Jesus the Good Parent

Mark 1:29-39.  Jesus acts just like a patient mother or father in this passage.  He arrives at Simon’s house, finds out that his mother-in-law is ill, so he heals her.  She immediately serves him, which is a great metaphor, see the end of the article for more on that.  The whole town gathers to be healed or have demons expelled.  So, Jesus, like a good parent takes care of all their needs ... and their friends’ needs.  Then, when he tries to get a moment of peace, they find him and bring him more people with needs. 

How many parents have found more privacy in a public toilet, than in their own toilets at home?  How many parents have spent half a night comforting a sick child, only to wake up in the morning and make breakfast for the others?  How many have put aside their own needs, for the good of others?  The answer is, “Only the good parents.”  That is why I think that this passage should be labelled “Jesus, the Good Parent."

 

Back to Simon’s mother-in-law:  When we are healed by Jesus, is our first instinct to serve him?  When our sins are forgiven, when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist as food for our souls, when we experience the good life that Jesus came to give us, does it motivate us to serve?