Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Even Year B

Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark

When Jesus and his disciples had left the synagogue in Capernaum, they went with James and John to the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever.  Immediately they told Jesus about her. Jesus came and took her by the hand and got her up. The fever left her, and she served them. When evening came, after sunset, all those who were ill or possessed by demons were brought to him. The whole town thronged to the door. He cured many people of all kinds of diseases and expelled many demons ; he prevented the demons from speaking, because they knew who he was.

The next day, Jesus got up well before dawn. He went out to a deserted place and prayed there. Simon and those who were with him went looking for him. They found him and said to him : « Everyone is looking for you. »  Jesus said to them : « Let’s go somewhere else, to the neighbouring villages, so that I can proclaim the gospel there too ; For this is why I went out. » And he went throughout all Galilee, proclaiming the gospel in their synagogues and casting out demons » (Mk 1, 29-39).

Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law

The kingdom of God refers to the way God wants things to be done now. In the verses preceding this text from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus describes the kingdom of God : Jesus came to proclaim the good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to those held captive by sin or disease, to give sight to the blind, and to set free those oppressed by past wounds.  He came to announce a year of forgiveness and restoration to all who would believe in him and receive his message. Jesus came to declare God’s will, his ways, and the method by which he acts. When Jesus said : « I must preach the kingdom of God », he meant that the kingdom of God would replace the kingdom of Satan for those who received him.

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Saviour and have made him Lord of your life, you must follow his example and his principles. And act on his word and commandments every day. This means spending time reading and meditating on God’s word, to the point where you are imbued with it and guided by it. In this way you will learn how his kingdom works. By doing so, you will participate in it and allow his kingdom to come. If you do not yet know Jesus, the door is wide open. He will never reject anyone who comes to him (John 6, 37).

The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy through the Holy Spirit. He who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men (Rom 14:17-18). Today, take time to consider your ways to see if you are operating according to Jesus’ method.  Moving away from our indifference, other people’s pain sometimes becomes our own, to the point of asking ourselves how we can ease it by becoming more human. This morning, the Word reaches us where we are, but above all, where we are. Perhaps you are confronted with anxiety, born of these physical or psychological fevers, creating a kind of frontier between a before and an after; anxiety then takes shape in your life.

Look at Simon’s mother; healed, she immediately began to serve. The idea of service is a real opportunity to heal our ills and look at things differently. f we read the Scriptures, it becomes clear that the Gospel does not consist solely of a personal relationship with God. Nor should our response of love be understood as a simple sum of small personal gestures in favour of some individual in need, which could constitute a kind of à la carte charity, a series of actions designed simply to ease our conscience. The proposal is the Kingdom of God (Lk 4:43). It is about loving God who reigns in the world. To the extent that he succeeds in reigning among us, social life will be a place of brotherhood, justice, peace and dignity for all.

So both the proclamation and the Christian experience tend to have social consequences. Let us seek his Kingdom : « Seek first his Kingdom and his justice, and all these things will be added to you » (Mt 6:33). Jesus’ plan is to establish the Kingdom of his Father; he asks his disciples : « Proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand » (Mt 10, 7).

Interesting sites to see on the Internet

◊ Hillson Church : click here to read the paper → The Kingdom of God – What it is & What it Means

◊ Britanica : click here to read the paper → Kingdom of God | Christianity, Biblical Teachings

 ♥ Video A call from Jesus : Click here to watch the video → https://youtu.be/m_e8BmSz4j8