Sunday Gospel Reflection
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 1:29-39
Our Gateway to Jesus
Carlo S. Dureza
In today’s gospel, enormous crowds followed Jesus wherever He went. They were after healing for their diseases and sicknesses. They believed in Jesus’ power to cure their infirmities.
“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons… ‘Everyone is looking for you!’” (Mk 1:32-37)
He started to build a reputation as a powerful healer. In this connection, Jesus wanted to visit as many places where He could heal sick people. He said that this was the reason He came: to HEAL.
“ ‘ Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come…’ ” (Mk 1:38)
From the time man first sinned, he fell from grace and broke his God-like nature due to his pride and disobedience. Thereafter, God made it His mission to patch this brokenness and to restore mankind to its sonship to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Wholeness is the purpose of healing. It is the healing of the soul. God attunes our minds and hearts to His will for us to be cured of the pain and slavery attributed to sin. Then, we become whole persons, our scars removed, our woundedness diminished. Since we are whole once again, we are a new creation graced by our Creator. All these healing was made possible by the gentle, sandal-clad, compassionate, and prayerful Jesus who walked the dusty roads of Jericho, Capernaum, and Galilee to bring people back to the fold of the Kingdom.
It is ironic that what seems to have brought us closer to Jesus is our very own broken nature, the defiance we made against God. If it were not for the wounds of sin, we would not be seeking Him for healing. Our sicknesses impaired us but made us whole in Jesus. This is what has been said of Jesus and his life, a paradox: a king who is a suffering servant, a cornerstone rejected, the last who becomes the greatest of all.
Our sins have become our gateway to Jesus. When we confess them and show genuine contrition, we are placed on the path towards Him. We are healed by the Messiah. Let us be the “other” or “little” messiah in our words, thoughts, and deeds that our lives may be a source of healing for all and be the way towards Jesus.
Happy Sunday and God bless!!
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Artwork:
Christ Healing the Sick (1893)
by Heinrich Hofmann
