As we watch another devastating hurricane ripping through the islands, the church guided by the Holy Spirit reminds us of the power of prayer. Jesus wants to come into our homes just as he did Simon Peters house in the Gospel. Using His presence in our homes not only to heal us of our own sickness and infirmity but to create a place of healing and welcome. As an introvert, I haven’t been very good at that over the years. I’m a very private person, and a stubborn, hard-headed man. That’s part of what I need to let Jesus heal inside of me. Just like Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus doesn’t just want to heal me so I can sit alone. Rather, he wants me to get up and serve others.
We also see another important thing in that reading today. Jesus got up to go off to a silent place to commune with God. Silence is so necessary for our lives. Not just for ourselves, but so that we can hear God’s voice as he again prepares us to go out into the world. Notice Jesus does not intend to sit in silence but rather to go to other cities and spread the Gospel. He doesn’t intend to stay in the comfort of his “prayer room,” but rather to go out and do as well. Too many in this world today say “don’t pray for me, just do!” Do both. Prayer is not just an opportunity to call on the grace that God has to give in a situation, but also to help change our own hearts, our own minds. Use it! Grow. But as Saint James says in his wonderful letter, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
In the first reading, we see Saint Paul putting that into action in a letter to an early Christian community. Paul likely didn’t think he was writing down Scripture. What he was doing was simply obeying God’s call to spread the Gospel and to reaffirm those early Christians in their faith. That’s the Gospel in action, that is using our thoughts, our words, and our deeds to serve Christ. Something to meditate on this morning is this: What if 2000 years from now all people have left is our writing, our example, as a testament to the Gospel? What if our Facebook posts are all that someone ever gets to see in that scenario? What value will they have?
Remember: We may be the only Bible someone ever sees. Are we being one worth reading? Today the crowds are going looking for Him, do they find Him in you?
A reflection on the readings for September 4th, 2019: Wednesday of the 22nd Week of Ordinary Time.