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WORD FOR MISSION Every week CIAM offers to lay, religious people and priests an itinerary of reflections on the Sunday Liturgy in a missionary prespective. These are elements for a missionary meditation, individual or in community, on the Word of God , which constantly and surprisingly continues to enlighten, strengthen and sustain the missionary journey of the Church, for the life of the World.
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The
proclamation of the Gospel is an act of love
Year B - 05.02.2006
Each of the 1. He heals Peter's mother-in-law. Let us consider the
details: the disciples mention her to Jesus, ask for his help; he goes to her
(closeness); he takes her by the hand and lifts her (Mark uses the Greek verb
‘egeiro’, which is proper to resurrection). He cures her in body and
in spirit, so that ‘she began to wait on them’ (v.31). The restoration of
health leads straight to a service to be rendered. The 'dénouement' of the
whole scene is the service of others, because service is the highest
expression of life! 2. Jesus heals “many who were suffering from diseases of one kind
or another” (v.34), drives out demons, etc., but avoids publicity. This
kind of scene, which is repeated often in the Gospel, allow us to contemplate
how God reacts to suffering: he listens to the pleas, he is moved, he
intervenes, he resolves some cases. But he does not eliminate evil from
the world. Indeed, Jesus himself will be an innocent victim of evil.
But why? Why so much evil in the world? For as long as we are in the world
the answers, even those of Faith, will be only partial. All we can do
is place our trust in God. He knows why! 3. After an exhausting day, Jesus allows himself a brief period of
rest. He gets up early and goes off to a lonely place to pray (v.
35). In the morning of the Sabbath Jesus had already prayed in the synagogue
(v.29) with the community; now he prays alone. He feels an intimate need to
talk with his Father, to understand His will, to be faithful to Him. Out of
love! In his prayer Jesus, the missionary of the Father, grows in
understanding of what his mission is and how to accomplish it. 4. Everybody looks for Jesus, but they want him for themselves.
Jesus rejects this approach, and his reply shows the universal nature of his
mission: “Let us go elsewhere... so that I can preach there
too” (v.38). The mission of Jesus, and of the Church, is to move on, to go
beyond, cross barriers, not being limited to satisfying a few, not settling
into positions gained, not resting on one's laurels. Because the natural
field of mission is the whole world. In today's Gospel the words all and
many are used at least six times. It is not only suffering that
is the universal heritage; salvation too is for all, offered freely by God! The Apostle Paul (Second Reading) understood this very well,
and made the proclamation of the Gospel to the pagans the purpose of his
life. He felt the urgent duty of it: “I should be punished if I did not
preach it!” (v.16). He preaches with no thought for gain, makes
himself the “slave of everyone” (v.19), and his one passion is the
Gospel to be preached (v.23). thinking back to the conversions of St. Paul,
(the Feast was celebrated only recently), we realise that on the road
to Damascus it was not just the Christian Paul who was born, but Paul
the Missionary - indeed, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, of the
pagan nations. It applies to us, too. Baptism makes a missionary of every
Christian. For life! A man/woman of love, as Pope Benedict XVI
reminds us. * The proclamation of the Gospel to the nations is an
exquisite service of charity and of love; it is the most complete answer to
human suffering and need. It is the best integral service that
the Church - and every believer in it - can offer the world.
Benedict XVI
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Edited by Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome Website: www.ciam.org “Word for the Mission” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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