5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B – HOMILY

5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B – HOMILY

 THEME: “HE CURED MANY WHO WERE SICK WITH VARIOUS DISEASES, AND HE DROVE OUT MANY DEMONS.” (Mark 1:34)

BY: Fr. Robert deLeon, CSC

HOMILY:

Mark 1:29-39
Ministering as a chaplain on hospital psychiatric units has been a most rewarding experience for me over the many years and in the many hospitals I’ve served. I can still recall a long-ago weekly Spirituality Group I facilitated at an Indiana hospital that proved the truth of Friedrich Nietzsche’s words: “What does not destroy me makes me stronger.”

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When we gathered in the day room on the psychiatric unit that Thursday afternoon, we read a brief story that evoked substantially more response from the group than I'd come to expect week by week. These patients, more broken in mind than body, suffered not only from their actual illness but also, in many cases, alienation from family and friends. While many of our physically ill patients remained connected to the supports that had sustained them on the outside, our psychiatric patients would often come to us already suffering the deep pain of isolation.

Circling our chairs that afternoon, we dozen or so listened to words that struck deep: “A well-known speaker started off a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, ‘Who would like this $20 bill?’ Hands started going up. He said, ‘I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.’ He proceeded to crumple up the bill. He then asked, ‘Who still wants it?’ Still the hands were up in the air. ‘Well,’ he replied, ‘What if I do this?’ And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. ‘Now who still wants it?’ Still the hands went into the air. ‘My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.’” (Original Source Unknown) The reading finished, there was only the briefest interval before a young woman, who had for the weeks previous been silent, spoke up. “You know, it’s hard for me to speak in a group, and it’s the first time I’ve said anything here, but the story really hit me. I want to believe I’m worth $20, but I’m having trouble.” Then, to my further amazement, others around the circle quickly jumped in, not responding to her directly, but surely affirming her worth. “Sickness, physical or mental, isn’t defeat,” said one young man. “Illness doesn’t diminish our worth; as a matter of fact, because we’re getting treatment and even helping each other to get better, we’re probably stronger because of our illness.”

In today’s gospel passage we hear that “Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons.” (Mark 1:34) While sickness is a natural part of life, our faith reminds us that this experience does not diminish our inherent value. Our hearts—even our failing or broken hearts—remain the earthly home of Jesus, Son of God. Nothing short of death can change that.

As we are both body and spirit, so are we both temporal and eternal, our bodies sloughing off in time, our spirits living on forever. As we age and nature emphasizes the separation of body and soul to come at death, this reality can serve as a springboard for renewed focus on what's most important. We can find, in admitting this truth, a renewed focus for our lives, pushing aside all that would distract our attention and energies from what means most to us.

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