Fr. Victor Bongiovanni, sx
FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
REFLECTIONS. (Here there some comments collected from several “Bible Scholars”.)
a) The Synagogue Service in Capernaum ended and Jesus went with his friends to Peter’s house. Jesus might well have claimed the right to rest after the exiting experience of the Synagogue Service. But once again his power was appealed to and once again to spend himself for others. Jesus was never too tired to help; the need of others took precedence over his own need for rest.
b) A miracle to Jesus was not a means of increasing his prestige. He helped instinctively, because He was supremely interested in all who needed his help. Peter’s mother-in-law shows the proper response to Jesus’ touch: ‘service prompted by gratitude and devotion’. Jesus helps us so that we may help others...
c) The miracle in the Synagogue of Capernaum was of so great a new power and authority that could not be kept secret. So the evening found Peter’s house besieged with crowds seeking Jesus’ healing touch.
d) Jesus was not looking for popularity: He considers it a temptation (Mt.4,8). The evil spirits knew who was Jesus: they had a knowledge superior to that of the human beings. To have faith in Jesus is just not to know about Jesus, but to have experience of his love and mercy.
e) They waited until evening because the Law forbade the carrying of any burden through a town on the Sabbath day. (The Sabbath ran from 6.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. of the following day. The Law was that the Sabbath was ended when three stars came out in the sky. So the people of Capernaum waited until the sun had set and the stars were out and then they could come, carrying their sick to Jesus, and he healed them.)
f) Whenever there was suffering Jesus was ready to use his power. He selected neither the place nor the person: He knew the universal claim of human need. He also knew that if he was to meet men, He had first to meet God the Father (Mk 1,35).
g) Prayer was of necessity to Jesus. Prayer will not do any work for us: what it will do is to strengthen us for work which must be done. Jesus knew well that he could not live without God. He could not live without Prayer. If He was going to spend himself for others, he also needed spiritual reinforcement to fulfil his Plan of Salvation.
h) In the morning Simon and his companions look for Jesus (Mk 1,36), but the reason of their search is the wrong one: they would like him to continue working miracles and to solve all problems. They do not understand that they have their part to perform in that task. Jesus refuses to do everything people expect of him because he wants all to play their role in the task of liberation that he has begun.
FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
REFLECTIONS. (Here there some comments collected from several “Bible Scholars”.)
a) The Synagogue Service in Capernaum ended and Jesus went with his friends to Peter’s house. Jesus might well have claimed the right to rest after the exiting experience of the Synagogue Service. But once again his power was appealed to and once again to spend himself for others. Jesus was never too tired to help; the need of others took precedence over his own need for rest.
b) A miracle to Jesus was not a means of increasing his prestige. He helped instinctively, because He was supremely interested in all who needed his help. Peter’s mother-in-law shows the proper response to Jesus’ touch: ‘service prompted by gratitude and devotion’. Jesus helps us so that we may help others...
c) The miracle in the Synagogue of Capernaum was of so great a new power and authority that could not be kept secret. So the evening found Peter’s house besieged with crowds seeking Jesus’ healing touch.
d) Jesus was not looking for popularity: He considers it a temptation (Mt.4,8). The evil spirits knew who was Jesus: they had a knowledge superior to that of the human beings. To have faith in Jesus is just not to know about Jesus, but to have experience of his love and mercy.
e) They waited until evening because the Law forbade the carrying of any burden through a town on the Sabbath day. (The Sabbath ran from 6.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. of the following day. The Law was that the Sabbath was ended when three stars came out in the sky. So the people of Capernaum waited until the sun had set and the stars were out and then they could come, carrying their sick to Jesus, and he healed them.)
f) Whenever there was suffering Jesus was ready to use his power. He selected neither the place nor the person: He knew the universal claim of human need. He also knew that if he was to meet men, He had first to meet God the Father (Mk 1,35).
g) Prayer was of necessity to Jesus. Prayer will not do any work for us: what it will do is to strengthen us for work which must be done. Jesus knew well that he could not live without God. He could not live without Prayer. If He was going to spend himself for others, he also needed spiritual reinforcement to fulfil his Plan of Salvation.
h) In the morning Simon and his companions look for Jesus (Mk 1,36), but the reason of their search is the wrong one: they would like him to continue working miracles and to solve all problems. They do not understand that they have their part to perform in that task. Jesus refuses to do everything people expect of him because he wants all to play their role in the task of liberation that he has begun.