Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 4, 2019
After leaving the synagogue Jesus entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.
As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.
At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.
Reflection
Sometimes I’ve reacted in a mildly sarcastic response to Jesus curing Simon’s mother-in-law: “Of course he healed her; they wanted to be served dinner!” Upon further reflection, I now read this gospel more as a perfect example of a day in the life of Christ.
We read initially that Jesus had been in the synagogue that day teaching. Then he went to Simon’s house. The disciples asked Jesus about Simon’s mother-in-law. How many times I have asked Jesus about family, friends, and acquaintances? That is often how I pray. Jesus healed her in response to their concerns.
“As the sun was setting,” others came to bring their family, friends, and acquaintances to Jesus. He cured them and rebuked the demons declaring his divinity. All through the night, or most of the night, this must have been happening, because the next scene we have is at daybreak when Christ “departed and went into a deserted place.” How tired he must have been and eager for some time in solitude!
Simon’s mother-in-law was healed because her friends and family asked Jesus about her. She responded to her healing by doing what she wanted to be able to do: serve those she loved. I hope and pray that, as we bring ourselves and our families, friends, acquaintances, and yes, even our enemies to Jesus, we will trust that Christ will hear us, come to us, and heal us. May we be able to respond with service and love!
Prayer
Lord, in healing Simon’s mother-in-law you restored his family. We need you to restore health to us, and to our family and friends. Please guide us to do all we can to bring healing and comfort to our minds and bodies and to those we love. Remove our anxiety and give us that peace and hope that surpasses human understanding. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The best information we have of St. Rosalia’s life comes from the evidence we have of the medieval Church’s devotion to her. Churches dedicated to her, inscriptions, and paintings reveal details of her life.
She was born in Sicily around 1130 to a family of nobles; she is said to be a descendant of Charlemagne.
While she was still young, she felt a call to dedicate her life to God. She left home to seek holiness in solitude and went to live in a cave near her parent’s home and spent the rest of her life in it. She lived her whole life apart from the world, consumed in prayer, and died alone and forgotten.
Five hundred years later, as a plague was troubling the nearby city of Palermo, she appeared in a vision to a victim and led him to the cave where she died. Her bones were discovered, and inscribed on the wall were these words: “I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses, and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.” Also found were a clay crucifix, a Greek cross of silver, and a string of beads (an early form of the Rosary).
Her relics were carried in procession through Palermo. Three days later the plague ended, her intercession was credited as having saved the city, and she was declared its patron.
Relics of St. Rosalia rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Rosalia, who gave her life to prayer and saved a city—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Rosalia is in the public domain. Last accessed April 2, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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