Mk.1:29-39
Simple short stories can make a great impact on our lives. I came across a short story that touched me and provided me with insights to reflect on God’s love. There was a woman; One day, she got an emergent call from her baby sitter during her work, informing that her little daughter was down with fever. Immediately she left the job and hurried to meet her daughter. On her way back home, she stopped the car near a pharmacy to buy medicine for her daughter. When she came back to the car, she was stunned because she locked the car leaving the keys inside. She called the baby sitter and informed about the inconvenience. The baby sitter told her that the fever is getting worse and the baby needs urgent medication. Baby sitter asked her to search for an old hanger around and try to open the car door with that. She started to search desperately and at the end, she found an old rusted hanger. Nevertheless, she did not know how to use it to open the door.
She prayed earnestly to get some help so that she could reach in time and save her baby. Immediately an old biker wearing a dirty old coat, a skull rag on his head arrived there on his motorbike. He stopped the vehicle close to the woman and offered himself for help. Lady was desperate and complained to the Lord. ‘Oh Lord, at the end you send me this old man, what can he do for me?’ Having no other means, she explained to him her difficulty of being unable to open the car in order to attend her baby. The man told her that he would solve the issue. He went to the car and within a minute, opened the door using the old rusted hanger. There was no limit for her happiness. She thanked God for his timely intervention. She wiped her tears, and told him ‘Thank you so much for your kindness and you are a nice man.’ The man answered her: “I am not a nice man. I was imprisoned for car theft. I am just rereleased from the prison an hour before…” She profusely thanked God again for sending her the best professional available to open the door…
Very often, we seek God when we require his favour and failed to build a relationship with him. In this case, we may not get the taste of being in his presence and spending time in his company. This relationship should arise from the awareness that in Him we move and have our being. He is the cause of our being and the meaning of our existence as if a plant depends on the sun for its growth; we need to depend on God for our spiritual sustenance. The moment we think that we are self-sufficient and manage everything by ourselves, we failed to grow in this relationship and lose the beauty of being with him. We might be actively involved in our jobs or ministries; we may appear fruitful like the fig tree cursed by Jesus, which was fruitless. After a while, the person who has a shallow relationship with God feels emptiness within and the feeling of worn-out because could not supply the energy that was required for the spiritual sustenance. We derive spiritual strength to meet the challenges our life only through our relationship with the Lord through the means of prayer.
Today’s gospel presents Jesus as a perfect model for integrating his mission and prayer life. We see Jesus spending time in prayer early in the morning. Jesus could have found so many excuses like a hectic schedule, meeting people and curing the sick and casting out demons etc. Jesus could have taken extra time for resting, telling them that he was tired. However, we see early in the morning Jesus conversing with his Heavenly Father. Jesus derived his strength to fulfil his mission from his Heavenly Father. These moments of prayer were intimate moments of communion with his heavenly Father. He too experienced human fragility like any of us. His prayer experience at the garden of Gethsemane testifies his struggles to accept his destiny. We see a disturbed Jesus at Gethsemane but after those prayer moments, we find an empowered Jesus through the means of prayer. He courageously faces his persecution and brutal crucifixion. In those difficult moments, he was in touch with his Father through his prayer life. He did not take shelter in any of the human power or authority rather only on his Father. “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” We see a magnificent expression of Trinitarian communion at this moment, wherein Jesus gives up his life.
His human nature was strengthened and empowered by his constant union with the Father. St. Paul Says: “When I am weak then I am strong.” At the very outset, these words are an irony in itself. How a weak person can be strong? Awareness of his own weakness prompted Paul to rely on God’s strength than his own. As we continue our life journey, let us inculcate a deep intimacy with him through our prayer moments so that we may rely more on God’s strength and empowered to live our lives with hope…