5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle B
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Job spoke, saying: Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of hirelings? He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages. So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. If in bed I say, “When shall I arise?” then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.
Second Reading1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Brothers and sisters: If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
Gospel Cycle BMark 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue Jesus 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 who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he 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 on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may 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.
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
The second reading, from the First Letter to the Corinthians, is about preaching the Gospel. The word, Gospel, means Good News or Good Tidings. This is a huge contrast to the feelings of Job in the first reading. Paul is willing to give his whole life to preaching the Gospel and will to receive no human recompense at all. Why? Because he knows that only in this way can he also share in the promises of the Gospel.
You and I are called to preach the Gospel in the way we live each day. It is not as though we must leave what we are doing, get on the road and go about talking. No, we are invited to live in such a way that people will become interested in the Gospel just by seeing how we live.
Mark's Gospel picks up this same theme of preaching the Gospel. Jesus Himself tells us that He has come to proclaim the Gospel. No matter if He is tired, not matter if He is pushed on all sides--still, He knows that the Father has sent Him to proclaim the Good News.
We are invited today to live with Christ. It is He who lives in us. All we need to do is allow His presence to shine through us. We don't have to do anything spectacular. If we live with love and care for others, this shows through us. If we are willing to suffer for Christ, this also shows through us. We are not called to be unctuous or overly sweet or overly pious in a bad way. We are called to know Christ's love for us and to respond to that love by loving others.