Wednesday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 2:14-18 | Psalm 104(105):1-4,6-9 | Mark 1:29-39
That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
What a wonder is Jesus, Son of God,
that He deigned to also become Son of Man,
to realize human joys and pains, astonishment and temptation,
and to will His own sacrifice for the salvation of every human through eternity.
Not just to fulfill the will of God,
but also out of the compassion that only flows from shared experience.
“I know what you’re going through” is one of the easiest phrases to toss off, but is it the truth? Or is it merely shorthand for “tough luck, sorry you’re going through this, here’s some advice I haven’t used myself, but I guess it might work, so I’ll force-feed it to you anyway”?
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Jesus knew what we humans go through each day. He experienced it for Himself, and it greatly coloured His ministry.
Experiencing the mortality of human flesh, He chose not to stay in one place like a rabbi of privilege, waiting for everyone hearing about His exploits to come to Him. Instead, as a man on a mission with limited time, He “went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.” (Mark 1:39)
Understanding the jealousy that infects human hearts, He prevented the devils He cast out from revealing His true identity (Mark 1:34). In this way, He could continue to minister and preach to all without unduly worrying the scribes and Pharisees in their midst, until the time was ripe to return to Jerusalem and set in motion the events that would lead to His crucifixion.
Feeling the tug of human need, He let Himself be tested by the devil, while in a state of extreme hunger (Matthew 4:1-11). By overcoming such extreme temptations, He became the perfect role model to teach us how to resist the lure of sensuality.
Jesus “walked the walk”, so that He could “talk the talk” with authority.
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The people I meet sometimes wonder why I usually interact as pleasantly as I can with the young adults trying to sell me on a charitable cause,
or the old lady selling tissues at slightly exorbitant prices,
or the glum contract worker cleaning tables at the hawker centre,
or the slightly disheveled middle-aged man asking for a “pity handout” on a bus,
basically the kinds of people other folks prefer to ignore and/or blatantly avoid. They don’t often voice it out loud, but I do see traces of ARE YOU NUTS?!?! in their facial expressions.
And in the rare instance when they summon up enough courage to ask why I’d do such a silly thing, my answer couldn’t be clearer: “Because I’ve been a busboy before, I know first-hand what it feels like to be a pariah, and I really don’t want to make someone else feel the same way.”
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A famous American comedian once uttered a humorous twist on an old proverb:
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes.
— Steve Martin
While funny on the surface, it belies a uncomfortable subtext: “Now that you’ve walked such a long way and your feet hurt like hell from ill-fitting footwear, perhaps you’ll not be so crass about others’ social status and dignity.”
Jesus literally went to hell and back for us, because He experienced our pain and suffering first-hand. So did models of charity like Mother Teresa, and so can we. While we might not experience grinding poverty or general social rejection, we can at least imagine what they’d feel like, and let that “experience” influence our interactions accordingly.
Otherwise, we may realize too late that (channeling comic artist Walt Kelly) “we have met the a**hole, and he is us!”
Amen.