7th Week, Saturday, May 25
James 5:13-20 / Mark 10:13-16
Remember this! Whoever converts a sinner does great work.
Irene Champernowne tells this story in her book The One and Only Me. She was walking along with the beach one evening when she came upon some little children throwing stones at a crippled seagull. Irene was shocked by the children's behavior and told them so. "You should be helping the wounded seagull, not hurting it more,' she said passionately. "How would you feel if you were hurt and people threw stones at you?” When Irene returned about a half-hour later, she was delighted to see that the children had taken her words to heart. They were feeding the seagull and building it a "house" for the night.
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Do we try to right wrongs when we see them? Or do we ignore them and pass them by, pretending they are “none of our business”? “If you stop to be kind, you must often swerve from your path.” Mary Webb
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We may think that what is the most obvious and necessary thing that must be done would be embarked on without hesitation. But very often it is not the case, and the obvious and necessary thing is done only when what has preceded had failed. One common example is the instruction manual of a gadget or equipment. We have this tendency to have a go at it hands-on first when the label would tell us to read the instructions first.
What the 1st reading said seemed so obvious and necessary - If anyone of you is in trouble, he should pray; if anyone is feeling happy, he should sing a psalm. If anyone of you is ill, he should send for the elders of the church. Yet, we seem to do otherwise. When we are in trouble we will get anxious and will desperately look for solutions and when all is futile then we turn to prayer. Prayer does not seem to be our first option.
And even when we are happy, we bask in the euphoria of the moment and we forget that it is a moment of blessing from the Lord. Being happy and being thankful does not seem to go together. And of course, when we fall ill, we would rather go see the doctor than to see a priest first to ask for a prayer of healing and strength to bear our illness.
So, what is obvious and necessary is not really what we would do first. Often it may well be the last thing that we would do. Similarly, children may seem to be like little concerns and we have more pressing issues at hand to handle, and so we may not have time to pray with them and bless them like Jesus did in the gospel.
Today's readings remind us to take care of the little, obvious and necessary things in life first. When we take care to let God be first in our lives, then we will be taken care of by God.
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Saturday of 7th Week in Ordinary Time
Is Anyone Sick Among You?
Introduction
James gives us today his famous text on anointing the sick. The sick person is the responsibility of the community. “I was sick and you visited me,” says the Lord of the true Christian. In our difficult pastoral setting, the sick are not given all the attention they deserve by the community, particularly the poor and the lonely. Sickness is a very sensitive moment in a person’s life when a visit in the name of the Lord will do a lot of good.
“Christ’s reception of children cannot be regarded as a recommendation of infantilism or a vain search for primeval innocence. He recommends the adult attitude which acknowledges limitations and accepts dependence upon God with interdependence between people... The child, who acts with all his being, is, in the final analysis, more human and more integral than the thinker who becomes entangled in arguments and in worry about motives.” Guide to the Christian Assembly II, p. 327.
Opening Prayer
God, our Father, sickness, pain, and suffering upset us, for we are afraid of them. And yet, you let your Son be a man of sorrows familiar with infirmity; his heart reached out especially to the sick, the poor and all who suffer. Do not allow us to cover our faces on seeing them in pain and distress, but move us by your Spirit of love to recognize your suffering Son in them and to serve him with gentle care, for he is our Lord, now and forever.
Intentions
– That our sick people may entrust themselves to Jesus, our Lord, who bore our infirmities and endured our sufferings, we pray:
– That relatives, friends, and neighbors may call the attention of our priests and ministers when someone is sick in the parish, we pray:
– That is our community, the people may visit the Lord in those who are sick, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
To the table of your Son, we have brought your own good gifts, Lord our God, as signs that everything comes from your hands. Prepare us to accept in life joys and sorrows, health and sickness, days of laughter and times of affliction. Through your Son who suffered for us, we offer you our crosses and ask of you for the strength to bear them with him. For we place all our trust in you through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father, we have shared the table of him who tasted the depths of human ills, your Son, Jesus Christ. When sickness and suffering remind us of the limitations of human life, help us seek healing and wholeness in him. Give us the courage to uplift him in the sick, by a quiet visit, an endearing present, a word of assurance, a prayer of hope. We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Let us never forget the sick and the infirm! In them, we visit and care for no less than the Lord Jesus himself. May God bless all the sick and you who visit them; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Receiving Like Children
Why did the disciples block the children from going to Jesus? Mark does not tell us the reasons. But we can interpolate from our contexts (because human beings behave essentially the same way, despite differences in space and time). Perhaps they thought it was a waste of time for Jesus—he would have more important things to do than spend time with children. Or they thought kids would take undue liberty with Jesus and invade his personal space. In a world where children and women did not count, why trouble the Master with the petty needs of children? Whatever be their reasoning, Jesus was left “very angry” by their behavior. See how playful, joyful, kind, and generous he became with children! And, he leaves us a message as well: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Perhaps it is a corrective to our materialistic, calculated approach to the Kingdom which many want to buy with their dos and don’ts, and an invitation to receive the Kingdom as pure gift of the playful presence of God.
