5th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: Suffering humanity and the Divine response

Readings: Job 7:1–4,6–7; 1Cor 9:16–19,22–23; Mk 1:29–39

Dear friends in Christ, on this fifth Sunday of the Year, the Church presents before us the suffering humanity and the Divine response to this reality. She also shows us what should be the proper response of all of us in the face of the many sufferings humanity is facing. What do I mean by suffering humanity? We live in a world that has been weakened by all manner of sin and evil, which have, consequently, exposed human beings to all kinds of sicknesses, hardships, failures and sufferings.

The first reading of today presents us a perfect example or representation of suffering humanity and how human beings often feel or react under the weight of the burden of suffering that has become an inescapable reality in the world. This reading shows us the deep cry of despair of Job, a man who suffered untold sickness and loss of his wealth and children for no cause of his. Added to his suffering and frustration was the inability of his friends and his wife to understand how innocent he was. Job was so stretched by strange sickness and suffering to the point that he started feeling pessimistic about life, as shown in this reading.

Though Job couldn’t hide his pessimism and frustration in the face of great suffering, as all of us often do when we suffer, great was his faith and submission to the will of God. At the end, God did not abandon Job; He, rather, responded at His own time and rescued Job. Our God does not stay silent when we suffer. Sometimes, we may judge His apparent delay to come to our aid as a silence to our cry, but He definitely doesn’t stay silent when we cry to Him. So, great should be our faith in him and our submission to his will, even when we face great suffering.

The gospel of today comes with a beautiful story of the exact response of our God to the cries of the suffering humanity. In the face of the sickness that held down the mother-in-law of Peter and the sicknesses and evil spirits that tormented the people that were brought to Jesus, Jesus didn’t keep quiet, He didn’t just watch on. As we read from this gospel, Jesus responded positively and healed the mother-in-law of Peter and all other people that were brought to him, who were tormented by sicknesses and demons.

Dear friends in Christ, we have a God who is not far from our cries. The prophet Isaiah in 59:1 assured us that this God is not weak to save us nor deaf to hear our cry for help. Thus, when we raise of cries of pains, suffering, disappointment, and frustrations because of the unfortunate realities of our world, may we not lose hope in this God. He will surely wipe away our tears at His time. The letter to the Romans 5:5 says our hope in Him will never disappoint us.

Dear friends in Christ, each and everyone of us also has a role to play to help in alleviating the pain of the suffering humanity. Apart from the appeal that all of us should act in ways that will not subject other people to suffering and pain, we are also urged not to stay silent when other people suffer, we are to lift our hands and bring succor to them. In the gospel of today, as soon as the mother-in-law of Peter was healed, she put herself at the service of others, helping to lift them from their own problems of hunger. Of course, we know that hunger is one of the problems that threaten humanity. We should emulate the mother-in-law of Peter wherever we see people suffering.

The second reading of today also shows us the resolve of St Paul not to give up preaching the gospel that liberates humanity from spiritual and physical sufferings despite the challenges he faced. He also made sure he didn’t become a burden (a source of suffering) to the people he was sent to preach the good news. Rather, he chose to become all things to all men, so that through his services, the suffering of the people might be lifted. Like St Paul, we are challenged to make sure that all our services will contribute to the upliftment of those who suffer in our midst. We should also make sure we do not constitute a burden (a source of pain and suffering) to other people.

Peace be with you.

Fr Isaac C. Chima