord models for us today – that prayer is our deepest source of strength, which compels us to do good.

Take a moment of silence. Allow the Lord to “fill your cup” with grace.

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Image credits: (1) The Busy Woman (2) Healing Peter’s Mother in Law, John Bridges (3) Lafia Craft

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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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Here, in the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has just invited his disciples to follow him. The first stop on their journey is a synagogue in Capernaum, where the Lord begins to teach.

Much like a cell phone ringing in the middle of a sermon, an anonymous man interrupts the Lord, crying out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

If I were the one preaching that day, I would’ve been taken aback. But the Lord doesn’t miss a beat. He muzzles the demon, casting him out of the tortured man just by the sound of his voice. 

Meanwhile, the disciples must’ve been wondering what on earth just happened.

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Even in this early stage of their journey, they are beginning to learn some important lessons about Jesus, faith, and the world around them.

First, Christ has the power to do what he says. He not only preaches about Good News – the blind regaining their sight, captives being set free, the dead being raised – he also brings it.

Second, there is the real presence of evil in this world, which Jesus comes to disrupt. The fact that the demon protests Christ’s presence in the synagogue suggests that it had already been there – and it intended on staying – before being unexpectedly cast out.

Notice the spirit was not floating aimlessly like a cloud in the sky. It was embedded in a real human being. All of the evil spirits Christ binds come out of human beings, suggesting evil is not an impersonal force; it must take on flesh to have power.

The disciples themselves will be tested in this way as they fight against fear, temptation, and despair while following Jesus to the cross and beyond.

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Much like the man in the synagogue, we can all be weighed down by sin or impurity. And we can bring these destructive habits into holy places – our marriage, families, friendships, homes, and workplaces.

Christ comes not to judge or condemn us, but to cast these spirits out.

May we welcome the Lord today, who comes to set us free.

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Image credits: (1) FreePik (2) Friarmusings (3) Salem Tabernacle