A Daily Gospel Reflection
by Deacon Joe Coan
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
The First Week of Ordinary Time
On leaving the synagogue he 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 that were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and 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 finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go into the nearby villages that I might 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.
* * *
A car driven by a young man was struck by a speeding freight train. Miraculously, the young man was not injured. The narrow escape had a profound effect on the young man's attitude toward life. He no longer felt his own life was his own to do with as he pleased. He had been saved from certain death by no merit or skill of his own. He believed he had been “saved to serve.”
Peter's mother-in-law, in the first paragraph of our gospel reading this morning, responded similarly. When she was cured by Jesus, the gospel says, 'The fever left her and she began to wait on them.”
When was the last time we experienced God's saving or healing power in our own lives?
“Save me, Lord, for I am your servant and I trust in you. Teach me what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion.” Psalm 86:2,11
