Jesus cures the mother-in-law of Simon

Today’s Gospel reading brings us to the story of the cure of Simon’s Mother-in-law that you will find in Mark 1:29-39.

“On leaving the synagogue [Jesus] entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with fever. They immediately told him about her. 31 He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

32 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 33 The whole town was gathered at the door. 34 He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. 35 Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

36 Simon and those who were with him pursued him 37 and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you. 38 He told them, “Let us go to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose I have come.” 39 So he went to their synagogue preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.”

I’m sure you’ve heard all those nasty jokes about mothers-in-law that many sons-in-law often dread with fear and trembling. What we see in this story was the faith of Simon Peter on his new found Master, our Lord Jesus Christ that he could cure people with all their afflictions, even just a simple fever. When the Lord grasped her hands, the fever left her and she once more went back to her chores in waiting for her children.

If you can picture how small that village of Capernaum is, at least you can say that there would have been at least be hundreds, if not thousands of people living there. I haven’t been to the Holy Land, but in one of my good friend Steve Ray’s documentary series, he toured Capernaum and even showed the actual house that used to be Simon Peter’s. It wasn’t a big house, but it was made of stone. Yet in the Bible we read that the whole town flocked into this house where the Lord Jesus was healing the sick and casting out demons.

While this is a very short gospel reading today, it gives us an idea of the duality of the nature our Lord Jesus, that he is indeed both human and divine. As Mark pointed out, “The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.”

We have hundreds of thousands if not millions of doctors all over the world, who took an oath to heal the sick. Some of them devote their time for research to find cures of diseases like cancer or heart diseases. But I have yet to hear a doctor who could also cast out demons, as this is the realm of the exorcists, who are priests from the Catholic Church. I would like to believe that the spirit world continues to exist today… and that there are demonic spirits that still roam the earth even in this modern age.

With the numerous hospitals operating here, you go can see for yourself that many people are sick of something and that most of our hospitals are full. But in the modern age where medical (like laser technology and new techniques for operating on patients) technology has reached new heights, the majority goes out of the hospital with a clean bill of health. Only those people with a terminal illness cannot live the hospital alive.

But who is doing exorcisms? I only know of Msgr. Kreikenbeck in Cebu. This means, ordinary priests are not really authorized or certified to do exorcisms… because it is no joke to fight the spirit world. I’m sure that everyone saw that famous 70’s movie “The Exorcist” which was one of the most frightening movies that I have ever seen. But while that was a mere movie, created to entertain people, the fact remains that demonic possession continues to this day. But unfortunately, people often misinterpret as some kind of mental condition. Often doctors also mis-diagnose such patients.

But whether we believe it or not, there is a spiritual warfare happening right this very minute, with the forces of good fighting those forces of evil. No, I’m not talking about a Star Wars type of warfare in space, but a war nonetheless. This is why we read about all those senseless killings happening just around Metro Cebu, like that textmate murder or the murder of that Call Center employee by her own friends. If you visited a courtroom, you will notice that cases are being filed by brother against sister and sons between their fathers or mothers claiming their inheritance. That’s the evil around us. 

The only way to thwart the evil in our midst is when we cloak ourselves with the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ when we partake of him in Holy Communion, then we can truly be protected from all kinds of evil spirits that roam this earth, seeking the ruin of souls.