Homily 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time year B

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. In today’s first reading, we come across the narrative of Job. Job as we know was blessed in all aspects of his life but he loses everything because God allows Satan to test Job. Job undergoes acute emotional and physical suffering. After having addressed his friends, he now turns to God to continue his lament.  Job saw his present suffering like the pointless, unpromising work of a servant or a hired man. He felt there was no hope or reward, only exhaustion. To add to that his skin was so infected, that worms were in the sores and the nights seemed never to end. He was full of despair and believed that all of his good times were over.

Though it might sound like an exaggeration for us, there is truth in the words of Job. Each one of us has at some point or the other experienced what Job experienced – loss, pain, hopelessness and suffering. The pandemic was one such time when we all to some level or the other experienced what Job experienced. How did we respond to the difficult times in our life? Job teaches us to turn to the Lord in prayer and as we know in the end, God rewards Job for never losing hope or faith.

In the second reading taken from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul speaking about the mission given to him by God i.e. to proclaim the gospel. We also come across the famous saying of Paul “I have become all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:22). To those under the law, Paul will conduct himself as one also under the law and to those outside the law, he will conduct himself as one outside of the law. But we need to keep in mind that this saying of Paul does not indicate “everything goes” or as we say in Mumbai “sab chalta hai.” Paul is driven by the need to deliver the gospel to all people, not just a few chosen ones. For Paul, it is a matter of necessity. The reading presents a model image of discipleship for us all. It makes us reflect on our motivation for the work that we do in the Church. Is our main reason the sharing of the good news and its blessings or have we over time lost our focus from the gospel and have started focusing on ourselves instead?  

If you ever wondered what a day in the life of Jesus was like, today's gospel gives us a glimpse. We have Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law sometime in the morning followed by more healings of the people and casting out of demons in the evening and early in the morning the next day while Jesus hoped to get some personal time to pray he is again called by his disciples to heal the people. It's not easy being the Messiah after all! The key sentence for me in today's gospel is “ … for that is what I came to do.”

The obvious thing for a young person who has just tasted success and fame would be to prolong the event and continue to enjoy the praise and attention. But Jesus was not just another young person who tasted success. He was a man on a mission. Jesus had different expectations and priorities from Simon. While Simon’s was very limited, Jesus’ was much larger in scope. Jesus found that his purpose wasn’t becoming just a local healer, but reaching as many people as possible with the good news of God’s love for them. Becoming popular and rich wasn’t his primary mission. People came to him, seeking his healing touch, asking for his help, and he had compassion on them. Jesus’ mission was a mission of outreach, it was directed towards others. As disciples of Jesus therefore, our mission also has to include reaching out to others. Just like Simon’s mother-in-law we too have to join in the mission of service and contribute to the lives of other people. I like this quote I came across very much - ‘You are the only Jesus some will ever see.’ Quite profound isn’t it? Who do people see in you? Do they see Jesus? Or do they just see you?

In a way, our lives are very similar to that of Jesus. Our entire day is spent rushing to the office or taking care of things at home. We are constantly busy. And despite the many demands that were made of Him, Jesus never wavered from his mission; he did what fit his mission. The question before each one of us is what have we come in this world to do? What’s our mission? The answer to this question is going to decide much of how we are going to live our lives. And how are we to know the answer? There is just one way - we need to do what Jesus did. In the busyness of life make time for prayer – Only the creator knows the purpose of his creation. No spiritual guide or preacher or even Google can tell you the purpose of your life. Only God can tell you what you are made for. Therefore, no matter how busy your day is, do take some time to check if you are on the right track lest you spend all your life travelling down the wrong road. We are invited this Sunday like Job to always turn to the Lord in prayer and find our purpose in life. May God bless us all.