Mark 1, 29-39.
In Mark’s gospel Jesus’ second miracle is the curing of Peter’s mother-in-law who is suffering from a high fever. Jesus’ first miracle, for a man, was worked publicly in the synagogue. This second one , (for a woman), was worked privately in Simon and Andrew’s home. Women in Palestine at the time of Jesus were treated as an inferior class to men. Jesus had a special concern for all who were marginalised in any way. In this miracle nobody speaks. Jesus simply “went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up.” The phrase “the fever left her” has echoes of the demonic expulsion of the previous miracle. Many of Jesus’ contemporaries regarded illnesses as having a demonic association, with the result that many of the accounts of healing from illness seem to read like accounts of exorcisms. These demonic forces (illnesses) were hostile to God and therefore required to be defeated by Jesus in the establishing of God’s kingdom. After being healed the woman waited on them. Her act of service was in gratitude for her healing. How do you show your gratitude for the many blessings God gives you? Are there ways you can serve the Lord and the community you are part of? Who are the marginalised of our time/community? How do we look after them?
An action-packed evening follows the woman’s healing. We can imagine the sick, the possessed, those suffering from different diseases crowding round the door waiting for their moment to be healed by Jesus. You can sense the excitement, the expectation, the joy, the relief of those healed and the sheer good news that Jesus was for those people. At the end of Mark’s gospel (16,18) the disciples and the church are assured that healing of the sick will routinely happen in their ministry. We wonder when a healing does happen. The wonder should be that it happens so seldom. Healing services are always very prayerful and very well attended whenever they are held in parishes. They clearly answer a need. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1520) reminds us that “the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is meant to lead the sick person to healing of the soul, but also of the body if such is God’s will.” It is always a special grace to experience either or both of those healing effects of this wonderful healing sacrament.
After that hectic and emotionally draining day Jesus went next morning, long before dawn, to a lonely place to pray to his Father. Prayer was an essential part of his ministry and his relationship with his Father underpinning every aspect of his life. There should always be a balance between prayer and action in our lives too.
The unexplained absence of Jesus was a shock to the disciples. The rest of the people sought Jesus more for his miracles than for himself. He reminds his disciples that his mission is primarily to preach the gospel, especially to those who have not yet heard it. Preaching the gospel has the same primacy for ministry in our time.
Does Jesus perform miracles today? There are many recent publications which deal with the healing ministry in our time. Three books which I found to be a good read are: “The Miracle Ship,” “A Little Way of Healing“ and “The Healing Power of the Sacraments.”
Fr Geoff O’Grady