 “The whole town was gathered at the door.” – Mark 1:33
In today's Gospel, St. Peter’s secretary, St. Mark, recounts the scene at Peter’s house; yes, we see it through Peter’s own eyes. Like the rest of this Gospel, you can feel the excitement of the moment, the immediacy and truth of what the future Rock of the Church experienced that day. Jesus grasps the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law, not fearing the contagion, and lifts her to her feet healed from her fever. Her first impulse is not to preen or dwell on what happened to her – she wants to serve everybody else! a sure sign that the God Who is infinite, unselfish Love has touched her inner being, as well as her body. The whole town – every single person in that town, aimless and aching within, is drawn to this true Light shining so brightly, each taking the step toward Jesus needed for salvation. The whole town is not disappointed when they come. This is The Only One who can cast out the demon, who can fulfill the longing they all have. Isaiah said this Light would begin to shine in “Galilee of the Gentiles”. Behold, here It is!
Peter is now well on the way to realizing who Jesus really is and why He has come, until that fateful day in Caesarea Philippi, when he will express the Apostolic Faith, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”. Peter and the Apostles will spend the rest of their lives trying to bring the Ultimate Medicine, not just to “the whole town”, but to the whole world, to make Him accessible. Peter’s partner in Rome, St. Paul, says as much in today’s second reading, First Corinthians: “I have become all things to all, to save at least some.” Can you feel the Heart of Christ, aching to reach us in these words?
And our predicament is evident. Can any human being read the words of Job in the first reading, and not know the quandary of which he speaks? We all know that experience: “I shall not see happiness again”. We are broken, broken in a way that no natural, Pelagian-style remedy can help. ‘Self-help’ cannot help this insoluble problem. Only God can help; we need a savior, no, we need THE Savior. How can we get to that house where the whole town is gathered and be healed?!
The Psalm gives the answer! The Lord heals the brokenhearted. He is close to every human being through actual grace, BUT He has established the Kingdom of God on earth to come far closer for our healing in His Sacraments. This is the reason that He ordained His priests, Peter and the Apostles: so that when, in Confession, I reveal my brokenness to a human being, I am telling Him in person, laying my head on His Heart. So that I can receive Him within my very self in the Eucharist, the best healing. So that I can with total assurance know what is true, delivering my mind from confusion and evil influence.
When He leaves Capernaum, Jesus is told, “Everybody is looking for You.” How true that is, whether each one knows it or not: “those who have not heard shall ponder it” (Isaiah 52:15). He is the answer. He Himself expresses an urgent zeal to spread His Light further: “For this purpose I have come.” His mission is not limited by His earthly Incarnation. He is not limited by merely physical healings, be they ever so abundant or amazing. Any miracle He, or His Church, does is a SIGN pointing to what He really wants. “I want YOU!” His Heart on fire wants to reach all through His one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, not just with a message, but to commune with each person in Sacrament, deliver them from evil, and heal their restless wandering.
May this Wonderful Heart be known!
AMETUR COR JESU! Loved be the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
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