Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
I’ve never been much of a “handyman”. I know how to use a screwdriver; I’ve got that one down. Pretty good with a hammer, apart from mistaking my thumb for a nail on occasion. And I do like the clicky sound when you slide the battery into bottom of the cordless drill. But when it comes to repairing a leaky faucet in the bathroom, a loose brick on the front steps, or fixing the lawnmower, it usually takes me 3 times longer than I expect, and I need the help of approximately 87 YouTube tutorials and 4 trips to Home Depot.
When something breaks around the house, I echo the words of Job from the First Reading this Sunday, “I shall not see happiness again.” I remember the days of evenly cut grass, solid footing walking up to my front door, and silence where there is now drip, drip, drip. I usually give it a try myself, but every once in a while, I need to enlist the help of my dad, father-in-law, brother, or Grandpa, and when that eventually doesn’t work, we break down and call the professionals.
The First Reading, Psalm, Second Reading, and Gospel all have a thread running through them this week; the Lord fixes what’s broken. He heals, renews, and restores and with just one trip to Home Depot (just to say hi).
In the Psalm, we hear that “The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; the dispersed of Israel he gathers.” If you’re not brushed up on your Old Testament, that reference might go past you, but to recap, Jerusalem was the spiritual center of the universe of the people of Israel. Then the Babylonians come in, take everyone into exile in Babylon, and destroy the temple. Then the Persians conquer the Babylonians, and they allow the Jews to go back and rebuild, and they even fund it! The Jewish people very clearly saw the hand of God in this process. The people had been dispersed, but the LORD was gathering them together and restoring what was lost. The Psalm goes on, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Even if you didn’t get the reference to rebuilding Jerusalem, I bet that one jumped out at you. We’ve all been (or are currently) brokenhearted, and hearing that the LORD heals the brokenhearted is comforting and gives us hope.
In the Gospel, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, casts out demons, heals many others who were sick, and then after retreating from the crowds for a time of prayer, does more of the same all throughout Galilee. He says, “For this purpose I have come.” To heal, restore, rebuild, to make whole, to set things right.
Then in the Second Reading, St. Paul talks about how we’re called go to out and give this same hope to all that we encounter, and woe to us if we don’t. There’s brokenness out there (and plenty in our own hearts as well), and Jesus wants to heal it all.
So, this week, take a look around and take note of what’s broken in your life and the lives of those around you. What needs to be healed? Fixed? Restored? Revived? Break out the thesaurus and insert your own adjective here; Jesus wants to do it. Maybe there’s a huge structural issue with your metaphorical front steps you need to address ASAP. Maybe you have a slow leak from a figurative faucet that you’ve been ignoring for a while but it’s going to continue to get worse. Maybe your “front lawn” is unevenly cut and your neighbors are starting to notice. Let Him heal you, and let Him use you to bring His healing to others. You can try to heal yourself, but eventually you’re going to need His help. By the way if anyone has the number of a good plumber, let me know!
