Ordinary Time

Jan 29 2025

A Balanced Life

Job’s words remind us how weariness, heaviness of heart, sadness, can sweep over us at times and lodge bone-deep. All of our work seems little more than “drudgery.” Sometimes these feelings are inexplicable; at other times the loss of a loved one, a sudden change in our lives, the discovery of a serious illness can be the cause.

This second half of a day in the life of Jesus shows us his response to those things that weigh people down, whether it is an illness afflicting the loved one of a disciple, or strangers who were ill or possessed by demons. Jesus responds to those brought before him, curing and driving out many demons. He is the compassion of God present to the people who come to him.

Jesus obviously spent the whole day meeting the needs of the people, long into the evening. Then, perhaps he sat up with Simon and Andrew, James and John, talking with them about what had happened, listening to how this coming of the kingdom of God into their world was affecting them. Then he slept.

We are told that he woke early and went off to a deserted place to pray. This must be how he got the strength to go into another day. As Simon says, “Everyone is looking for you”—whether to thank him or to ask for one more favor we don’t know. But Jesus says it is time to move on, to preach and free others from demons.

Consider/Discuss

Consider how important prayer was for Jesus, so he could keep on doing what he understood as his mission in life.
Do you have a balanced life: work and prayer, time with family, friends, and sleep?

Responding to the Word

Lord Jesus, you came to show us the face of your Father, who wishes us to be fully alive in the Spirit. Give us the health we need to do the work you have called us to do. Help us to see clearly what our life needs to be open to you and your Father’s will. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

Crushed by the torment of his own situation, Job bemoans the harshness of life itself. It is like hard military service, or like the life of a hireling who has nothing to say about the conditions of work, or like the situation of a slave who is totally dependent upon the slaveholder. These metaphors both describe the tribulations of life and express the helplessness that is experienced in it. Job has nowhere to turn. Life seems to be armed against him and there is neither defense nor escape. So many circumstances are beyond human control, and Job feels helpless in the face of it. It is no wonder that he cries out.

Preaching was the reason Paul was called to follow Christ. In his eyes, he deserved no special credit for this, and therefore he had no grounds for boasting. The issue was not if Paul preached, but how he preached. There were times when he waived his right to financial support and he preached free of charge. He seems to have preferred preaching at no cost, for then he would be beholden to no one and would be able to preach the gospel without being concerned about offending his audience. Still, Paul was willing to conform himself to others without compromising the gospel.

The Gospel reading recounts Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus exercises unique authority over the powers of death. The person released from this power then goes about ministering to others. Other healings and exorcisms follow. These two works are connected. The principal message of Jesus’ preach

ing is the long-awaited establishment of the reign of God. However, before God’s reign can take firm root and thrive, the reign of evil must be dislodged and cast out. Jesus’ fame so spreads that he is compelled to flee to a solitary place to pray. The reading ends with a statement that condenses the entire ministry of Jesus into preaching and driving out demons.

Jan 29 2025

A New Day Dawns

Some years ago there was a series of books called A Day in the Life of . . . . Sometimes it was a continent like Africa; sometimes a country like America, the Soviet Union, or Thailand; and sometimes a state like Hawaii or California. One hundred top photographers visually captured the experience of this place in a twenty-four-hour period. In today’s and next Sunday’s Gospels, Mark verbally gives us “A Day in the Life of Jesus, God’s Prophet.”

The first experience of Jesus as one whose word effects what he says occurs in the synagogue. Here Jesus encounters an unclean spirit. The spirit makes the first move, naming Jesus as the Holy One of God. In biblical thought, naming a person gave you some degree of power over that person. Not here. With a few quick words, Jesus asserts his authority: “Quiet! Come out of him!”

How fitting that Jesus’ first public act in the first Gospel to be written down is to free a human being from an evil spirit that has brought him chaos and destruction. This event reveals Jesus as one who came to free us from all that oppresses and beats us down. This liberation continues to be the work of all who follow Jesus.

We don’t hear much about evil spirits these days, but can anyone deny their presence in our world? Consider the murder, mutilation, rape, and torture that have taken place in eastern Congo alone for the last twelve years with an estimated death toll of 6.9 million. Change is impossible without God’s help.

Consider/Discuss

Do you believe evil spirits continue to dwell in the human heart? • Does this mean we are not responsible but that “the devil makes us do it”?
Does this Gospel offer any hope to people today in the face of so much suffering and death in the world?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, you are revealed as one who has the power to cast out evil spirits who take up residence in our hearts. May your liberating word free us from all that brings harm, and may we work to bring your healing spirit to touch our world. Amen.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

Moses is not normally thought of as a prophet, but today’s reading clearly states that he is. In fact, he is considered the prophet par excellence. He received the word of the Lord in the form of the Law, and he acted as God’s voice, prom ulgating this Law to the community. He promised that God would not leave the people without a mediator. Rather, just as God chose him to be a prophet, so another will be raised up. This promise of a future prophet led people down through the centuries to wonder whether or not particular individuals might in fact be this promised prophet.

Some today maintain that Paul is opposed to marriage. Though here he seems to prefer the unmarried state, it is because he believes that the endtime is fast approaching, and he wants the Corinthians to be free from the kind of anxieties that accompany marriage. The real contrast that he draws is between commitment to the Lord and over-involvement in the things of this world. Paul knew that those involved in the things of the world can be very committed to the Lord, and those committed to the Lord can possess a very shallow spirituality. He is more concerned with the quality of commitment than with the particular state of life.

The man in the synagogue had an unclean spirit that caused him severe physical suffering. The people of the time believed that evil spirits roamed the world and caused havoc whenever and wherever they could. Such an afflicted person should have been removed from a holy place like a synagogue. However, Jesus does not dismiss the man; instead, he casts out the evil spirit. Just as the people were astonished by the teaching of Jesus, so they are amazed at his power over the evil spirit. Jesus may have been able to silence the spirit, but his fame as a teacher and an exorcist spread throughout Galilee.

Jan 29 2025

God’s Will: The Conversion of All

You might want to read the early part of Jonah’s story leading to his ending up in the belly of a “great fish” for three days and nights—a biblical moment distinct in its appeal to the sense of smell, besides bringing out the more playful side of Israel’s God. Coming today in mid-story, we miss the struggle between Jonah’s stubbornness (“I won’t go to Nineveh!”) and God’s (“Yes, you will!”). But today’s emphasis falls on how powerful God’s word proves to be, even when uttered by an unwilling prophet who wanted nothing more than to see Nineveh go up in smoke—people, property, and even cows.

Thomas Aquinas once said that when you love a person, their loves become your own. A pleasant enough thought, except when you extend it to God, and realize that it is not given to us to determine what might fall outside of God’s loving, enormous embrace and desire to save. While the world that is passing away is often marked by the mess we humans have made of it, God is determined to change this destructive course into a world renewed and wants us engaged in the work.

We get a hint of what this means when we hear the message Jesus proclaimed: God’s reign is at hand, so turn away from sin and believe in the gospel—the good news Jesus preached, the good news that is Jesus. We are invited to be part of the solution rather than the problem, joining in the work begun by Jesus and preaching God’s offer of salvation to all.

Consider/Discuss

Do you see yourself called to proclaim that God’s kingdom is “at hand”?
What does this message mean?
How do you live out this invitation?

Responding to the Word

Loving God, when Jesus proclaimed that your kingdom was near, he was announcing that you were at work in him for the salvation of the world. Help us to trust this message and to hear his call in our lives, respond to it, and communicate this gospel to others. Amen.