February 7: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Job 7: 1-4, 6-7  Last May a woman in Chicago told me four members of her family had COVID; two were in the hospital. They were all underpaid ESSENTIAL workers living in tight quarters because that is all they could afford. Her prayer these nine months sounds like Job. Some say Job is the story of a good man whose faith is tested through suffering. I do not see God testing us. God does not give COVID to anyone nor does God give cancer to anyone. Job is hit by agonies and horrors we can barely imagine. And he comes through them as a faithful believer in our merciful God. The book of Job teaches us to cope with our suffering by endurance, perseverance, and tenacity. Our prayer throughout our suffering is as anguished as Job's. We are not to judge God by our human standards; God is God and we are not. Human suffering is a mystery and as a society, we are compelled to eradicate what we can of it.

Psalm 147: 1- 6 This psalm of praise to God who heals the brokenhearted sustains us during COVID and other rough times.  

1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 St. Paul and many of us over the centuries have felt compelled to spread the Gospel. Paul considers it both an obligation and a privilege. We are to follow his lead and live our lives in such a way that we radiate Christ's love. We too are to be good stewards of God's creation and willingly serve one another with love.

Mark 1:29-30 Please read this gospel passage slowly to absorb it. Wow! Simon had a mother-in-law. Our first pope had a wife. And as soon as Jesus healed Simon/Peter's wife's mother and helped her up, she "waited on them."  She was one of many Jesus healed. Jesus sustained himself and his ability to respond to illness with compassion and healing by praying. We do the same. For some it is centering prayer; for others, it is Benedictine or Ignatian or Augustinian prayer. For all of us, it is also like Job's lament; it is desperate, passionate, and in the moment. Our prayer will not only help us be the healers we want to be but also help us drive out the demons in the world around us. Demons of despair, fear, hatred, ignorance, greed, hopelessness, violence and lies do fall away as we continuously pray to not get caught up in them. Prayer drives us to confidently speak and act in hopeful, peaceful, self-giving love. The word  confidence comes from the Latin con fide = with faith. If we don't think we have enough faith to speak and act with confidence, we act in faith and faith comes. The key is to keep acting in faith. Let God take care of the rest.  Same for any lack we feel in love and hope and courage. As we give a week or two to focus on each of our desires to act in faith, love, hope, and courage we become what we've been putting into practice. This strategy to be the best version of ourselves is not permanent; we still fail but God's grace helps us get back on track.