NKCC

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading I – Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 | Psalm – Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Reading II – 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 | Gospel – Mk 1:29-39

Listen to this week's readings courtesy of the USCCB.

Tireless Discipleship - The Gospel of Mark, unlike those of Matthew and Luke, has no infancy narrative, nor does it have a lengthy prologue to introduce it, as John’s Gospel does. In Mark’s account, one could say, Jesus hits the ground running. The stories we’ve been hearing these weeks come from the very first chapter of Mark, and they show us the public ministry of Jesus in its infancy. Today’s account shows some of the strain or adjustment of his new life of preaching the reign of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Notice that after sunset, when darkness ended the workday, people brought the sick and possessed to Jesus. The following day he rose before dawn to get away by himself to pray, but to no avail. Simon Peter and the others don’t just look for him, they pursue him, filled with the fervor that his ministry has incited. With the self-sacrificing example he gave until the end of his earthly life, he tells his followers that this is his whole purpose. Through Mark, he is also telling the early church, and he is telling us, that this is our purpose, our vocation: to be tireless in our pursuit of proclaiming the Good News, and in bringing the healing, reconciling touch of Christ to the world.

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