Coffee With God

Reflection: Luke 4: 38-44

We continue to read from the account of Evangelist Luke about Jesus spending a Sabbath day in Capernaum. After driving out an ugly demon from a person in the Synagogue and refusing even to have any dialogue with the evil powers, Jesus moves to the house of Peter. Fr. Armellini would explain this act of Jesus moving from the synagogue to the House of Peter as a symbolic gesture. For the community of Luke, the House of Peter is a symbol of the house of the disciples of Jesus – i.e., the Church. Jesus walks in and first heals the woman suffering from a fever. The Church has its own fevers and illnesses that paralyses it from getting up and being at the service of others. Anything that makes us lazy or prevents us from being at the service of others is a fever that forces us on the bed. Being in the Church, if we refuse to be at the service of others, it is an indication that we are sick and we need an urgent healing! For the Church to move on with its mission of healing the wounds of the world, it needs to be healed of its own fevers in the first place. Therefore, when Jesus walks in to the house of Peter, his first action would be to bring healing to the fevers of those within the household. Once healed of her fever, Peter’s mother-in-law get up immediately and moves on with her mission of serving them. All the people who were sick, with various illnesses were brought to the house of Peter, seeking a healing touch of the Lord. It is also a symbol of the sick world that stands before the Church, in need of the healing touch. The Church shares the mission of Christ to bring healing to the world. “He laid his hands on each of them and cured them,” says the Gospel. Nobody is excluded from the mercy and grace of Christ. And this our mission too. Demons, as they did in the synagogue earlier, continue their trade here too – shouting “You are the Son of God.” But Jesus wouldn’t fall into their trap of soliciting any public applause or adulations. Once the mission is completed, he does not stay there any longer. Despite the plea of the people, Jesus moves on to other places. Here is a lesson to learn for the Missionary Church. Our mission is to be on the move in service of God’s people and not to be stationed in the comforts of places where we are appreciated and accepted.