Word of God Sunday

Instituting Word of God Sunday, Pope Francis reminded us, “We should never take God’s word for granted, but instead let ourselves be nourished by it, in order to acknowledge and live fully our relationship with him and with our brothers and sisters”. (Aperuit illis, 2019). In today’s gospel Jesus is seen as a warm, compassionate and very tangible figure, fully engaged in his community and teaching us about balance in our lives! God’s rule and reign are transpiring right now in the hearts of his people.

He has stirred up sleepy Capernaum with his authoritative teaching and healing of the possessed man at the synagogue. Now Mark recounts the on-going action (Mark 1:29-39) as Jesus retires to Simon and Andrew’s place together with James and John, the others of his A Team, and there, discovering that Simon’s mother-in-law is ill, he cures her. After sunset Jesus obliges the queue of people gathering for physical or mental cure then rises before the sunrise for some quiet prayer time and gets on the road again. So much timeless wisdom here! 

Firstly, we see how central flesh and blood relationships are in Jesus’ life. Fresh from his startling triumph at the synagogue, he is not above going to his mate’s place for lunch (and perhaps a wine or two). There is plenty to talk about with his four fisher mates.

Secondly, he clearly teaches that Compassion beats Law. His fresh, compassionate perspective puts the well-being of his mate’s mother-in-law above the detail of the Mosaic law banning any work on the Sabbath. Then, once the Sabbath is over, we can imagine the demands of the excited citizens of Capernaum keeping him up into the wee hours of the night. 

Finally we see in his example how Contemplative Prayer centres us. Tired though he must have been, prayer is vital in his life, and so he spends time discerning the Father’s will for him. Then, confident, centred, renewed and focussed on his core mission, rather than being distracted from spreading the Good News, he moves on to proclaim God’s Kingdom to the rest of Galilee and to the world.

Deacon Mark