Sent to Proclaim the Gospel
Fifth Sunday - Year B in Ordinary Time
Job 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39
The book of Job addresses the problem of the undeserved suffering of the righteous. The popular solution that suffering is the result of a sinful life did not satisfy the author. Friends of Job advise him to look into himself and acknowledge his sinfulness, but he rejects this idea. He does not find in his life reasons - sins - justifying the immensity of his suffering. The hero of the book compares his life to a life of a hired laborer or a slave. The first waits for payment, the second dreams of freedom, and Job longs for healing. Unfortunately, the prolonged sufferings are undermining Job’s hope. "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope." (Job 7:6).
Jesus "cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons" (Mark 1:34). Great joy filled the hearts of people healed today in the Gospel. Their days of illness and enslavement to the power of evil did not offer them hope either. But with the appearance of Christ, everything changed. “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted”. (Ps. 147:3). The healing activity of Jesus is the first answer to Job's complaint. No suffering lasts forever, and in suffering, we are never left alone. “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases." (Matt. 8:17). The fact that Job was able to bear his suffering shows that God was with him. The fact that he survived that trial period and received far more than he had before (Job 42:12) points to the message of the Gospel.
Complaining about his tragic life, Job did not realize that God has an answer for him that far surpasses human imagination. It is contained in the Gospel preached by Saint Paul. Here, every Job finds the answer to the experience of shortness of life filled with suffering and ending in death. At the heart of the Gospel is the death and resurrection of the Son of God. Thus, death is not the ultimate end of life. The risen Christ emerges from the grave and opens the way to eternal life free from suffering and death. So, when on the Holy Saturday the Lord triumphantly descended into Hades announcing the Joyful News of salvation (1 Pet. 3:18-20; 4:6), Job was among those singing "Alleluia - Praise the Lord" while entering the fullness of life.
The Good News about the Son of God, who took up our infirmities could not be confined to one place alone. "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come" (Mark 1:38). Capernaum has already experienced it, but many hearts still await the Gospel. That is why Jesus "traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons" (Mark 1:39). That is why Christ’s disciples after His ascension go all over the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:19-20).
Many people today live without hope. For them too, life is short, full of suffering, and ends in death. They need the Gospel of Jesus Christ who heals the brokenhearted. We cannot keep this Good News to ourselves. "Woe to me, if I did not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16). The Church is missionary by nature and evangelization is service. "Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible." (1 Cor. 9:19). Together with the Apostle to the Nations, we announce to the world that in Jesus Christ suffering takes on meaning, death is overcome, and every believer becomes the heir of eternal life.