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Jesus'
First Lesson
Fr.
George Smiga
February 8&9, 2003
Mark
1:29-39
Today's
gospel passage is a tremendously important one, because in
today's gospel, Jesus recognizes that he cannot do everything.
As great as Jesus was, he shared fully in our humanity. Therefore,
he had to live with limitations. He could not meet every need.
This is
what today's gospel addresses. It describes the first day
of Jesus' ministry in Capernaum. It was a very successful
day. All of the sick, all those possessed by demons came to
him. Soon, Mark tells us, that the whole city was standing
outside of his door. As the word of Jesus' power began to
spread, it became likely that the next day would be an even
more demanding day.
This is
why when Jesus sneaks out early in the morning to pray, Simon
and his
companions hunt him down. For they know that there are more
sick, more possessed who need to be healed. They say, "Everyone
is looking for you." Get to work! But Jesus surprises
them, for he says, "No, we are not going to stay here
in Capernaum. We are going to move on and preach the Good
News in other towns as well."
Now it
certainly would be great if Jesus could have done everything.
It would be wonderful if he could have stayed in Capernaum
and healed all the sick and possessed there, and also gone
out to the other towns and villages in Galilee and done the
same. But he had limited time, limited energy. He had to choose,
and Jesus chose to move on.
Now here
is the question that comes from today's gospel: If Jesus knew
that he could not do everything, why do we think we can?
At this
point it is probably clear that today's homily does not intend
to address everyone gathered here today. Those of you who
are lazy and inactive can stop listening now. Those of you
who spend the day simply taking up space, watching television
and eating bon bons, this homily is not for you. But I have
been pastor here long enough to know that there are very few
people like that at St. Noel. Most of the people that I know
are dedicated, committed people who give themselves day after
day, hour after hour, to others. People who are committed
to their job, to their children, to their family, to their
neighbors, to their church,
to their friends. Filled with generosity, they give and give,
and sometimes live in the illusion that they can do everything.
If you
are one of these people, then this homily is for you. Because
if Jesus knew he could not do everything, why do you think
you can? You see there is no
shortage of need in the world. There are plenty of good deeds
that could be done. The minute you say to others, "Here
I am to meet your every need", the city will gather outside
your door, just at it did for Jesus. Therefore, the secret
of living is not simply finding a good thing and doing it,
but choosing what are the important good things that I have
been asked to do. The secret of living is to prioritize; to
decide what is most important in my life.
This is
why Jesus seeks out a quiet place to pray, because with all
the needs pressing in around him, he needs to discern, he
needs to ask himself, "What is God calling me to do?
Is God calling me to stay in Capernaum and heal all the needy
people there? Or is God calling me to move on?"
Out of
that reflection, out of that prayer, Jesus came to the conclusion
that his mission was to move on and spread the gospel. He
had to choose. He had to say "no" to some people.
He had to prioritize because he could not do everything.
So the
message of today's gospel, at least for some of us, is clear:
We need to take time to ask ourselves what are the things
that God is really calling us to do. Once we locate those
things, we must take steps to assure that we do not short-change
them. We should never feel guilty about saying "no"
to other good things no matter how much other people want
us to do them. We need to know our call and our responsibility
to God. Jesus could not do everything. Neither can we.
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