Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 1:29-39
IN THIS PART OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK WE ARE SHOWN A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JESUS. HE HAD EXPELLED AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT FROM A POSSESSED MAN, THEN WENT TO PETER'S HOUSE AND CURED HIS MOTHER IN LAW, THEN SPENT TIME CURING, DRIVING OUT DEMONS, AND PERFORMING OTHER GOOD WORKS; AND FINALLY, WITHDRAWING TO SPEND TIME WITH HIS HEAVENLY FATHER. AND WHEN HIS DISCIPLES FIND HIM, HE TELLS THEM THAT THEY HAVE TO MOVE ON, THEY HAVE TO VISIT OTHER TOWNS AND PERFORM OTHER HEALINGS AND PREACH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. AND ALL THE WHILE THERE IS PRESSURE. AS JESUS' FAME GROWS, WE WILL SEE LATER THAT THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THAT TIME TRY TO DISTRACT HIM BY POSING SPECULATIVE QUESTIONS, BY GIVING HIM PUZZLES TO SOLVE; THE PAGAN AUTHORITIES ARE ALWAYS HOVERING IN THE BACKGROUND, CONTENT TO LEAVE THINGS AS THEY ARE UP TO THE POINT THAT THEY PERCEIVE JESUS AS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT MAKE TROUBLE FOR THEM; AND THE ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO COME FROM FAR AND NEAR TO BE HEALED, TO MARVEL AT HIS WORDS, TO WATCH THE MIRACLES; AND WE SENSE THAT MOST OF THEM ARE THERE FOR THE SPECTACLE, OR TO GET SOMETHING, AND FEW ARE INTERESTED IN CHANGING THEIR LIVES IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM THAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT.
IN A WAY, JESUS' LIFE IS VERY MUCH LIKE YOURS AND MINE. WE WAKE UP EVERY MORNING, WE DO OUR STUFF, THE DAY GOES BY, AND WE LOOK BACK AND SAY, “WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH TODAY?” AND VERY OFTEN THE ANSWER COMES BACK, “NOT VERY MUCH”. AND WE SEE THAT WE ALSO HAVE DISTRACTIONS. THERE ARE OBSTACLES TO BE OVERCOME, THERE ARE UNAPPRECIATIVE PEOPLE; SOMETIMES FAMILY MEMBERS AND CO-WORKERS ALMOST SEEM TO DELIBERATELY KEEP US FROM DOING WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO.
BUT JESUS KNEW SOMETHING THAT MANY OF US PROBABLY DON'T. JESUS KNEW THAT WHEN THE PRESSURE REACHED A CERTAIN POINT; WHEN HE HAD DONE ALL THAT HE COULD POSSIBLY DO, WHEN HE FELT FRUSTRATED BECAUSE HE KNEW HE WASN'T GETTING THROUGH TO MOST OF THE PEOPLE FOLLOWING HIM, INCLUDING HIS APOSTLES, THERE WAS A PLACE TO GO TO BE RENEWED, TO REFRESH HIMSELF. AND SO WE HEAR ABOUT HIM “WITHDRAWING TO PRAY” OR “SPENDING THE NIGHT IN PRAYER”. FOR JESUS, HIMSELF THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY, BEING IN COMMUNION WITH THE FATHER WAS NOT ONLY THE BEST WAY HE HAD TO RENEW HIMSELF, BUT IT WAS A GUARANTEE THAT HE WAS ON THE RIGHT PATH. BECAUSE, YOU SEE, SPENDING TIME IN COMMUNION WITH THE FATHER IS A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION. YOU SPEAK, THEN YOU LISTEN; AND WHEN YOU DON'T SEEM TO BE GETTING A RESPONSE, YOU CALL TO MIND WHEN GOD SPOKE TO YOU BEFORE – A SERMON YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, A PASSAGE FROM THE BIBLE THAT PARTICULARLY TOUCHED YOU; SOME SPIRITUAL READING YOU MAY HAVE DONE – BECAUSE GOD HAS SPOKEN TO EACH OF US, AND WILL SPEAK AGAIN, OF THAT WE MAY BE SURE. IT IS ONLY OUR LISTENING THAT NEEDS WORK.
TODAY IS WORLD MARRIAGE DAY. OUR CHURCH CALLS US, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO ARE MARRIED, TO REFLECT ON THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF MARRIAGE, TO THINK ABOUT THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY.
IF YOU'VE BEEN MARRIED A LONG TIME, LIKE I HAVE, YOU KNOW THAT THE DAYS GO BY FAIRLY QUICKLY. YOU CAN HARDLY REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT BACK WHEN YOU WERE ENGAGED AND FIRST MARRIED. ARE THERE DAYS WHEN YOU HARDLY SPEAK TO YOUR SPOUSE? YOU ARE BOTH BUSY, YOU'VE SAID ABOUT ALL THERE IS TO SAY TO EACH OTHER, AND YOU ARE NOT MAD OR ANYTHING, YOU ARE JUST DISTRACTED. ARE THERE TIMES WHEN YOU MEAN TO SAY OR DO SOMETHING TO SHOW YOUR SPOUSE THAT YOU STILL LOVE HIM OR HER, BUT LIFE GETS IN THE WAY. ARE THERE TIMES WHEN THE DAY COMES TO AN END AND MUCH AS YOU LOVE YOUR SPOUSE, YOU JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE?
I THINK IF WE ARE HONEST, WE KNOW THAT MUCH OF THE LIFE OF A COUPLE IS LIKE THE LIFE OF JESUS; AS THE YEARS GO BY NOT ONLY DO THERE SEEM TO BE LESS OPPORTUNITIES TO BE ALONE WITH THE OTHER, THERE IS EVEN LESS OF A DESIRE. IT MAY MAKE US FEEL GUILTY, BUT IT SHOULDN'T IF OUR MARRIAGE HAS MATURED AS IT IS MEANT TO. BECAUSE A COUPLE IN THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY ARE LIKE CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH; OVER THE YEARS, THE CHURCH LEARNS MORE AND MORE ABOUT HER SPOUSE, AND EMBRACES MORE AND MORE WHAT HER SPOUSE HAS IN MIND FOR THE WORLD. AND IN THE END, THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST, WILL BECOME ONE WITH HER HEAD. IN THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY, THE SAME HAPPENS. IN THE BEGINNING, TWO STRANGERS BEGIN TO LEARN ABOUT EACH OTHER, ABOUT THEIR LONGINGS AND DESIRES, ABOUT THEIR VIRTUES AND THEIR FAILINGS. OVER TIME, IN A GOOD MARRIAGE, EACH LEARNS TO ACCEPT THE OTHER, WARTS AND ALL, AND IN A GREAT MARRIAGE, EACH LEARNS TO LOVE THE FAULTS AND FAILINGS OF THE OTHER, INSOFAR AS THESE STEM FROM THAT PERSON'S UNIQUENESS. AND EACH GRADUALLY IDENTIFIES WITH THE OTHER, SO THAT WHERE ONE IS, THERE IS THE OTHER; SO THAT THEIR CHILDREN CANNOT IMAGINE A WORLD IN WHICH ONLY ONE EXISTED; THEY HAVE BECOME ONE.
BUT FOR A MARRIAGE TO GROW, FOR MATRIMONY TO BECOME ALL THAT IT CAN BE, THE COUPLE HAS TO MAKE ROOM FOR GOD. THE HUNDREDS OF DISTRACTIONS THAT EAT UP ALL YOUR TIME, THE DEMANDS OF JOB, OF CHILDREN, OF BILL-PAYING, OF MAINTENANCE – ALL HAVE TO BE CONFRONTED AND DEALT WITH, OF COURSE; BUT THERE MUST E TIME TO WITHDRAW AND PRAY, TO COMMUNE WITH GOD, NOT JUST INDIVIDUALLY, BUT AS A COUPLE.
ONE OF THE THINGS MARRIED COUPLES SHOULD SERIOUSLY CONSIDER IS TO MAKE AN ANNUAL RETREAT TOGETHER. IF YOU HAVE SMALL CHILDREN, IT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT; FIND SOMEONE TO CARE FOR THEM, AND GET AWAY TO BE WITH EACH OTHER IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. MARRIED COUPLES SHOULD FIND TIME TO PRAY TOGETHER EVERY DAY; THE FAMILY ROSARY IS A WONDERFUL DEVOTION, ESPECIALLY IF YOU TAKE TIME TO REFLECT TOGETHER ON THE MYSTERIES AND WHAT THEY MAY BE TELLING YOU THAT DAY, ABOUT YOUR LIFE.
JESUS TODAY SETS AN EXAMPLE NOT ONLY FOR INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIANS BUT FOR MARRIED COUPLES; AFTER YOU HAVE ATTENDED TO ALL THE GOOD THINGS THAT YOU ARE GIVEN TO DO, AFTER YOU HAVE MET ALL THE CHALLENGES GOD GIVES YOU, THEN TAKE EACH OTHER'S HAND AND WITHDRAW INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE FATHER, AND PRAY.