Come to JESUS

Weekly Missionary Reflection
5th Ordinary Sunday, 04 February 2024
Job 7:1-4,6-7; Ps. 147:1-2,3-4,5-6; 1Cor. 9:16-19,22-23; Mrk. 1:29-39

“They immediately told Him about her.”
(Mark 1:30b)

Today’s Gospel tells about Jesus curing Simon’s mother-in-law and the crowd coming to Him to be cured. The curing begins with the stories of miracles and the great work of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. When curing Simon’s mother-in-law, Jesus shows the amazing power of curing and shows us that we can bring our troubles and sufferings to Him. 

One point to note is the concern of Peter and the other disciples. Once he arrived home and heard that his mother-in-law was ill, he directly informed Jesus. When Jesus got that news, He directly came to her and cured her. At this point, Simon played an important role: come to Jesus! In our daily lives, we often have problems and challenges. Sometimes we want to give up, yet we opt not to come to Jesus. 

Through this story, Jesus reminds us that the only thing we need to do is come to Him. Jesus will listen to our problems and come to us and solve them. One thing we need to do when facing the challenges and problems of life is to come to Jesus.

Besides coming to Jesus, we are also invited to constantly persevere in prayer. Jesus also shows us that He prays (v. 35). After all the good deeds and curing people, Jesus went off to a deserted place and prayed. Why did Jesus pray? Prayer is a dialogue with God. Through prayer, Jesus shows two things. First, His intimate relationship with God. Second, He relies on God. The secret success of Jesus’ ministry is in His reliance on God and prayer is the expression of relying on God. Jesus continuously prayed for God’s help to improve His ministry. This attitude of Jesus reminds us of the need to live in prayer and close communication with God. No matter how hectic is our work and ministry, we are always invited to spend time for prayer and dialogue with the Lord.

Our mission today: bring the problems and challenges of our lives to God in our prayer. 

(Ignasius Lede – Commission for Mission of The Bishop’s Conference of Indonesia)

DAILY DEDICATED PRAYER

Lord, our Father, I present my today prayer, thought, word, work, joy, and sorrow in unity with Your Son, Jesus Christ, who always presents Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit animating Jesus, also be my guidance and strength today so that I am ready to be the witness of Your love.

Together with Mary, Mother of Jesus, and the Church, in particular, I present my prayer for our Pope and apostle prayer of the Indonesian Church this month:

Universal Church Intent: For the terminally ill
We pray that those with a terminal illness and their families, receive the necessary physical and spiritual care and accompaniment.

Indonesian Church Intent: General election
We pray that Indonesian citizens with the right to vote are granted wisdom and a clear heart to elect people’s representatives and national leaders who prioritize public interest.

Amen.