Mc 1,29-39 – Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
«He, having approached, lifted her up, taking her by the hand; the fever left her and she began to serve them.” This wonderful description that the evangelist Mark gives in telling us about the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law puts it before our eyes all the humanity and tenderness of Christ: approaching, lifting, taking the hand are all gestures of closeness and sweetness that Jesus uses to be able to work the miracle he is about to perform.
In reality he could perform any miracle without the need for these gestures, but it is as if the Gospel wanted to tell each of us that Jesus continues to operate with his grace in history and that we, who are Christians, are asked to put these same verbs into practice first and foremost (approach, lift, take the hand), with the conviction that He has the power to provide us with the missing part, that is, His grace which brings about healing. Jesus did not want the Church as a propaganda organ, but as the extension of his humanity.
He, who could operate in history without us, instead becomes needy of each of us. For this reason, when as Christians we fail in closeness, encouragement, care, tenderness, we are not simply committing a sin of omission towards others, but above all we are hindering the action of Christ in history and in the lives of the people around us. The Gospel goes on to say that this single miracle causes hundreds of other sick people to line up looking for Jesus.
But Jesus is keen to say that, however beautiful it may be to heal someone, the purpose of his mission is not to be a miracle workerbut to announce the good news of the Gospel. It is greater than a miracle, because it is God’s way of saving us.
