February 7

by David Lins  |  02/07/2021  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Would you like an uplifting quote from the Bible to get you through these tough times? Well join me, won’t you? Let’s go to today’s First Reading!

“If in bed I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” (from Job 7)

Yeah. Well. Hang on. First things first.

Don’t most of us feel this way sometimes? Some of us more often than others?

If you didn’t leave Mass after that little piece of sunshine, the tone changed quickly.

First, there was the Psalm. “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.” (from Chapter 147)

Then, the Alleluia. “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (from Matthew 8:17)

Finally, in the Gospel taken from Mark 1:29-39, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever that had confined her to her bed. (As a side note, this is a good reminder for some of you to be kind to your son-in- law’s buddies.)

Here is my uplifting point: Original sin opened the floodgates to sin, sickness, and death. This is foundational Church teaching. And it is why Jesus had to die and the cross for our sins before rising from the dead and defeating death-in the process-conquering the consequences of our sin. (To be clear: we do not teach that Aunt Mabel got sick because she was engaged in hidden immorality. Rather: we all get sick and die because we are all descendants of Adam and Eve and have sinned.) But as a result of His ultimate sacrifice, we can choose to be healed of our restlessness, our unhappiness, our broken hearts, our illness, and our sin. God has defeated death, therefor death will not be the end for those who follow Him.

Questions? Comments? Email David at dlins@oloj.org

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