Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr B
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr B
04 Feb 2018
Homily
Over the last three weeks we have been hearing Mark’s description of Jesus first day of ministry. He has been busy, has’nt he? He has been calling followers into discipleship, preaching in the synagogue and healing people.
We are shown several of Mark’s themes over this first chapter. One is the “messianic secret” where Jesus repeatedly forbids demons from saying who he is. There are two aspects to this.
One is that the demons recognise Jesus while, in contrast, the learned do not – a big if indirect criticism on Jesus’ opponents, the very people who should recognise him.
Another is time. Jesus forbids the demons to say who he is because it is not yet “his time”. Mark’s audience, and ourselves, know that his time is the Passion, Death and Resurrection, but for those in the Gospel, this is in the future.
A second theme is that of Jesus healing people. Now many of those described in Mark as being possessed may well have had what we today would say were mental illnesses, but the point remains that Jesus does not patronise, marginalise or victimise any of them. He meets them where they are and heals them. The importance of this is that healing and exorcising demons were two of the signs of the messiah.
Then we have Peter’s mother-in-law. When I was studying this passage, another student snorted, ‘Typical! She has been ill, and the first thing these men expect of her is to take care of them!” Well, she was guilty of what is called “isogesis”. This means you are reading into the Scripture what you think.
However, the word used in the original Greek is “diakonia”. This is the exact same word Jesus uses of his own ministry and that to which he calls the disciples. She is equally a disciple, something radical for the time and place.
Additionally, there is a part of me which wonders if this was a “tactical illness”. Was she perhaps protesting at Peter going off and leaving his family in the lurch?
If so, Jesus again does not demean or shame her; he goes in and convinces her – calling her into discipleship.
Are we ever reluctant to follow where we are called?
Are we ever tempted to prefer comfort to the cost of discipleship?
What “service” are we being called to?
And our answer is …?