Homily for 5^th Sunday of year B

St. Vincent de Paul Church. 7^th February 2021

Fr. Ferdinand Van Campen M.Afr.

Today's Gospel describes a typical day in the life of Jesus: after having visited the synagogue, where he preached and healed, Jesus, accompanied by his first four disciples, visits the house of Simon and Andrew. And there he heals Simon's mother- in-law. In the evening of that day the whole town gathers at the house of Simon and Jesus heals many sick and expels many demons. Early the next morning he leaves the house and goes to a lonely place to pray.

When we listen to this passage what is striking is the speed in which the events follow each other. There is a sense of urgency. The proclamation of the Good News is urgent. There is no time to waste.

Though the Mission is urgent, the next morning Jesus goes off to a lonely place, to be alone with his Father, to pray. There is in his life a balance of action and solitude, prayer. It is his time spent with the Father that gives him the Spirit to carry out his Mission.

Now let us zoom in on what happened in the house of Simon and Andrew. Simon's mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever. And when they tell Jesus about her, he went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up.

Jesus healed her by touching her, without a single word. And the cure was complete and instantaneous. We hear that the fever left her and she started to serve. She was completely healed!

What is striking is the kindness and gentleness of Jesus: he takes her by the hand and helps her up...He helped her up, maybe in the way elderly people are helped to stand up from their chair or to come out of bed!

What is striking also is that the healing resembles a resurrection, a raising up...Simon's mother-in-law, we do not know her name, was lying down in bed, with high fever, but Jesus raises her up to health, to action, to life.

Jesus wishes to raise us up as well: from anxiety and worry about the pandemic and the future to trust and hope,  from bitterness and holding grudges to forgiveness, joy and gratitude.

If only we would allow Jesus to come close to us, to touch us and take us by the hand.

The healing of Simon's mother-in-law is also like a raising up to freedom. From being enslaved to being free. Many people are struggling with addiction, to narcotics, to the internet, to gambling, in many different ways.  They need our support.

If we allow Jesus to come near to us, and take us by the hand, over time he will raise us up to be free, and he will help us to raise up others!

Besides dependency, addiction, there is another kind of slavery which is called: human trafficking, a modern-day slavery. Slavery is not something of the past; there are now more people trafficked and held in slavery than ever before in history. It is a reality, a hidden reality.

Modern slavery is one of the greatest evils in the world, and it is happening here in the UK. It targets the most vulnerable in society and seeks to use them as commodities from which to make profit. Modern slavery takes many forms: forced labour, forced criminality , sexual exploitation, child slavery, domestic servitude. Victims are forced to work against their wills. Traffickers and exploiters use coercion and deception to keep control over their victims.

It is estimated that worldwide around 40 million people are trapped in slavery today. There are tens of thousands of them also in the UK; they have been brought by traffickers from other countries or are trafficked within the UK.

Modern slavery is a grave violation of human dignity. No person is born to be a slave. We are all born to enjoy the freedom of the children of God.

Jesus raised up Simon’s mother- in-law from bondage to freedom. We pray to the Lord for all victims of modern slavery and also for ourselves that we may be instruments of freedom!