Ordinary Time

Jan 24 2025

Transformed by the Touch of Jesus

Jesus speaks sparingly in Mark’s Gospel. He acts . . . quickly. We are not even yet out of the first chapter and he has called the disciples, rebuked demons, and healed Simon’s mother-in-law. Today, the wonder-worker of Galilee stretches out his hand to the leper and straightaway the leprosy leaves him. Little talking. Much doing.

We have many of Jesus’ words. Thus we pay close attention to what the Teacher said. But here in Mark, the process matters more than the words—the calling, the traveling, the exorcisms, the healings, the dying and the rising. This royal Messiah is a man of action. How can we understand the Christ as the early Marcan community saw him? Pay attention to the verbs.

Jesus touches the leper.

No Jew touches a leper. The diseased are unclean. The book of Leviticus makes very clear that a leper is set apart: no hug, no tap on the arm, no smoothing of the hair, and no rub of the back—no touching. The man may not have felt a human caress of any sort for years. He begs to be cleansed. And Jesus touches him.

What then? Does the man tremble from the warmth flowing from Jesus’ hand? Does a tingling fire awaken his nerves like the heat from a habanero pepper? Do his eyes water? Does his skin burst clean? What is it like to be instantly healed from leprosy?

We hear the words—words go in, words go out—we’ve heard them before; but can we imagine what it feels like to be touched by Jesus?

The saints depict the touch of God as a flaming arrow that burns the heart, an inner swelling of love. Augustine says that he was touched by God, and then burned for God’s peace.

Jesus touches the leper. How could he possibly stay silent?

Consider/Discuss

This Sunday, on which the secular calendar places Valentine’s Day, how can we be more attentive to touch: human touch, divine touches in prayer, the touch of the Holy Spirit through nature. What are the ways through which God touches you in your life?
As we head toward Lent this week, try reading the whole Gospel of Mark quickly. It’s short; it won’t take very long. Be particularly observant of the process, the flow of action revealed through the verbs. What is the overall arc, the big picture, of what Jesus is doing?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, we fall to our knees and beg you to touch us. Your tenderness transformed the leper. Your touch has transformed our lives. Open our hearts to experience your presence more deeply, your holy caress, your living flame of love. Through your grace, we leave behind words and turn toward your blessed silence. Send your touch. Send your Spirit. Send your love.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

To appreciate the general horror with which lepers were regarded, one has to understand that their disease rendered them ritually unclean. Most in ancient Israel recognized that lepers were not to blame for their condition, but the fact remained that their presence was a threat because contact with them would render one ritually unclean as well. This ritual uncleanness made it impossible to approach the tabernacle or any cultic site. The priests, as guardians of the sacred spaces, were tasked with determining who or what was ritually unclean or clean. Although social isolation and ostracism were the accidental consequences of what was a purely practical separation, they were the inevitable sad result, adding further pain to the physical condition itself.

Just previous to the present reading, Paul has been counseling the Corinthians to use their Christian freedom responsibly, making sure they do nothing to harm the consciences of others. Specifically, Christians who eat meat sacrificed to idols with a clear conscience should not insist on their “right” to do so if it causes scandal. Charity overrules individual rights (10:23–30). No matter what we do, we must do it for the glory of God. Christians have been “purchased at a price” and now belong to the Lord: “Therefore glorify God with your body” (6:20). Christians are at all times to imitate Christ, who sought not his own benefit “but that of the many,” and so gave glory to God.

Already in last week’s Gospel we had indications of a peculiarity of Mark’s Gospel: Jesus’ frequent warnings not to tell anyone about him. Then, the demons were not permitted to speak. Now, the leper is told to keep his mouth shut after he is healed. Scholars suggest the secretiveness is because Jesus knows that the people will proclaim him prematurely as the Messiah, and perhaps bring unwelcome attention from the authorities. Whatever the reason for the warning, the man ignores it completely, immediately telling everyone what Jesus has done for him. The reign of God, now unleashed through Christ, has too powerful an effect to remain hidden for long.

Jan 24 2025

We Love This Place, We Love This Moment— But Cannot Stay

It is early morning before the dawn when I get up to write. In my half-asleep state, the mug of hot chocolate warming my hand and the moon shining in the window tell me that the things of earth are good. The place we live is beautiful. I wonder . . . what was Jesus’ experience in the morning, before dawn when he got up to pray?

The sky was dark as he trekked out of town. Scenes from yesterday ran through his head—demons shrieking at the synagogue; Simon’s mother-in-law rising up, the smell of her good bread; Peter, James, and John chortling with laughter—it had been a rich and full day. And then when the sun had gone down and the Sabbath was over, the whole town had come to the door. He still saw the broken and the maimed, the tormented and the needy, so many, so hurting. When he straightened the little girl’s crooked legs, her mother’s face lit up with joy. Human life is good. He could stay. He could do much good here. He loved this earth.

He stopped to sit on a large boulder and fell deeply into prayer. Suddenly, a strong breeze startled his peace. From the other side of the lake the moon rose above the hills: the quiet moon that tugs on the oceans and creates the tides, the ever-moving moon that waxes and wanes and travels across the sky. In that moment, he understood that celestial restlessness: I can love this earth, but I cannot stay.

He sprinted toward Simon as the big fisherman came toward him and shouted, “Come on, let’s go! All of Galilee awaits!” From then on, he focused on his mission. A bigger plan was at work here. He had sensed his earthly end. He could not stay.

Consider/Discuss

Life is good. Sometimes we may want things just to stay as they are. Yet the plan of God is deeper and richer than we can ever imagine. When have you had surprises in your life that led you in a different direction from what you had earlier envisioned?
What would have happened if Jesus had decided to stay and “do good” in Capernaum? How would the history of the world have been changed? Where would you and I be?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of the universe, there are days in this earthly life when we feel Job’s drudgery. We too have troubled nights when we cannot sleep, restless until the dawn. Yet you lift the brokenhearted. You love this earth. We rise again this day to give you praise, for you have created the world to be good. You set the moon in its course. You call the stars by name. Our days here are swift, but our life with you is everlasting.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In his first response to the “consolation” of his friends for his terrible suffering, Job expresses not only the suffering caused by his physical pain, but especially the pain of loneliness and confusion. He experiences his friends as undependable (6:15) and cannot fathom the reason for his suffering, which is unexplained and unexplainable. In his misery, he reflects on the “drudgery” of life, the human condition that suffering sometimes renders intolerable. Job’s misfortune is profound and cannot be dismissed, but immersed in it as he is, he is unable to see anything in life but misfortune, “slavery,” and trouble. From Job’s current vantage point, life is only short, painful, and ultimately without hope.

Paul’s comments about preaching the gospel fall within a defense of his rights as an apostle. He points out to the Corinthians that although he has the right to receive recompense for his work (9:1–14), he has not and will not insist on this. If Paul “enjoyed” preaching the gospel, then that would be recompense in itself. But in fact he does not do it because he enjoys it, but because he has been commanded by God—he has been “entrusted with a stewardship.” Paradoxically, the fact that Paul preaches without monetary recompense is itself a recompense, because he knows that this is his to do and by doing it he will receive his “share” in the gospel.

Mark’s Gospel famously moves, especially at the beginning, quickly from one scene to the next, with everything happening “immediately.” This narrative urgency reflects Jesus’ own sense of mission; he is eager to do what he has come to do. The Gospel makes clear that the priority is to proclaim the kingdom of God by healing physical and spiritual ailments. Fever and other illnesses are conquered, as are demons, one after the other in rapid succession. There is no better way to show the power of God at work in the world than freeing people from whatever binds them. Even when Jesus is summoned from prayer he responds immediately and goes forward to continue preaching and healing.

Jan 24 2025

What’s Your Viewpoint?

I have a seminarian friend from southern Texas. We were walking together across the Notre Dame campus for midday Mass on a cold winter day. As we turned the corner, I headed toward the sidewalk in the sun. He walked toward the sidewalk in the shade. We laughed. That sparked a rich conversation. Being from Michigan, for me the sun is always a friend. I can never get enough sunshine. Growing up in Texas, for him the sun is intolerably hot. He instinctively seeks shade. The sun: friend or foe?

Our God: accessible or inaccessible? The Israelites in Deuteronomy found the voice of the great I AM to be too bright; they asked not to see that fire again lest they die. The unclean spirit in today’s Gospel shrieked in terror at the presence of Jesus. He was all too aware of the radiance of God present in their midst.

We believe that God speaks always and everywhere. But is the Almighty One unbearably hot and out of reach? Infinitely yes. The One who created the universe is far beyond our capacity to bear.

God promised to send a prophet from among the Israelites’ own to do the talking, someone not so dazzling, someone easier to hear. Jesus of Nazareth came to the synagogue to proclaim that the kingdom of God is here, that God is near. And the people listened to him. This prophet seemed trustworthy: he was one like them.

Can we walk in the light of Jesus? Intimately, yes. The One who created the universe has become one like us.

Is our God like the brilliant sun to make us seek the shade? Is our God like a friendly sun to encourage us to walk in the light? Yes and yes. Hallelujah!

Consider/Discuss

How might our experience of the sun affect our perception of God? Talk to someone from another climate and discuss that question with him/her.
A core marketing principle is that people listen most carefully to people who are like them. That sense of kinship is why folks pay attention to witnesses. In what way can you witness both to the infinity and intimacy of God to someone who is similar to you?

Living and Praying with the Word

Divine Majesty, you are grander than we could ever imagine. We shrink from your voice; we are not worthy to be in your Presence. We bow in worship, for you are the great I AM. Let us not take your splendor blithely, indifferently. Yet you have become one like us. We can turn to you. You want to be near us. Please, come sit with us. Warm our hearts. Let us be close to you.