Job spoke, saying: Is not man’s
life on earth a drudgery? What a way to begin Mass today! I know Job is not renowned for his upbeat
commentary, and there is a reason for that.
But still – what better example could be found of the universal
applicability of Sacred Scripture? How
could the Church – or Job – have known the particular drudgery we would be
undertaking today, as we take up our little pencils and walk through our pledge
cards?
Picture
how Peter’s mother-in-law felt about the household chores she undertook when
Peter and the boys brought Jesus to her house.
She had been ill, stuck in bed with a fever, until Jesus touched and
cured her. Her immediate response was to
get up and wait on them. There was no disappointment
in what could have seemed drudgery; it was a gift to be well enough to give hospitality
to the one who had made her well.
What
was the source of her delight? The
household tasks themselves? Her restored
ability to accomplish them well? Simply
“feeling herself again?” Was it all
that, combined with the opportunity to offer it to Jesus? She could not have known who Jesus was, but
she also could not have failed to know some very important things about
Him. She was healed by His touch! Can you think that under those circumstances
she might have resented or begrudged the chores she had performed a thousand
times already? No, neither can I.
Speaking
of something done a thousand times, picture how Jesus spent that evening. 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. While
that must have been exciting for the folks he cured, it was surely the same old
thing, over and over again, for Jesus. I
mean, really -- all who were ill
or possessed by demons? What a
mob! -- and not a well-behaved or
attractive one, either. And this was not
his first rodeo, so to speak. He had
done the same in every town he had visited!
At what point does curing and exorcizing become drudgery?
So
he escaped – who can blame him? Rising very early before dawn, he left and
went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and the others came after him and told him, Everyone is looking for you. What did Jesus say? I need a break? I’ve done enough, let’s do something
else? No – He said He had to go do more
of the same, but somewhere new, somewhere different. 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. Jesus knew the value of His list of “things
to do,” and didn’t count them as drudgery.
Everyone is looking for you. Think
about that. It is still true; everyone
is looking for Jesus, even folks who do not realize it – maybe even especially
them. They crave His peace, His mercy, His
life, but do not know who can give it to them.
He and He alone has what everyone craves, seeks, and searches
for. Did Peter’s mother-in-law resent or
resist her task in making it possible for so many from the whole town to
find him?
Everyone
is looking for him. To fulfill the tasks, to expend the effort, to do the chores
that make Him available to them – is that a drudgery? For this purpose have (we) have
come. Sorry, Job!
Monsignor
Smith
