5th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024 Year B

Mark 1:29-39

Just imagine that your prayers here today a mass will all be answered. Wouldn’t it be great?

Just imagine Jesus is there in the tabernacle. Might be a little hard to imagine.

Now I want you to imagine that the building you are in is burning down.

Have you noticed anything? No one is trying to escape. We know that what is imaginary is not real and so poses no threat.

Our Faith can’t just be an act of imagination. Our Faith can’t be an act of make believe; an act of pretend. To those of you who have tried: Eating imaginary food does not ward off hunger and restore strength to the body. Imaginary is quite unsatisfactory.

Faith not imagination is powerful. The faith of the saints brought miracles, not their imagination. Believing God is listening to you is very different from imagining that God is listening to you.

Believing gets you a real response. Imagining gets you an imaginary response.

Speak to Him with faith from the heart. Know that he is listening, don’t imagine it, know that He is listening. Know that He loves you, don’t imagine, know that He loves you. Nothing for Him is impossible, He will help you. Get to know He who created you and loves you, don’t imagine what He is like.

“When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons”

He healed many sick people which they brought to Him. Why “many”? Why not ‘all’ of them. Quoting the Fathers of the Church “He says, “many”, because there were some faithless persons, who could not at all be cured on account of their disbelief. Therefore He healed many of those who were brought, that is, all who had faith.” This is reinforced by the recount of Our Lord's visit to His hometown where we read: “And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.”

Like the people in the Gospel of today, let us come and bring our needs to the Lord, knowing He will help us. He helps those who come to Him in faith. Now be aware not to fall into presumption. Presumption is a sin against faith just as doubt is. Presumption is when one presumes upon God's almighty power or mercy without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it. Despair, on the other hand, is the sin of underestimating God’s power, mercy and forgiveness, and believing that one’s sins are too great to be forgiven or that God is impotent (powerless) in our lives. He may not answer as we hoped for but we must be ready to say, as Our Lord said in His Passion, “not my will be done but Yours”.

God is our Father, He loves you and that He will look after you and care for you as your Father but remember that He is the Father and you are a child and who must be obedient. A child does not order their father around but asks for help and protection and this a child can be sure of… that God will look after you.

Have faith and know that God is always present, live lives knowing that He is there, lives worthy of a child of God, lives of grace and holiness. Also take seriously the warning from God has given us, for there are very real and mortally dangers to our souls.

Is your faith imaginary? Or is it real faith? Here Our Lord awaits you. Bring everything. Bring your worries, your needs, your troubles and sufferings; your joys, your hopes and desires; place it all, your work and your life, before Him and speak to Him in Faith.

“they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.”

HAVE FAITH. BELIEVE. TRUST GOD. Turn away from sin and turn to God.

God has revealed Himself to us, He is Truth and Goodness itself. He has revealed what pleases Him and displeases Him. So we know if we are living as God desires us to live or do we not care what God thinks and prefer to live for ourselves. Turning to God in faith also implies turning away from sin. We must try to live our lives in grace.

Faith