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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B

4 February 2012

Reflecting on Mark 1:29-39

 

Everyone is looking for you, Jesus.

 

We don’t realize it most of the time.  When we feel good, and our work is meaningful, and our family is well, we forget how deeply we long to find Jesus as the suffering believers encountered him in today’s Gospel.

But even just a few hours of illness can bring us to our knees, and when we experience the healing touch of Jesus through the doctors God sends us we feel a special connection with Simon’s mother-in-law, who rejoiced at her renewed strength and immediately rose from her bed and served Jesus.

The Book of Job gives us such a close look at suffering, and Job’s description of the “troubled nights” allotted to him ring true for anyone who has agonized over a child, the loss of a love, or the miseries of illness.  But Jesus our Healer stands with us.  And Job lived centuries too early to know him.

Everyone is looking for you, Jesus.

We are sick, Jesus.  Touch us.  We are still looking for work, Jesus.  Help us.  We are anxious, or doubtful, or seduced by the lies of this world that has forgotten to seek you.  Save us, Jesus.  Draw near to us so we can draw near to you.

Everyone is looking for you, Jesus. But the prophet Jeremiah has already spoken for you:  if you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek Me with all of your heart, I will let Myself be found by you (29:13,14).

Look for Jesus this week.  He has promised to be found.

Have you placed yourself among friends who can help you find Jesus?

What would YOU like to say about this question, or today’s readings, or any of the columns from the past year? The sacred conversations are setting a Pentecost fire! Register here today and join the conversation.

I have come to light a fire on the earth; how I wish it were already burning (Lk.12:49).

Ordinary Time - Cycle B

3 Comments to “Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B”

  1. This question is one I have been pondering for quite some time. I have more and more gotten the feeling that we are living in an anti Christian society. The attention given to the Komen dilemma this past week, and the slant of the news coverage seemed to be evidence of this. Though they painted the Komen foundation caving in to the pro-life movement as a bad thing, they did NOT paint Komen foundation caving in to the “pro choice” movement as bad. So much for unbiased reporting. Having friends who support the common goal of finding Jesus is critical in this climate!

  2. For me, this cyber community is one the groups that help me find Jesus. Even some of the antithetical discussions help polish the truth. It’s not like clones speaking to clones. – Cris

  3. I used to think that this Gospel proved that some men will do anything to get a woman to wait on them 🙂

    I now know that the healing touch of Jesus brings all of us to Him. I think the healing is not usually physical, although it may be. More often, it is the healing of our emotional wounds. I attend daily Mass and find that the people there help me in my quest for something beyond myself. I look around and see many who are struggling with problems, grief, divorce, defiant teenagers and elderly parents who need assistance. My thought always is that the problems I experience are a drop in the bucket to many of theirs, and Jesus helps us all, if we just listen to Him through the readings and, sometimes, even the homily.

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