Feb. 4, 2018 5th Sunday B
Feb. 4, 2018 5th Sunday B
Click to hear Audio Homily
Have you or a family member recently suffered with the flu? It’s not pleasant suffering several days through body aches and chills, fever, coughing, and respiratory infection. On a recent visit to a local hospital, I was astounded to find out that some patients and their beds were placed in the hallways because the hospital was so overwhelmed by people with flu. There are physical sufferings, such as the flu, that hinder us from being our best. But spiritual suffering is just as disheartening to our well-being. Recently I spoke with several high school students, and they described their struggle of the stress of fitting in, feeling isolated even when they have many friends, and frequent thoughts of lack of meaning and hopelessness. Job’s frame of mind in the First Reading describes what these students and we sometimes experience.
“Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?...I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me...I am filled with restlessness until the dawn...I shall not see happiness again.” If your family member or friend shared a similar perspective, how would you respond? Would you be able to say to the person just as the Psalmist wrote, “Praise the Lord...He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds...The Lord sustains the lowly.”
I was pleasantly surprised when the high school students who shared their feelings of stress and dryness of their spirit also shared their hope to reconnect with God. They said, “I want to be able to pray again and have the desire to attend Mass.” That desire to reconnect with God is in all of us. Even during our spiritual dryness and distress, God desires us to seek him. He knows what we are going through at the moment, and we need his grace to bear the cross that we are carrying. When Jesus entered the home of Simon Peter, he healed Peter’s mother-in-law who was sick in bed with fever. He then healed anyone who came to Peter’s home who was physically or spiritually broken. When we approach Jesus through prayer and the Sacraments, he heals our broken hearts and binds our wounds even when it doesn’t feel like healing is taking place.
Our healing encounter with Christ should then encourage us to reach out to those who are suffering physically and spiritually. When we care for a sick person or help those who suffer spiritually, we are imitating Jesus. Pope Francis said, “The sick are the flesh of Christ.” Therefore, each one of us is called to bring the light of the Gospel and the strength of grace to those who suffer and to those who assist the suffering. When such a need arises, we should consider it as a privileged opportunity to encounter Christ — to welcome and serve Him.
Click to hear Audio Homily
Have you or a family member recently suffered with the flu? It’s not pleasant suffering several days through body aches and chills, fever, coughing, and respiratory infection. On a recent visit to a local hospital, I was astounded to find out that some patients and their beds were placed in the hallways because the hospital was so overwhelmed by people with flu. There are physical sufferings, such as the flu, that hinder us from being our best. But spiritual suffering is just as disheartening to our well-being. Recently I spoke with several high school students, and they described their struggle of the stress of fitting in, feeling isolated even when they have many friends, and frequent thoughts of lack of meaning and hopelessness. Job’s frame of mind in the First Reading describes what these students and we sometimes experience.
“Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?...I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me...I am filled with restlessness until the dawn...I shall not see happiness again.” If your family member or friend shared a similar perspective, how would you respond? Would you be able to say to the person just as the Psalmist wrote, “Praise the Lord...He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds...The Lord sustains the lowly.”
I was pleasantly surprised when the high school students who shared their feelings of stress and dryness of their spirit also shared their hope to reconnect with God. They said, “I want to be able to pray again and have the desire to attend Mass.” That desire to reconnect with God is in all of us. Even during our spiritual dryness and distress, God desires us to seek him. He knows what we are going through at the moment, and we need his grace to bear the cross that we are carrying. When Jesus entered the home of Simon Peter, he healed Peter’s mother-in-law who was sick in bed with fever. He then healed anyone who came to Peter’s home who was physically or spiritually broken. When we approach Jesus through prayer and the Sacraments, he heals our broken hearts and binds our wounds even when it doesn’t feel like healing is taking place.
Our healing encounter with Christ should then encourage us to reach out to those who are suffering physically and spiritually. When we care for a sick person or help those who suffer spiritually, we are imitating Jesus. Pope Francis said, “The sick are the flesh of Christ.” Therefore, each one of us is called to bring the light of the Gospel and the strength of grace to those who suffer and to those who assist the suffering. When such a need arises, we should consider it as a privileged opportunity to encounter Christ — to welcome and serve Him.
