Following the Message
February 5 – 5th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Mark
1:29-39
Question: What prompts me to seek Jesus?
Alternate Question for Kids: What do I love about Jesus?
Do we sometimes
wish that we had lived during Jesus’ time, and like the residents of Capernaum
in today’s Gospel, had been able to gather around the Lord? Yet Jesus is just
as present, and accessible, to us as he was to the people 2,000 years ago. He
is here, right now, in our Church, and we too can experience his transforming
touch, if we are open to him. For this reason, we should look forward to Mass
as our place of encounter with the Lord, and not view our Sunday attendance as
an obligation we can do without. Most especially present in the Eucharist
(Catechism paragraphs 1373-81), Christ is “at work in each of the sacraments,”
where “he personally addresses” each one of us (1484). Pope Benedict XVI
develops the theme: “Jesus’ entire mission is symbolically portrayed in this
episode (of the Gospel)…The Lord gives us his hand, lifts us up and heals us.
And he does so in all ages; he takes us by the hand with his Word…He takes us
by the hand in the sacraments, he heals us from the fever of our passions and
sins through absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He gives us the
possibility to raise ourselves, to stand before God and before men and women.
And precisely with this content of the Sunday liturgy, the Lord comes to meet
us, he takes us by the hand, raises us and heals us ever anew with the gift of
his words, the gift of himself” (February 5, 2006).
Tune in to Real Life
Radio (94.9 FM/1380 AM) each Monday at 3:10 p.m. for Leo Brown’s discussion of
the weekly question on his “Diocese Live!” program. The live broadcast is also
accessible at www.realliferadio.com.
