From the Deacon’s Desk 01/31/2021
Dear Friends:
Our readings today are very interesting to say the least. Moses makes a prediction in Deuteronomy 18:1-20 that a great prophet will arise among the people. This prophet will be their own kin! Prophets do not have an easy time in life. They come to the people to tell the truth. I’m sure you all agree that in many cases people, yes even us, do not like to hear the truth. We would much rather hear what is pleasing to our ears and our egos. This is not the case with Moses, Jesus or the other many prophets God sends us.
Jesus is the greatest prophet that ever lived. Notice in the Gospel today from Mark 1:21-28 that, when Jesus comes to Capernaum, he enters the synagogue and before doing anything else, addresses a man who has an unclean spirit. This is a problem for the leadership of the synagogue. A person with an unclean spirit would not be allowed inside and yet there is Jesus talking to this poor soul.
Jesus pays no attention to their whisperings and tells the spirit in the man to be quiet and come out of him. Jesus attends to a human being in pain before worrying about the law of the synagogue and the leaders of the Jews. It would’ve been easy for Jesus to pass by the man and attend to him later; but as we all know, that is just not Jesus’ style. As far as Jesus is concerned, the man has suffered enough and he should be healed of his malady now, not the next day or next week, but now!
How many times in our lives do we put off helping people in need until a more convenient time? How many times do we decide to wait to take affirmative action on some issue that is bad for us, our families, or our country?
Let’s take a moment today to think about how we react when people need help. Do we step up to the plate and answer the call, or do we put it off until tomorrow?
Peace and All Good!
Deacon Jim
Here is a challenge for all of us. How could we help (as suggested in the last few lines of the commentary above) with the pandemic that is facing us every day? It would have to be without contact with others. Let’s all put on our thinking caps and then go to work on it!