Parish Bulletin for Sunday, Febuary 5, 2012

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Job 7:1-4, 6-7   1 Cor. 9:16-19, 22-23   Mark 1:29-39

The Breath of God

Readers who follow the Marcan Jesus through what is presented as a typical day in his ministry, may become breathless with all the activity. Jesus could certainly be called a multi-tasker as he moves from one person to the next, offering precisely what is needed in each circumstance.

Through each interchange, readers learn more and more about the person and purpose of Jesus, as well as what he will ask of his would-be followers. With the cure of Peter's mother-in-law, the evangelist makes it clear that those whom Jesus touches and heals are thereby invited to become his disciples. The only worthy response to the action of Jesus is to begin to serve others.

On the evening of that same busy day, those who were sick gathered at Peter's door to be touched and healed by Jesus. Mark's reference to those possessed by demons reflects the ancient belief that demons were at the heart of every physical and spiritual malady; therefore, to cure a person was to cast out the demon causing them harm.

The statement that Jesus did not permit the demons to speak because they knew him continues an ongoing theme of secrecy in the Marcan Gospel. Some scholars have explained the secret as a literary technique devised by the evangelist to explain why Jesus was not recognized and acclaimed as messiah during his ministry.

Others propose that Jesus himself imposed such secrecy in order to prevent a misconception of his role as messiah. His contemporaries anticipated a wonder-worker whose power would re-establish Israel and Judah in power and freedom, but Jesus' greatest work would be achieved through his salvific death on the cross.

Only at the moment of his dying would the Marcan Jesus be clearly identified: "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39). Until that moment, the Marcan Jesus silenced those he healed.

Ironically, the demons are never silent. Throughout the first Gospel, these evil spirits continually call Jesus by name and identify him as the Holy One of God. By allowing this continuing interchange, the Marcan evangelist repeatedly depicts Jesus doing battle with the powers of evil; in the end, on the cross, Jesus alone would be victorious. In rising from the dead, he would share that victory with all who believe. Jesus punctuated his preaching, teaching and healing with periods of prayer.

Here, as well as in other passages from Mark, the evangelist portrayed Jesus taking time to pray, particularly in those stressful moments when the character of his messiahship was being misunderstood or challenged. These pauses for prayer kept Jesus centred and focussed and enabled him to temper the enthusiasm of those who were so caught up in the wonders he worked that they did not see him for who he really was.

For 21st-century disciples, Jesus' typical day holds valuable lessons, including the need to balance work with prayer. If we are to be givers of hope to others, then our own hope must be fed at the well of the word.

In prayer, the Spirit of God breathes in us and takes away our narrowness and anxiety. We receive new breath, new freedom, new life. Prayer is God breathing in us.