Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

Mark 1:29 - 39

Some of my grandchildren bought me a T-shirt with a picture of a manatee floating in the water. The caption on the shirt says “Going nowhere fast”. I think they may have been commenting on a bad habit I have. For example, if you live in Longmeadow, you probably have experienced one of our famous Longmeadow Street traffic jams. They seem to occur without rhyme or reason, at different times of the day, but most often in the morning. If you are a native, you probably have tried going through the back streets to get ahead of the column of traffic trying to get onto the highway going north. I confess I give in to this temptation now and then. Once, after driving around on back streets and coming back to Longmeadow street, my wife pointed out that the truck that had been ahead of us had just crossed the intersection where we were waiting for the light to change. I pointed out that while that was true, we had at least been moving a lot faster than if we had stayed on Longmeadow street.

During the middle ages, religious scholars went to great pains to develop lists of sins, to help priests with the administration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. One sin was given the latin name of “acedia” and implied pointless activity. It was viewed as another form of laziness. I see a similarity between my behavior on Longmeadow street and this.

If you put yourself in today's gospel, up to this time Jesus has been baptized, he's spent time in the desert, he's collected some disciples, he's preached and worked miracles. But this day was different. Because his fame was spreading, he ended up spending most of the day healing and driving out demons. When there was a lull, he slipped off to be by himself, or rather, to be with the Father. You and I can identify; there are times when we really need to be alone for a while, especially if we've been very busy or spent a lot of time among people. But for Jesus, it's not to be. His new disciples find him and say, Lord,why are you sitting here when there are healings to be done and demons to be exorcised? Come on, let's get moving!” And Jesus replies, “Sorry, I don't know where the time went. Line up those crowds and I'll get back to work.” Actually, if you were listening, he didn't actually say that. He said, Let us go into the neighboring villages so that I may preach there. For this purpose I have come.”

Jesus knew why he had come. His purpose was to make people aware that the kingdom of God was at hand, that God was with his people, that God wanted to care for them like a shepherd cares for his sheep. And the miracles were just meant to show this. The miracles just underlined the message. The Gospel of Mark, the oldest Gospel, often seems to show Jesus in a very human light, learning something, changing his behavior in view of what he's learned. And here Jesus has learned that if he gives in to the temptation to heal and drive out demons for everyone who comes to him, he will never get the message out. And if he doesn't take some time to touch base with the Father, if he doesn't pray, he'll soon not be able to do that either. And for the rest of Mark we see Jesus teaching the crowds, performing a miracle here and there, conferring with his disciples about what it all means, and going off by himself to pray. Jesus has learned that to be an effective person, there has to be a certain rhythm in life.

For Jesus, making people aware of the kingdom of God was his reason for being. He wanted people to know there was an alternative life style, a way to go through life, which meant three things: putting your trust in the Father and returning his love, looking after each other's needs, and not becoming a slave to possessions or status or power or pleasure. Jesus promised that if we adopted this way of life, it would bring us joy, a joy that would last for eternity, that would be there even if we were suffering, even after we died. And Jesus wanted to reach everyone with this good news, which can only be transmitted from one person to another. If I see that your joy comes from the way you live, I will be interested in perhaps living that way myself. And that's why he called apostles, and that's why he founded a Church.

So as we approach Lent, let us ask ourselves three questions:

First, do we know our purpose? How clear is it? Does it align with the kingdom of God or is it at cross-purposes because something other than God is at the center?

Second, what is habitually getting in the way of my living a kingdom of God life style? If you can't think of at least one or two things, you are either completely in the kingdom of God or you are sadly misled. Because even the great saints saw in their own holy lives distractions. Saint Gregory the Great was living a happy life as a monk when he was elected Pope. He received the title “Great” because of the many reforms he initiated, his spiritual writings, and his efforts to unify Christianity. But in one of his letters he lamented about how his duties as Pope seemed to be keeping him from the life of prayer and contemplation to which he felt he had been called.

Third, how are we helping spread the message of Jesus, that the kingdom of God is at hand, that there is a way to find a lifetime of joy and eternity with the Father in heaven? And if we don't see a little of the joy of the kingdom in our own lives, perhaps we need to find it.