Work for, walk with and withdraw to Jesus

Work tirelessly. In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals the mother-in-law of Simon Peter. For us to appreciate this little incident, let us contextualize this healing miracle within Jesus’ broader ministry: Often, Jesus preached in the northern towns of the Sea of Galilee, which included Capernaum. At the end of the day, Jesus would dine and spend the night in the home of a friend or benefactor. Whenever he ministered in Capernaum, he would have spent the night with Peter and his family, which included his mother-in-law and Andrew his brother.

Walk the extra mile. Exhausted from preaching in the synagogue all day, Jesus must have looked forward to resting his feet, dining and conversing with Peter and his wife, perhaps playing with their children, and after supper laying his head. Instead, upon learning of the illness of Peter’s mother-in-law, he attends to her, takes her hand and raises her up. Deeply grateful to Jesus, in return she attends to him, serving him at table and preparing his sleeping quarters.

However, because word spread immediately that Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law, as evening drew on, a huge crowd gathered outside Peter’s house, with people pressing upon Jesus, begging him to heal their sick and exorcise the possessed.

Instead of resting after preaching the whole day in the synagogue, Jesus heals the neighbors of Peter that evening. How long into the night Jesus ministered to the sick, we can only surmise.

Withdraw in solitude. Finally, after a long-drawn day, Jesus catches some sleep. But before the break of dawn, before anyone is up, he rises and goes off to a deserted place in order to pray. Exhausted from preaching and healing the previous day and in preparation for the day ahead, he withdraws to a mountain to be alone with the Father.

When Peter finally locates Jesus and reports that the villagers had been requesting him to preach to them again, Jesus replies that there has work awaiting him in the other towns. He does not evade the incessant clamor for him in Capernaum, instead makes himself available to those hungering also for God’s word and healing in other towns.

Working for Jesus. Many of us work tirelessly. But every now and then we need to take stock and ask ourselves what for and for whom?

After 9/11, many Americans who realized how vulnerable we all are and how fleeting life is, were compelled to articulate what truly mattered to them, what their core values were, what they were willing to live and die for. Many individuals decided to give up more lucrative jobs in other states and take on lesser paying jobs back home in order to be with children. In a sense, working for Jesus entailed making sacrifices with regard their career options because of what truly mattered to them — family.

For millions of Filipinos the love for family entails sacrificing being with them, finding work abroad, withstanding the isolation and loneliness. To work for Jesus means working away from family out of love for one’s family.

Walking an extra mile with Jesus. Just when Jesus looked forward to resting in Peter’s house, numerous people begged him to heal their sick. Often we are tired, yet just when we are bone-weary, people come to us with their needs.

Sometimes we are called to walk an extra mile and to transcend ourselves. Yet other times, God calls us to say no to others and to attend to our own needs. We need to ask God whether the Lord is calling us to be compassionate towards others or to ourselves. We also need to ask ourselves whether our availability to others stems from empathy for the other or from a compulsion to help others, an inability to say no, or perhaps from our need for affirmation from others and ourselves.

Withdrawing to Jesus. Other times, we need to forego helping others. Sometimes because of our need to rest and recover, other times because helping others reinforces their co-dependency on us. At times we need to ask ourselves why we cannot withdraw away with Jesus? Is it because we are simply too busy? Or because we fear and avoid solitude? Is it because there is no opportunity? Or because we evade the opportunity to confront ourselves before God?

Today let us ask for the grace to sustain our tireless work for Jesus and for those we love, to walk an extra mile with Jesus when the situation calls us to transcend ourselves, and to withdraw with Jesus as an integral part of our daily lives.

(Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ is a prolific composer of liturgical music and serves on the faculty of the Loyola School of Theology. For feedback on this column, email [email protected].)