Reflection for January 10, Wednesday of the First Week; Mark 1:29-39

Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

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Reflection:

There are three kinds of sickness that will bother us in our lifetime; one is physical sickness which is very visible and can easily be seen, spiritual sickness (not necessarily possession by an evil spirit). And the other one is emotional sickness this kind of sickness is subtle and not visible unless we talk to the person. 

In our gospel, after healing all who were ill or possessed by demons Jesus rose up early before dawn. He left, went off to an idle place there He prayed and then went off to other towns to heal and preach.

However there were still many who were looking for Him in the village. Does this mean that Jesus is inconsiderate and He simply abandoned those who were still in deep need of His healings? No I don’t think so.

Perhaps, those people who were still looking for His healings were those who were sick emotionally. Emotional sickness is the kind of ailment that can be cured by the person himself.

With strong faith in Jesus and will power this sickness can easily be defeated by each and everyone of us. So Jesus left them for He must have concluded that their faith on Him was already enough to defeat their emotional sickness.    

This happens to all of us sometimes we feel sick because of certain emotional low-downs. We can easily defeat this through our strong faith in Jesus and through our positive outlook in life.

Do you feel emotionally sick today? Take courage, have faith for Jesus will heal you. - Marino J. Dasmarinas