Todays’ gospel reading has two important themes. The importance of morning prayer and of serving others. Mark’s gospel tells us about Jesus going into the house of Simon and Andrew and healing Simon’s very sick mother-in-law. In the evening, many people gather. “The whole town,” it says. And Jesus continues to heal the sick, many very ill. He drove out demons as well.
Can you picture the scene? It must have been wild! Can you imagine the droves of people lined up to be healed? And the others who came to see?! We know how news spreads like wildfire. Surely, when Mark meant everyone, he really did mean everyone. I cannot help but wonder how I would have reacted had I been there seeing all this firsthand. It must have been incredible.
Goes Off to Pray
Perhaps the next part of the text though, is even more important than the first part. What is the next thing Jesus does? He goes off to pray. It is early morning. Before anything else He spends time in prayer with His heavenly Father.
Jesus, the Son of God, made it a point to start His day in quiet time with God. How significant then, for us to do the same! Begin your day with prayer.
Certainly, most times you begin your days with prayer. Yet, perhaps in this new year you could take it a step further and make the prayer even more authentic and rich.
After prayer, Jesus went to serve and preach again.
Service
Prayer, service, and evangelization. It seems pretty straight forward to me. It seems like a good model to live by. When we spend our days praying and serving others, we evangelize just by the way we live. I think sometimes we make it more complicated than it really is. I read a quote today by Nikki Banas that said,
“You never really know the true impact you have on those around you. You never know how much someone needed that smile you gave them. You never know how much your kindness turned someone’s entire life around. You never know how much someone needed that long hug or deep talk. So don’t wait to be kind. Don’t wait for someone else to be kind first. Don’t wait for better circumstances or for someone to change. Just be kind, because you never know how much someone needs it.”
So, go and start your days with prayer. Be with your Father. And then, serve someone in whatever way you can, big or small, because there is true evangelization in that.
