We are saved to serve

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, LA

February 5, 2012

Last Sunday, we read of Jesus entering the Synagogue and preaching with authority to the astonishment of the people. In the Synagogue, he preached passionately the word of God and compassionately set a man possessed by an unclean spirit free. Jesus was a preacher with a difference. He did not only preach about the Kingdom of God, he made the Kingdom of God present. To Jesus, the Kingdom of God is not something that is coming, it is already present with the people. In the Synagogue, he demonstrated in words and in deeds that the Kingdom of God is already here with us. 

Today’s gospel reading is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel. The Synagogue service has just ended, and Jesus, together with his friends arrive at Peter’s house. He wants to enjoy the Sabbath meal with Peter and also to rest. After all, it has been an exciting and also an exhausting day. Jesus needs some rest! And he truly deserves it. But once again, his compassion was appealed to. Simon’s mother-in-law was down with a fever: “They immediately told him about her. He approached her, grasped her hand and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.” 

You know, Jesus has every right to claim the right to rest. Mind you, he has been in the Synagogue all day dealing with humans and evil spirits. Right now, he is exhausted. He just needs some rest. But here again, his attention is needed. In this situation, he  could have said, “No, I am tired; I need some rest” instead he stands up immediately they told him about the ill-health of Simon’s mother-in-law.  On getting to where she lay, Jesus picks her up. Yes, Jesus picks her up! That’s what the Lord does for his people. Remember those times you were down, it was the Lord that picked you up. And when you are up, it is also the Lord that keeps you up and running. Whenever you are knock down by ill-health, by misfortunes, and by the problems of life, remember to tell Jesus about it. Do not lay there on your bed and grieve about it, just tell it to Jesus. Take it to the Lord in prayer. I always say, “If you talk to him in the morning and he does not answer you, talk to him again about it in the noon. And if he does not answer you in the noon, tell him about it at night. If he does not answer you at night, tell him about it in the morning. Talk to him day after day and time after time.” Do not let up! Do not give up on God. Do not be tired of talking to him. Two friends in love never get tired of talking to each other. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, they informed Jesus about it. Tell the Lord about your own case. 

Now, as soon as Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she got up and attended to the needs of Jesus and his disciples. Her service was a way of saying, “Thank You!” She does not concern herself with personal things she has not been able to do for herself when she was sick. Instead she uses her renewed strength and recovered health to serve the Lord’s needs. 

But Peter’s mother-in-law was not the only person that Jesus healed today. Today’s gospel says that at sunset, people brought to Jesus sick people and people who were possessed by demons, and he cured many who were sick and also expelled demons that possessed many of them. 

Now, early in the morning of the next day, Jesus went to a deserted place where he prayed. The Lord loves going to a quiet and deserted place to pray. Do you know why? Because he knows that it is only in the silence of a deserted place that he can have a meaningful discussion and conversation with his Father without any interference. A deserted place can offer us silence and serenity. A deserted place can offer us peace and quiet. A deserted place can provide us the ample opportunity to hear God’s voice. In a deserted place, we can speak to God and God in turn can speak to us without any interference or interruption. In a deserted place, we are able to hear God clearer. In today’s noisy world, we can still make our homes “deserted places” by turning off the TV, radio, cell phones, iPad, computers etc and talk to God. 

As Jesus was praying, Simon and others who had been looking for him found him in a deserted place praying. Instead of joining him in prayer, they distracted him with a message, “Everyone is looking for you.” Yes, everyone is looking for Jesus but not everyone wants him. Everyone is looking for Jesus, but not everyone wants the message that Jesus brings. Everyone is looking for the good things that Jesus offers (miracles, healing, deliverance, signs and wonders), but not everyone is looking for the goodness that Jesus is. Everyone wants something out of Jesus, but not everyone loves him. Everyone is looking for Jesus, but not everyone is looking for him to worship him, to adore him, and to see the new vision he brings. They are looking for him to use him just like many people do today. In days of prosperity, very few prayers are said. But in the days of adversity, more and more prayers are said. There are many people who never prayed when the sun is shinning but would begin to pray when the cold sets in. God to such people is a crisis affair. It’s only when their life is in a mess or when the wind of life begins to blow against them that they remember God. Such people usually say to God, “God please show yourself a Father.” But they never bother to show themselves as his sons and daughters. We must go to Jesus in season and out of season; in good health and in ill-health, in prosperity and in poverty. God should not be used. He is not someone to be used in the days of misfortune. God should be loved and remembered all the days of our lives. God should be enjoyed and not used. St. Augustine makes a distinction between enjoyment and use: “Some things are to be enjoyed, others to be used....The things which are to be enjoyed make us blessed. Those things which are to be used sustain us as we move towards blessedness...To enjoy something is to cling to it with love, for its own sake. To use something, however, is to employ it in obtaining that which we love, provided it is worthy of love.” For St. Augustine, “The only “thing” to be enjoyed for its own sake is God.” Enjoy God! Don’t use God! If God has saved you, serve him and serve others! We are saved to serve!