Job, poor Job… His children die, everything he owns is lost, and he is stricken with a horrible disease. Job has lost hope. He cannot understand how God “seems” to have abandoned him”. (Spoiler alert, things eventually take a much better turn for Job!)
And then there is Mark, our Gospel writer today, reminding people that Jesus brings hope. As a matter of fact, Jesus comes to our rescue, Jesus come to heal us, to make us well – to make us whole.
And then there is St. Paul who shares that he has decided to bring GOOD NEWS to as many people as possible: Gentile and Jew, slave and free, the strong and weak, those who can offer recompense and those who cannot. He will bring hope to those who despair.
And I would guess that we have had our moments of despair or pain or hopelessness.
And the Gospel reminds us that just as Jesus, “took the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law, and helped her up…” He can do the same for us. And what is it for ourselves, that we need to believe that Jesus, the savior will help us with or help another?
And like St. Paul, to whom are we “called” to bring help and hope?
To whom can we bring today, this week, a helping hand, an encouraging word, a listening spirit; or a supportive presence?
2,000 plus years ago, as Jesus brought hope to people and so much more, many said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
May we, like St. Paul, be that person, that Disciple of Jesus, that offers our hand to others and helps them up figuratively and literally to all, today and everyday as person, family and parish.
You know miracles are not a thing of the past or of Jesus alone…
Miracles happen every day, because we chose to “bring the Spirit of Jesus to the people and situations of each moment of our lives.” A spirit of hope and love for each of us and all of us…