(Cycle B)
First Reading – Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Second Reading – 1 Cor. 9:16-19, 22-23
Gospel Reading – Mk. 1:29-39
This week’s readings both from the Old Testament and the Gospel of Mark focus on the theme of suffering.
From this point forward in this column I quote from some of my others writings.
However, I can’t help but first comment on the fact that Mark recounts the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. As the late, great Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, this may in fact be why Peter later denies Jesus three times.
It never hurts to insert a little humor in things.
Suffering in the Old Testament
Suffering, whether physical, spiritual or psychological, is often an opportunity when many question the existence of God, or why he allows suffering - in particular the suffering of the innocent.
God, throughout the Old Testament, helps us to understand what he will fully reveal in the New Testament regarding suffering. We now know that God the Father has sent the Son to give us the Holy Spirit through the sacraments, one of which is referred to as Anointing of the Sick.
"Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters (priests) of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord…" (Jam. 5:14). Here, St. James describes the essential elements of this special sacrament.
When it comes to understanding suffering, as well as death, the first thing that must be mentioned is that they are a result of original sin. St. Paul tells us, "For the wages of sin is death…" (Rom. 6:23). Death is the most extreme form of suffering. Once sin entered the world through the free choice of our first parents, so did suffering and death, both physical and spiritual.
Throughout the Old Testament, we gain an understanding that suffering and death can be a consequence of personal sin. However, it is not the case that our heavenly Father is sitting up on throne of glory, waiting for us to sin, then exacting his pound of flesh because we have wandered from his ways. If anything, he allows us to suffer to divest us of the pride of having done things our way, to help us realize that our peace, joy and fulfillment lie in doing things his way. Nevertheless he is not going to force us to do things his way, but he is going to allow us to experience the consequences of our actions.
It could be argued that suffering is God’s way of punishing, but it could also be argued that suffering is part of God’s mercy. There is not a whole lot worse than living profoundly sinful lives while never experiencing the consequences of those actions: the man who lies, cheats and steals and gets away with it. Often it’s only when the drunkard finally sees that he has lost his wife, children and home that he turns things around. God, in his mercy, allows him to hit rock bottom.
It is also the case that in the Old Testament we do not only have the guilty suffering; the innocent also suffer. This too is a result of sin having entered the world. If it weren’t for the sinful choices of Adam, Eve and all men and women’s personal sins, the innocent would not suffer. It is not God’s fault that the innocent suffer; it is our fault.
However, God does prepare us in the Old Testament to understand what is going to take place in the New regarding the suffering of the innocent.
Most of us are familiar with the great icon of innocent suffering, Job. Job’s friends tell him that his suffering is a result of his own sinfulness. But Scripture tells us that Job was "blameless and upright," someone who "feared God and avoided evil" (Job 1:1).
Job’s response teaches us something that will be fully revealed with the coming of Christ. Job proclaims, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him, and from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing" (Job 19:25-27). Job sees a link between suffering and redemption; he hopes for salvation even in the midst of suffering.
Then there is Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the forthcoming innocent suffering servant redeemer. "He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity…yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured…but he was pierced for our offences, crushed for our sins…Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear…and he shall take away the sins of many and win pardon for their offences" (Is. 53:3, 4, 5, 11, 12). The suffering servant of the Lord will bring about salvation.
It is also important to mention one additional aspect of the Old Testament regarding suffering and death that is typically associated with the New Testament, namely healing and raising from the dead. Both in the Old and the New Testaments, healing and raising from the dead show that God can conquer both, thus manifesting his glory.
The prophet Elisha, who prefigures Jesus, is an instrument of God’s healing and raising from the dead. In 2 Kings 5 we read how Namaan, who has leprosy, is told by the prophet to go wash seven times in the Jordan River. When he does so, he is cured and proclaims, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel" (5:15). These are profound words of faith from a gentile Syrian commander, not an Israelite.
In 2 Kings 4 Elisha raises a boy from the dead. "When Elisha reached the house, he found the boy lying dead. He went in, closed the door on them both, and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay upon the child on the bed, placing his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon the eyes, and his hand upon the hands. As Elisha stretched himself over the child, the body became warm" (4:32-34).
Suffering in the New Testament
When the Second Person of the Trinity took on human nature, he entered into a suffering and broken world brought about the sinfulness of Adam, Eve and all mankind. He did so in order to show us the infinite depths of the Father’s love, to heal us and raise us up to newness of life through the sacraments he instituted. He also did so with the purpose of giving meaning to the sufferings we endure.
Jesus, that is, God himself, did not exempt himself from entering into the hell of human suffering. He humbled himself to be rejected by the innkeeper, to be born in a barn full of animals and placed in the feeding trough of those animals.
At the presentation in the Temple, Simeon prophesies suffering: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself (Mary) a sword will pierce…" (Lk. 2:34-35).
In his infancy, Jesus had to rely of Joseph to flee from the tyrannical King Herod, who sought to slaughter the newborn king of the Jews.
Throughout his public ministry, he suffered on many occasions. He suffered from temptation, rejection, scorn, ridicule – even from those within his own circle of friends. He suffered the sorrow of losing his friend Lazarus. He suffered at the unjust arrest, imprisonment and murder of his cousin, John the Baptist. He suffered betrayal by Judas and denial by Peter.
Throughout his public ministry, he spoke of his forthcoming suffering: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected…and be killed and on the third day be raised" (Lk. 9:22).
And again: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise" (Lk. 18:31-33).
However, Jesus healed and raised people from the dead to show that suffering and death will not have the last word, so much so that St. Paul will one day say, "Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:54-55).
He also sent out the Twelve, and then the 70, to do the same. He set it up so that his love and mercy could be extended through the church he established.
Jesus also taught us that suffering is part of the demands of discipleship. "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Lk. 9:23).
"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" (Lk. 15:27).
"…Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me" (Mt. 10:38).
The definitive suffering of Christ began in the upper room and ended on Calvary.
If we want to find the meaning of suffering, we should only look upon the cross. The cross is where we are shown in a perfect way how much God loves us. He loves us with a self-sacrificial, suffering love.
In our own suffering, Christ allows us to share in the deepest sign of his love. He has infused suffering with divine meaning, not human meaninglessness. Human suffering is thus redeemed. Through our suffering, we participate in the sacrifice of Christ, which brings about our salvation and the salvation of others. And it is only through the cross that we are led to the resurrection, there is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.
So, why do people suffer? Suffering can be a result of sin. Of this there is no doubt. Suffering can also serve as a way of testing and purification. Jesus was tested in the desert while he fasted. He was also tested through suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, so much so that he "began to feel sorrow and distress" and "he was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground" (Mt. 26:37, Lk. 22:44).
During this agony he says, "Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mt. 26:41). It is a test that will help us see if we will follow God only in good times, but also in bad times. In the midst of the test of suffering, will we shout out with a loud cry, "My will be done," or "Thy will be done!"
We also suffer so that a space may be created to show love – of God and of neighbor. The suffering of others provides opportunities to demonstrate our love, the primary scriptural example being the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk. 10:29-37).
Typical responses to the suffering of others might be, "I will pray for you." That is love. "I will make a meal and bring it over." That is love. "I will come visit you in the hospital." That is love. "I will call a priest to give you the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick." That is love.
We should also strive to unite our sufferings to Christ, placing ourselves at the foot of the cross with Mary and John, where the mystery of divine love is most manifest. We should also unite ourselves to Christ through reception of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
However, we can also, in a profound way, unite our suffering to Christ in the Mass. Where his body and blood is given for us, may we, too, surrender our body and blood to him in the sacrifice of the Mass.
Mark 1:29-39
Here you can see how I lived one of my busiest days of pilgrimage on this earth. I came to teach in the synagogues, in the streets, in the fields, in the homes and everywhere I could. My words always set the stage for my miracles.