Fifth Sunday Reflection

In the time of Jesus almost everything they couldn't understand was put down to a demon or an evil spirit.  Even though we have become more advanced in our medical knowledge, it's surprising how this thinking still persists. While most people don't blame evil for their ailments, they can think God has a direct hand in sending an illness or an injury. Such faulty theology cannot be reconciled with the New Testament.

There is not a single instance where Jesus inflicts pain and suffering on others. He regularly tells us we have to carry our cross and bear our burdens, but this is vastly different from personally laying a cross on our shoulders or giving us the burdens in the first place. By contrast, every time that Jesus encounters suffering and pain he works to heal it and restore the person to new life.

The differences between the healing of Peter's mother-in-law and the other healing stories in the first chapter of Mark's Gospel are striking. Rather than in a public space and in front of crowds this personal     healing occurs in the privacy of Peter's house. By contrast to the      command for the demons to be gone, in his bedside ministry Jesus  never mentions a demon and uses no words. Instead he gently takes her by the hand and helps her to her feet. Unlike the others Jesus heals, of whom we never hear about their response, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law leads her to an act of service. Given all the details Mark give us of this encounter it's a pity he never tells us her name.

Sometimes we can think of Jesus' miracles, then and now, as acts of dazzling power. The problem with this idea is that if we see Jesus as going around ‘zapping’ people it's hard to figure out why there were times when he could not perform any miracles at all, or that they happened in stages. Whatever else miracles are, they are deeply personal encounters of faith.

As Catholics we believe in the power of miracles and that the source of them is always the grace of God. But we do not have to see them as something done to us from without. Rather, we can see them as unlocking something from within. For some people Jesus' word or touch set free the healing power God had placed in them. For others it came through another person's intercession. The same holds true for us today.

Furthermore, being anointed, celebrating Reconciliation or Eucharist, going to a place of pilgrimage, fasting, being prayed over or meditating can have a similar effect. Looked at in this way we can see why some people are healed and others are not. If a personal encounter with Jesus did not always lead to healing, then why should it surprise us that some other encounters these days do not always unlock God's healing within us.
Small and large-scale miracles are happening everyday. Today's Gospel reminds us that they do not happen for show or for the sake of the crowd. They are realisations of faith. Taking Peter's mother-in-law as our model we are healed and strengthened so that we can witness to God's saving power, serve the Kingdom of God in any way we can, and continue to wait on the Lord.

(Richard Leonard SJ)