February 08, 2009 Fifth Ordinary Sunday of the Year Job 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Cor. 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk. 1:29-39 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/020809.shtml            ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Job seems so pessimistic: I am assigned months of misery; I am filled with restlessness! Will this ever end? And in the next breath he declares: My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; my life is like the wind! Where did the time go?   We might be tempted to ask today. Why were people afflicted with disease or possessed by demons? Why do the elderly poor languish in the cold? Why do innocent children bloat from malnutrition? Why is our future cut down on the battlefield? Why have we been assigned months of misery?   Questions like these have never really been satisfactorily answered. Instead of telling us why, Jesus shows us how. Without denying our own need for comfort, he directs our gaze toward the needs of others. How are we to deal with the tragedies of life? We are to approach those who suffer, grasp their hands, help them up; to heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds.   Following the example of Jesus, Paul offered himself in service of others, becoming all things to all people. Can we do less? Can we continue to allow the elderly to languish? Or the children to starve? Or hatred to rule the world? Can we continue to allow misunderstanding to fester in our families, alienating us from those with whom we share life? Can we continue to support indifference? Can we continue to allow such demons to possess us today?   The suffering people in the Gospel came to Jesus and were healed and set free. If, like them, we seek him out and open ourselves to the power of his compassion, the forces of evil in our lives and in our world can be driven out and the reign of God will be established.   Today’s readings provide hope. The story of Job, a righteous sufferer, breaks the link between suffering and guilt and gives people permission to lament before their God. Jesus acts with compassionate words and His touch is critical today. Often, people diagnosed with horrible illnesses and experience a sense of isolation; friends and even family react with fear and caution. Yet Jesus stretches out his hand and touches someone suffering social and religious isolation. He restores Simon’s mother-in-law to her family and allows the leper to live again with dignity in the human community.     <<   Previous: Fourth Ordinary Sunday of the Year  | Next: Sixth Ordinary Sunday of the Year >>   Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)