Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-Law

When we reflect on the serious problems that trouble humanity today, we may ask ourselves why all this should take place. Sisters and brothers in Christ, the Gospel of today is a reply to human problems. Jesus sees the sad reality of suffering and disease. Let us now try to consider the first part of today’s Gospel. The mother-in-law of Peter is in bed with fever. Jesus approaches her, takes her hand and helps her to stand up; as soon as she is up she begins serving them.

First of all, as soon as they told him about the sick person, Jesus immediately went to see the suffering one. Is this what we behave? Don’t we rather try to avoid such people and the homes where there is suffering?

The second gesture of Jesus is even more important: he takes the mother-in-law of Peter by the hand and “helps her up.” In the New Testament this expression is used for “resurrection.” The sick person lying in bed, unable to move, prisoner of illness, is the person who is the victim of sin or the one burdened with some inhuman situation (disease, injustice, oppression…). One day Jesus approaches this person and raises this person to a new life. The Christian now has the task of repeating the gestures of the Master: to get near those who have no strength to stand and help them out of the unhappy situation they are in.

The third detail (the healed woman begins to serve Christ and the brothers) is also significant. It is an indication that whoever is healed must once more become an active member of the community.

The next scene of today’s Gospel shows Jesus curing all kinds of diseases. If Christians pray to God only for cures, for good health, for luck in life, or good jobs; aren’t they seeking only sensational and material happiness? Jesus did not teach us to work miracles; he did not solve all the problems of the people of his time. He only posed some significant gestures to show us that God is not indifferent to the people’s miserable conditions. By curing the sick, Jesus shows that his coming has initiated a new world from which sorrow and suffering have to be banned. The kingdom of evil, that is, all that hinders a person from being truly human, has been challenged and defeated.

What can we do to foster the creation of a new humanity? Do we need the power to work wonders in order to change the world? What does Christ teach? Let us see: if all people were to love each other. If instead of fighting, hating and warring, we were to combine all our abilities and efforts and put them at the service of our sisters and brothers, wouldn’t suffering, disease and hunger be immensely alleviated in this world?