February 5, 2012 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

[이안드레아]

2012년 2월 5일 연중 제5주일

제1독서

욥기. 7,1-4.6-7
욥이 말하였다.
1 “인생은 땅 위에서 고역이요, 그 나날은 날품팔이의 나날과 같지 않은가? 2 그늘을 애타게 바라는 종, 삯을 고대하는 품팔이꾼과 같지 않은가? 3 그렇게 나도 허망한 달들을 물려받고, 고통의 밤들을 나누어 받았네.
4 누우면 ‘언제나 일어나려나?’ 생각하지만, 저녁은 깊어 가고 새벽까지 뒤척거리기만 한다네.
6 나의 나날은 베틀의 북보다 빠르게 희망도 없이 사라져 가는구려. 7 기억해 주십시오, 제 목숨이 한낱 입김일 뿐임을. 제 눈은 더 이상 행복을 보지 못할 것입니다.”

제2독서

코린토 1서. 9,16-19.22-23
형제 여러분, 16 내가 복음을 선포한다고 해서 그것이 나에게 자랑거리가 되지는 않습니다. 나로서는 어찌할 수 없는 의무이기 때문입니다. 내가 복음을 선포하지 않는다면 나는 참으로 불행할 것입니다.
17 내가 내 자유의사로 이 일을 한다면 나는 삯을 요구할 권리가 있습니다. 그러나 하는 수 없이 한다면 나에게 직무가 맡겨진 것입니다. 18 그렇다면 내가 받는 삯은 무엇입니까? 내가 복음을 선포하면서 그것에 따른 나의 권리를 행사하지 않고 복음을 거저 전하는 것입니다.
19 나는 아무에게도 매이지 않은 자유인이지만, 되도록 많은 사람을 얻으려고 스스로 모든 사람의 종이 되었습니다. 22 약한 이들을 얻으려고 약한 이들에게는 약한 사람처럼 되었습니다. 나는 어떻게 해서든지 몇 사람이라도 구원하려고, 모든 이에게 모든 것이 되었습니다. 23 나는 복음을 위하여 이 모든 일을 합니다. 나도 복음에 동참하려는 것입니다.

복음

마르코. 1,29-39
그 무렵 예수님께서는 회당에서 나오시어, 29 야고보와 요한과 함께 곧바로 시몬과 안드레아의 집으로 가셨다. 30 그때에 시몬의 장모가 열병으로 누워 있어서, 사람들이 곧바로 예수님께 그 부인의 사정을 이야기하였다. 31 예수님께서 그 부인에게 다가가시어 손을 잡아 일으키시니 열이 가셨다. 그러자 부인은 그들의 시중을 들었다.
32 저녁이 되고 해가 지자, 사람들이 병든 이들과 마귀 들린 이들을 모두 예수님께 데려왔다. 33 온 고을 사람들이 문 앞에 모여들었다. 34 예수님께서는 갖가지 질병을 앓는 많은 사람을 고쳐 주시고 많은 마귀를 쫓아내셨다. 그러면서 마귀들이 말하는 것을 허락하지 않으셨다. 그들이 당신을 알고 있었기 때문이다.
35 다음 날 새벽 아직 캄캄할 때, 예수님께서는 일어나 외딴곳으로 나가시어 그곳에서 기도하셨다. 36 시몬과 그 일행이 예수님을 찾아 나섰다가 37 그분을 만나자, “모두 스승님을 찾고 있습니다.” 하고 말하였다.
38 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다. “다른 이웃 고을들을 찾아가자. 그곳에도 내가 복음을 선포해야 한다. 사실 나는 그 일을 하려고 떠나온 것이다.” 39 그러고 나서 예수님께서는 온 갈릴래아를 다니시며, 회당에서 복음을 선포하시고 마귀들을 쫓아내셨다.

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http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/

February 5, 2012

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Jb 7:1-4, 6-7

Job spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2

1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.

Gospel Mk 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come."
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee

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http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html

http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

PRE-PRAYERING

There is the ancient question about why there is anything. There are other “big questions” as well floating through the liturgy towards which we are moving these early days of February. “Why am I who and where I am at this time of history?” “What am I to do with time and the other realities of my life?”

We are praying these days, not so much for clarificational answers, but the faith and the courage which faith provides to live toward peaceful trust. We can pray with the experiences of our time and talents which can lead us to that peaceful, though unexplainable contentment. We pray to rise from our debilitating paralysis of fear and doubt. We pray for the spirit of the adventure of faith which proves life’s questions are valid, but not absolutely essential for real fulfillment.

REFLECTION

Job, in our First Reading, has had a hard time of it. He is downer and outer than anybody else in Scriptures. He is experiencing the crucible of fidelity. The Devil kind of makes a bet with God that if Job is squeezed enough he will cry out in some way of disbelief. The devil says that Job is a man of faith, because he has everything in hand and within his control.

What we hear is a most natural response to the questions which suffering can create. Job asks the usual questions about the meaning of life. We hear two such questions and then his tormentful musings about the meaning of his personal life and that of all humankind.

Job has been laid low by the hand of God. His family, his possessions and even his own physical well being have been removed. He is struggling to stay faithful. He is a most conventional or usual human being. These lines are his answers which are being wrenched from his mouth by the twistings of his body and soul. He has lost everything except some trust in the value of life, but very little at that. His “ouch” we all know in our own lives.

Our Second Reading, which is not usually thematically united with the First Reading and the Gospel, does have Paul’s spin on the meaning of life for him. Paul was an unusual man who found the meaning in life from his preaching the Gospel. Paul preaches what he has received, the Good News of the freedom from condemnation through Jesus Christ. This is his meaning and sharing it with others so as to save them for that freedom intensifies his peacefulness.

The Gospel continues our watching Jesus in His early days. He is curing humans, not of their humanity, but of those illnesses which prevent them from the usual way of living.

Simon’s mother-in-law rises from her bed of fever and begins doing something good with her being well. So many others were healed that when He went off to pray by Himself, His friends came to find Him. Everybody in town was looking for Him. He refused that invitation and left with His friends for other villages and folks to cure. Jesus had received His meaning for His life, His “purpose”, which was to be and live His being, the Good News. He was an unusual person.

I would want to be unusual and in many ways, thank God, I am. As with Job, I would desire to have the natural “ouchings” of life. I would not want to live a faith which trivialized losses, sufferings and confusions with easy answers. Eventually Job proved unusual in that he wrestled with God and the meaning of suffering-faith. I would desire to live the unconventional way Paul lived. He was not cool, nor cooled by what others thought of him and his way of preaching. I recently was told by someone attending a talk I was giving that I spoke too quickly and was boring. I had a little Job-like response of wondering why I was doing this and what was the use of it all. Whether it was a simple correction or an expression‎ of frustration I do not know. I rose from my temporary bed of doubt-fever and went on with the talks. I would propose that this is a way of my being unusual, not odd, but not lying down in my Job-bed of self-question and saying doubting things about God’s workings through me.

I would desire to continue the unusual ways of Jesus who did not return to be celebrated and attract people to a worldly cult of physical healing and wellness. His moving on was His special way of living His identity. I would like to be unusual too in my following His way of resisting self-satisfying egoisms

If I am boring, so be it; I will try to be, not what you think I should be, but even more of who God has given me to be and Jesus has cured to do. My being desirous of being unusual is more of the interior variety. I do suspect that it does creep to the outside on various occasions. Job moaned about his condition. Paul rose from the dust of his condition. Jesus raised others from their demons and sicknesses to do something.

What Paul and Jesus did was not unusual for them. Paul had done the unusual interior work of hearing and believing what he had heard from Jesus. Jesus Himself had heard and believed what He knew Himself to be. We are invited to that same strangeness. What are our lives all about? Paul’s life’s actions and the works of Jesus made them both unusual, but for them, it was the life-thing, the ordinary, the real life’s work to do. Paul could not see himself doing anything else, living any other way. Jesus kept moving on to others, to us and always doing the work of bringing us to life. What an unusual way to live, bringing others to life in its many forms!

“O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God Who made us, for He is the Lord our God.” Ps. 95, 6-7

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"They brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons"

Who do you take your troubles to? Jesus' disciples freely brought their troubles to him because they found him ready and able to deal with any difficulty, affliction, or sickness which they encountered. When Simon brought Jesus to his home, his mother-in-law was instantly healed because Jesus heard Simon's prayer. Do you allow Jesus to be the Lord and Healer in your life, family, and community? Approach him with expectant faith. God's healing power restores us not only to health but to active service and care of others. There is no trouble he does not want to help us with and there is no bondage he can't set us free from. Do you take your troubles to him with expectant faith that he will help you?

Jerome, a 3rd century church father, applies the lesson of the healing of Simon's mother in law to us:

"Can you imagine Jesus standing before your bed and you continue sleeping? It is absurd that you would remain in bed in his presence. Where is Jesus? He is already here offering himself to us. 'In the middle, ' he says, 'among you he stands, whom you do not recognize' (cf. John 1:26). 'The kingdom of God is in your midst' (Mark 1:15). Faith beholds Jesus among us. If we are unable to seize his hand, let us prostrate ourselves at his feet. If we are unable to reach his head, let us wash his feet with our tears (cf. Luke 7:38). Our repentance is the perfume of the Savior. See how costly is the compassion of the Savior. Our sins give off a terrible odor; they are rottenness. Nevertheless, if we repent of our sins, they will be transformed into perfume by the Lord. Therefore, let us ask the Lord to grasp our hand. 'And at once,' he says, 'the fever left her.' Immediately as her hand is grasped, the fever flees."

The mighty works and signs which Jesus did demonstrate that the kingdom of God is present in him. These signs attest that the Father has sent him as the promised Messiah. They invite belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. The coming of God's kingdom means defeat of Satan's kingdom. Jesus' exorcisms anticipate his great victory over "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31). What do we know about Satan and the evil spirits or demons? We know that the ancient serpent who seduced our first parents (Genesis 3:1-5) is called "Satan" or the "devil" (Revelation 12:9). The devil and the other demons were created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing (2 Peter 2:4). They irrevocably rejected God and his reign. Milton in his great poem, Paradise Lost, describes Satan's defiance: "Better to reign in hell than to serve God." John Damascene, an 8th century church father said: "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death." While Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and may cause grave injuries of a spiritual nature,and indirectly even of a physical nature, his power is nonetheless limited and permitted by divine providence (Romans 8:28). Jesus offers freedom from bondage to sin and Satan. There is no affliction he cannot deliver us from. Do you make full use of the protection and help he offers to those who seek him with faith and trust in his mercy?

"Lord Jesus Christ, you have all power to heal and to deliver. There is no trouble nor bondage you cannot overcome. Set me free to serve you joyfully and to love and serve others with a generous heart. May nothing hinder me from giving myself wholly to you and to your service."

Psalm 147:12-6

1 Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground

http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html

http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php

The rushed and crowded atmosphere of Mark's gospel is very evident here. There are people everywhere, not only the ones mentioned by name, but "all who were sick or possessed by demons," and, as if that were not enough, "the whole city was gathered around the door." Clearly he was exhausted by it, so next morning "while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed." But even then they came "hunting for him." "Everyone is searching for you," they said.

Still, in that push of the crowd he saw individual people, not a crowd. He had time for Peter's mother-in-law. I have seen great figures in public, shaking hands with rows of people, but never looking at the person whose hand they are shaking; always looking at the next person. It is as if only the abstract crowd existed, not individuals. There was a debate some years ago between two cardinals about the relationship of the universal Church to local Churches. One held that the essence of the Church is found properly in the universal, while local Churches are limited manifestations of it. The other wanted to give a far greater significance to local Churches. It reminded me of a remark by the German philosopher Hegel, "Would anyone who wished for fruit reject cherries, pears, and grapes, on the grounds that they were only cherries, pears, or grapes, and not fruit?" Abstract ideas can run away with us and make us downplay concrete reality. This is not how Jesus thought and acted.

The great 19th-century preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, wrote: "Very interesting is this little peep into the house of the Fisherman. We see at once…the Lord's gracious work upon one's own flesh and blood….Peter's house was probably a poor fisherman's hut, but the Lord of Glory entered it, lodged in it, and wrought a miracle in it….God is oftener in little huts than in rich palaces. Jesus is looking around your room now, and is waiting to be gracious to you."

Jesus went "proclaiming the message and casting out demons." In the early chapters of Mark's gospel the emphasis is less on the content of his preaching than on its effects. For example, the leper who was cleansed went away and "spread the word," but of course the word was word of his healing (1:45). We sometimes speak of the Christian 'message' as if it could be written on a piece of paper. But it is a healing, life-giving and liberating word.

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LIFE-LINES

"Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?" 뾌ob 7:1

Most people can relate to Job, for they have endured tragedies, deaths in their families, sicknesses, pain, and sufferings. Even those who have so far had easier lives know that life can be, and almost inevitably will be, hard. We all have the question of Job: "Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?" We feel as if we "have been assigned months of misery" (Jb 7:3). Our days and nights drag on ever so slowly (Jb 7:4), while at the same time life passes all too quickly (Jb 7:6-7).

We cannot change the drudgery and slavery of our human condition. For example, Paul tried for years to rise above our human condition; finally, he was forced to cry out in desperation: "What a wretched man I am! Who can free me from this body under the power of death?" (Rm 7:24) Unlike Job, Paul amazingly received an answer to this previously unanswerable question. The answer was: "Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rm 7:25).

Only Jesus can make life worth living. He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6). He is "our only Master and Lord" (Jude 4). "There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Prayer: Jesus, I believe You are reaching out Your hand to me (see Mk 1:31). By faith, I take Your hand. You are my Savior and my only Hope.

Promise: "Preaching the gospel is not the subject of a boast; I am under compulsion and have no choice. I am ruined if I do not preach it! If I do it willingly, I have my recompense; if unwillingly, I am nonetheless entrusted with a charge." �1 Cor 9:16-17

Praise: Praise You, risen Jesus! Your resurrected glory has given every part of our lives great meaning. Alleluia!

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Homily from Father James Gilhooley

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B - Mark 1:29-39

Michael Deacy was famous for giving away much money to the poor over fifty years as a priest. Any tale would touch him. He was the easiest mark in Manhattan. He had holes in his pockets. You always needed his money more. Jesus for him was the inhale and giving the exhale. Mike was Jesus' kind of guy. Are we?

Today's miracle occurred on a Saturday. Since Jesus was a Jew, He had spent the whole morning in the synagogue at worship. Do you worship weekly? If no, Christ says to you, "Gimmeabreak."

The miracle site was Caphernaum. It is near the Lake of Galilee. The ruins still exist. You may walk among them and imagine the house where Christ slept and ate. The Teacher loved Caphernaum more than Nazareth. One should not be surprised. His home boys tried to kill Him. Neighbors like those no one needs.

Since Caphernaum was Peter's hometown, he wisely invited his new Employer home for brunch - Bloody Marys, ziti, fresh lobster a la Caphernaum, etc. "Some of Christ's closest moments with His disciples were spent over food." (AU) Incidentally, one suspects Peter's house was a welcoming home. Is ours?

Even before the Master finishes His cappucino, cheeky Peter presents the bill. "My mother-in-law is ill." This was the first time in the five thousand years of recorded history that a son-in-law wished his wife's mother long life. And Jesus was the first to quip, "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

Notice Peter had no hesitation in asking Jesus for a cure.

He knew He was an easy mark. Why then do we drag our feet in bringing our needs to the Christ?

The sickness was probably malaria. The Gospel speaks of a fever. Caphernaum was near swamps. Mosquitoes flying into town for a meal carried the virus as so much extra baggage.

The Nazarene put down His cup and went over to the hammock. The rest is history. The cure was immediate. The woman leaped out of the hammock like a young girl. She served the dessert - creamy cheese cake and freshly brewed cappucino. She was the first mother-in-law in history who felt she owed her son-in-law something. Never would she say, "Behind every successful husband stands a surprised mother-in-law."

If bad new travels fast, so also happily does good. Mark sums up the case succinctly, "The whole town came crowding round the door." The cool-hand Jesus moved among them and cured their sick. The Teacher was big at touching people, especially the ill. Mark's word picture allows us to see the running sores, smell the foul odors of the ill, and hear their horrible groans.

This was a scene made for the genius of Rembrandt. His sick are painted in dark colors and Jesus the barefoot physician is bathed in bright light. Check his famous 100 Guilders sketch.

Jesus got to bed late. He had to be exhausted. To catch a breeze He slept on Peter's roof covered with makeshift mosquito netting. As He fell asleep, He wondered why He and the Father had created bothersome mosquitoes in the first place.

Sunday AM mobs were all over Peter's freshly sown lawn. His wife's roses were history. The crowd wanted more miracles. But the Master had left before dawn. He was not into show business. In the divine economy, the cures of yesterday were not to be repeated the next day for reasons best known to Himself.

Prodded by his mother-in-law, Peter formed a posse and gave chase. They found Him in a lonely place praying. Somebody has said, "Through prayer Jesus gained what people sought from Him." Should we pray more? Peter rudely shouted, "Everybody is looking for you. Time Magazine wants to make you Man of the Year. 60 Minutes called. The New York Times wants to interview you."

But such was not His plan. Like Robert Frost, Christ had miles to go and promises to keep before He would sleep. He got off His knees, brushed the grass from that famous seamless garment, and moved out to the next town. Peter followed.

There are lessons one can draw from this account. Perhaps the paramount one is the willingness of the Christ to give to the needy. Father Michael Deacy was an authentic imitator. Will anyone say that of us? Deacy had learned well the insight of CH Lorimar. "It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good to check up once in awhile and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy."

Homily from Father Joseph Pellegrino
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jesus Heals

The gospel reading for today is presented as a contrast to the first reading. The first reading is Job's lament. The Book of Job is a long book in the bible. It has 42 chapters. The first two chapters of this book and the last ten verses of chapter 42 are the story framework most of us are acquainted with when we think about Job. This is where we hear about Job being a just man who is beset by all sorts of horrible suffering. He says, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." At the end of the book, God rewards Job for his faithfulness to him. But this is just the framework. There are a little over 39 chapters in between which are the heart and meat of the book. In these chapters Jobs friends come and end up accusing him. Job himself questions God. Job is suffering and he calls out to God to explain himself. This is not the Job who says, "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." This is the Job who says, "My pain is more than I can bear. I can't sleep at night. I shall not see happiness again." Job questions God, his goodness, why he has allowed pain to exist. God finally appears to Job in chapter 38 and asks him: If you know so much as to question me, then where were you when I created the world. How is it that the heavens work, the sun and the moon. Were you there helping me when I created the whale? And so forth. Job realizes that he has spoken foolishly and submits to God's wisdom.

Job's lament is the cry we all feel within ourselves when we become seriously ill, or, perhaps, even more, when someone we love, a spouse, a child or a parent become ill or even die. Perhaps our hurt is not physical. Perhaps it is emotional. A marriage breaks up, a child runs away, a friend is publicly discredited. When we feel pain, regardless of its source, we want to join Job and say, "I shall never see happiness again."

It is to prove this lament wrong that Jesus comes as the Divine Healer. In the Gospel for today he heals Simon's mother-in-law of a fever. He heals people with all sorts of illnesses including possession which refers both to diabolic possession and psychological, or psychiatric illnesses. Jesus heals so many people that he has to find a solitary place in the desert for a few moments of union with his Father. But even then, Simon Peter and the others find him and make him go back to work.

Jesus heals. He heals the pain not just of the people of the past, but the pain of the people of today. Some receive physical healing immediately. Others receive healing in stages. Some receive a clear miracle. Others who have dedicated their lives to continuing the healing ministry of the Lord, have developed their own skills and intelligent to be vehicles of the Lord's healing. The union with the Divine Healer is the reason why our doctors, and our nurses, and all care givers deserve our respect.

All who call out to the Lord are healed. Some are healed physically. Some are healed emotionally, able to accept their condition in life. All receive spiritual healing as they unite their pain to the Cross of Christ.

We who carry Christ within us, carry within us the one who heals. If we believe in him, if we trust in him, then we refuse to join Job's cry of despair. We recognize that Christ is present when we need him the most, healing our internal and our external turmoil.

It is in this context that w can best understand the Sacrament of Healing, the Sacrament of the Sick. This is Christ being really present in a sacrament at a particular time in our lives when we need his healing power. When we are our loved ones are seriously ill, we are challenged in our faith. The sacrament of the sick gives us the courage to hold on to our faith in the face of this challenge. This sacrament provides healing, sometimes physical, sometimes emotional, always spiritual. When we feel that no one could possibly understand what we are going through, the one who St. Paul tells us in the second reading, became all things to all people, joins us in our suffering.

The administration of the sacrament of the sick is the reason why your priests visit the hospital three times a week. It is the reason why one of us is always on call to care for Helen Ellis hospital and parishioners who may become seriously ill at home. Now, the sacrament of the sick is a sacrament for the living, not the dead. Do not wait until a loved one is expiring to call a priest. Do not look for this sacrament hours after a person has died. The sacrament is ineffective unless it has a live subject who is seeking healing, physical, emotional or spiritual. When a loved one has died, we priests will often go to the hospital and say the prayers for the dead, but it is too late for the anointing to have any effect. Call us when you know that there is a serious situation, and that a person has not received this sacrament in the last number of months.

When we administer the Sacrament of the Sick, the priest uses some of the Oil of the Sick that is blessed at the Chrism Mass during Holy Week. He puts some oil on the person's head and hands and says, "through this Holy Anointing may the Lord in his love and his mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. may the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up." In this sacrament the Lord is present as he was to Simon Peter's mother, to the possessed, to the sick, to the crippled, to all who are hurting.

When a loved one does die, have a funeral Mass or a memorial Mass for him or her. To me, it is one of the saddest things to see a person denied a Mass who had come to Mass every week of their lives. Don't let funeral directors talk you into taking the cheapest route possible and therefore cut our the Church. Cut the fancy coffin or the number of limos, or just have a Memorial Mass after a cremation, but don't deny the loved one the special intercession of Christ on the Cross that is the Mass. Money is not an issue here at St. Ignatius. We have money set aside in case someone cannot afford to have a funeral Mass, with music and all the stops.

Heavy stuff today. Well, that is what you get when you start with Job. We have to be realistic, though. Everyone of us will die. But that is not the end. Once fully united to the Lord we will love feel love more than we could ever imagine. And for the transition. Yes, it can be frightening. But we are not alone. Jesus is always with us. He is there to protect us from the doubts and despair that plagued Job. He is there to give us the courage to walk with him to the threshold of a new life. Jesus heals.

Homily from Father Phil Bloom
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/

I Do So willingly
(February 5, 2012)

Bottom line: We do not give time and money grudgingly; we are building the Body of Christ. With St. Paul we say, "I do so willingly...I have been entrusted with a stewardship."

Many years ago, in England, three men were pouring into a trough a mixture of water, sand, lime and other ingredients. A passer-by asked them what they were doing. The first said, "I am making mortar." The second: "I am laying bricks." But the third said, "I am building a cathedral." They were doing the same thing, but each looked at it differently. And what a difference that made!

We can see something similar in the way people relate to their parish, why they give. One person says, "Oh! All they do down there is ask for money." The second person replies, "Well, you have to pay the bills." But the third person says, "I am building the Body of Christ." The three are doing the same thing, but what a difference in their attitudes!

Today's Scripture readings reflect those differences. Poor Job says that life is nothing but drudgery: When I lie down at night, I toss and turn - and wonder when morning will come. But when I get up, I am tired and I ask how long until I can get back to bed!

For sure, most of us can identify with Job. But St. Paul takes a different approach. Few worked as hard as he did - or went through so many trials. Yet he says: "I do so willingly...I have been entrusted with a stewardship."

Today's Gospel presents a fascinating example of stewardship: St. Peter's mother-in-law. She was in bed, sick, when her son-in-law brought unexpected guests. One of them, Jesus, went to her bedside, took her hand - and she sat up. The fever subsided and, quote, "she waited on them."

Now, some think she would have preferred to stay in bed. That viewpoint, however, says more about us that it does about that wonderful woman. For people in ancient times, hospitality was their top value.* It was the glue that held their society together. For Peter's mother-in-law, hospitality was a sacred duty. But there is something more. The text says, "She waited on them." The word for "wait on them" is "diaconia" - the root of our word "deacon." Jesus had touched her and healed her. To be his "deaconess" would be pure joy, a beautiful honor.

When I was a seminarian, I remember an elderly priest saying, "Since this 'servant' concept came into the Church, I have taken a terrible beating." But he said it with a smile. To serve is hard work - and often, humbling - but being a servant of Christ is joy.

St. Paul illustrates the joy of service. With no fanfare, he says that he is free - and few have greater inner freedom than Paul. Nevertheless, says Paul, I have become a slave to all. He knew that freedom is not license, doing whatever strikes a person's fancy. Real freedom means service, self-giving.

We are in an election season in the United States. Different candidates will be telling us they have the solution to our problems, but there is one word we are not likely to hear – the "S" word. The "S" word that we avoid is…sacrifice. As Christians, however, we cannot avoid that word; we have to embrace it. Jesus and St. Paul tell us that our time, our abilities, our financial resources do not belong to us. They come from God – and he will require an accounting – a stewardship. For that reason, we do not give time and money grudgingly; we are building the Body of Christ. With St. Paul we say, "I do so willingly...I have been entrusted with a stewardship."

Homily from Father Cusick
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him, 'Every one is searching for you.' "(Mark 1:35-37)

All of mankind is searching for Christ. Our destiny from the beginning of time is God our Creator, and we do find him if, like Simon Peter and those who were with him, we stand ready to abandon our comforts, our plans and dreams, to follow him.

The great witness of Peter and the other Apostles, the first priests of Jesus Christ, is that they followed the Lord heroically, going even with him into the "lonely place" of celibate life, and abandoning mother and father, sisters and brothers, wife and children, to follow the vocation to which Christ called them. Sacrificing the human companionship of marriage and family life is not a cold and empty place if there is found in it a marriage to Christ's beautiful and radiant bride, the Church. Celibacy in Christ is a sign and a motive of charity, a powerful witness of the command to "seek ye first the kingdom of God". For two millennia men have followed Christ in the heroic life of the ministerial priesthood, not to reject the joys and consolations of human marriage, but to marry the Church and to be fathers, raising up sons and daughters who will live forever in the true marriage feast of the Lamb in heaven. The Faith has been preached to the remotest corners of the earth, from the Apostles to the missionaries of today, because of joyful and confident acceptance on the part of men and women religious, as well as priests, to share in Christ's all-consuming mission to die to self in accomplishing the Father's will.

The unchaste cannot comprehend or appreciate the jewel of celibacy, which radiates within the Church of Christ. For countless souls it is a magnificent source of attraction to Christ and his Gospel. Celibacy is holy because made holy by the example of the God-Man, and a gift which the Church preserves and protects as a grace which gives fruitfulness to the Bride of Christ in raising up new members. The gift of celibacy is an irreplaceable sign of God's love, for by it the priest is freed to be radically available and open to every man and woman in generous service. The man or woman religious is prepared each day to follow Christ wholeheartedly, instruments of God's compassion through free service of mankind.

"All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate 'for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.' (Mt 19:12) Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to 'the affairs of the Lord,' (1 Cor 7:32) they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God." (CCC 1579)

The priest of Jesus Christ is a man of God whose whole way of life proclaims that the Lord is his portion and his inheritance. The priest is an undeniable sign to the world of the calling of every creature to the eternal life with God that is threatened by man's sinful rejection of God.

In accepting the gift of celibacy the priest is better equipped to act in persona Christi, for by it he is freed, as was Christ, to dedicate himself more generously to the preaching of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins and the worthy celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

St. Augustine describes a conflict we all face in The City of God between two loves: the love of God to the point of disregarding self, and the love of self to the point of disregarding God. Mankind is in constant danger of forgetting that this life and its joys, such as marriage, will end, and that we cannot be happy or fulfilled unless we look to the kingdom for the fullness of joy where we will behold the source of all beatitude, our heavenly Father, face to face.

The celibate priest, and any man or woman who foregoes the earthly joys of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, disregards himself for more perfect love of God. He is a help to men as he walks the paths of this earth in solidarity with every child of God, married or single, religious or lay, young or old. His celibacy is not sterile but rather most fruitful. The priest is ordained to give the grace of the sacraments, but his celibacy plays a role as well. Radically available to everyone who calls upon him, the priest is an effective and credible witness who shows by his life that the aching for love in every restless human heart is satisfied when the heart rests in God.