The liturgy of the fifth Sunday is based on the following readings: Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 147; 1Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39.  The main theme of the readings is on man’s suffering. These readings teach us a lesson common to our daily experience; that suffering is part of life.

We read in the first reading and the Gospel that in the face of suffering, man is often powerless and however much he or she tries, it is hard to do away with suffering completely. This fact of life may cause some kind of frustration to our post modern time, where most societies are comfort-oriented in their legitimate strive to shield their members from physical and moral suffering.

And there is no proof so far that such a life without any suffering and challenges would be the best of lives! Christ knows what suffering can do to man, and that is why he came as the redeemer and the conqueror of suffering and of death.

The Gospel shows us that he did not limit his healing mission to the ills of the body, but took on the ailing soul as well in order to liberate the whole man, with a dedication that is admired and reflected by St Paul in the second reading.  But when all was said and done; Christ leaves us with a precious advice: Whoever wants to follow me, let him or her pick up his or her cross and follow me; he continues to tell us.

And picking up one’s cross must be different from dragging one’s cross on the way!  The former is a sign of courage whereas the latter is pure discouragement.  The first reading narrates the trials of Job in a way that gives life a perspective which is very dark tinted. This is so because the promise of eternal life was only gradually revealed to Israel. What is more appalling however is that the lot of modern man is still worse than what Job experienced.

If you need some examples, just open the last chapter of our national history! The same depressing reality of suffering is common beyond our borders. In many regions of the world you find hundreds, if not thousands, of millions of men and women still living in conditions that are not much better than Job’s.

There is a far deeper wretchedness, which consists in man’s alienation from God through sin which holds the prospect of a never-ending misery, and to which we ourselves, despite our technological and medical advances, have no remedy.From a doctrinal point of view; the trials of Job and the illness of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law which we find in our readings are mere signs and symbols of the incomparably greater ill that man continues to suffer today.

As far as this kind of human misery is concerned, the Church has always taught that this human phenomenon which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and a culture of death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam’s sin. The fact that this original sin has been transmitted to us causes all to be born afflicted by it. And this explains the ´death of the soul´ in man. Man who continues to be inclined to what is evil hence causing self suffering and the suffering of others; a fact which makes human life a struggle. That is why Christ meets the ailing man in a world which is sick.  To heal us, Jesus has taken our full burden upon himself. St Mark depicts graphically a day in Jesus’ life: He spends the whole day preaching in the synagogue, takes no break for a meal, goes to heal Peter’s mother-in-law, and cures all the sick they brought to him well into the late evening. Next, he rises before dawn to pray and, refusing to stay and be acclaimed for his good works. Instead, he is driven by his love to the neighbouring villages to proclaim the good news there. This is Jesus whole life. He is the greatest fighter in all of history, "for us men and for our salvation”. In the final analysis the liturgy is warning us against the consequences of original sin. In our daily life we must take necessary measures with foresight to counteract it. And in a special way, the youth who are our future hope must constantly be warned that the ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil may gives rise to serious errors in all sectors of life. This would help our youth to understand their responsibility toward a battling and fraternal Christianity.