What do we see when we stop and contemplate our current reality? When we consider that we are living a global pandemic, isolation, turmoil, tensions and injustice, it might be very easy to agree with Job in today’s first reading who says that man’s life on earth is a drudgery. With life being interrupted for nearly a year now due to COVID-19, we have all experienced in varying degrees “restlessness,” “months of misery,” and “troubled nights.”
Amid the despair and desolation we might be facing, the Gospel, the Good News, is always good and is always news. The good Word of God comes and speaks to us in new ways in light of our current situation. Today’s gospel passage is especially timely and speaks to our needs. We find Jesus curing a fever and grasping a hand. How much do we need not only physical healing but also human contact in our world today! How many are suffering not only from physical ailments, but also from going unnoticed, untouched in these days of greater isolation.
Once Jesus cures Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, something beautiful happens. The good news spreads! People from all over who needed healing, who had been perhaps barely hanging on to hope, who had tried all sorts of cures at great suffering and great expenses, hear of a man who has come to heal. And gathered together after the sun had set, received the healing for which they so hoped.
Even when it feels that the light is gone and the sun has set, let us hold on to hope. And even though we might not be able to be physically close to one another, let us imitate those holy and venerable hands that heal. A simple message, a simple phone call, a simple “Hello,” can go a long way in making someone’s heart feel noticed and touched.