She Waited on Them

The Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time readings picks up where we left off last week. Upon leaving the synagogue and expelling the demon possessing a man, Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew along with James and John.

When Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew, they told him their mother was ill. When Jesus approached her lying in bed, he grasped her hand and helped her rise, for the sickness she had left her immediately. Then, almost insignificantly, St. Mark adds, “She waited on them.”  Mark then continues to tell his readers that they brought many who were possessed by demons and had other maladies to the house, and he cured them all.

One could surmise St. Mark is drawing attention to the healing powers of Jesus, both spiritually and physically, and how only the Son of God has such dominion over health and illness. You would not be incorrect in your assessment, but out of all those cured that day, we know the identity of just one—Simon and Andrew’s mother.  Not only do we know her identity, but we are also told what she did after her cure, which is curious. St. Mark chose to ignore the reactions of the others after they were cured, but not the mother.

It begs the question, why was it so important for Mark to tell us that Simon and Andrew’s mother “waited on them”?   Perhaps feeling better, Simon and Andrew’s mother returned to what was culturally accepted by being hospitable to those who entered their house.  If that was the reason, why would Mark be sure to include it in his story?  Wouldn’t her response be assumed, adding nothing to the story? There must be something else.

The answer must come from who the characters in the interaction are: Jesus, the Son of God, and a mother experiencing the brokenness of her humanity. It is a subtle but powerful message about redemption that Mark begs us to notice by using illness, a human experience we all share.

One of the manifestations of the fallen world is the lack of health or wholeness, made visible by physical, psychological, and spiritual disease. When affected by these malaises, the person who suffers the illness, over and above the physical and psychological effects, is the isolation they find themselves experiencing.

In a less-than-adequate analogy, think of the times you had the flu and were stuck in bed. All that seems to matter is sleeping without wanting to engage with even your loved one. The more serious the condition, the more we are cut off from other people, even if they are physically present among us. We were never created to be alone; we are meant to be in communion. That is why it is so important to visit the sick to lessen the isolation of a person suffering or recovering.  

Jesus’ redemption mission, given to him by his Father, was to reverse the isolation sin caused. From the moment sin entered the world, human beings were isolated from God, and communion with the divine life was inhibited. It was only through Jesus assuming the ultimate end of illness – death that our existential isolation could ever be conquered.  Maybe this is why Jesus cries from the cross, “’Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’-which is translated, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

For us, Simon and Andrew’s mother became the symbolic means by which we are saved. Helpless in her bed, suffering from a fever and in her pain, is reminiscent of all who suffer illness and its awful side and most debilitating side effect, loneliness. Our illnesses and sufferings are nontransferable, and being alone in our disease is also not shared, no matter how gracious someone visiting may be.  They can’t take our cross and carry it; we must do it.  

The unremarkable behavior of Simon and Adrew’s mother is necessary because her emancipation from isolation was her true healing, and she responded appropriately by joining the community around her and giving back all she had, the gesture of hospitality. There are very few things more communal than the preparation of a meal and the breaking of bread.

Redemption is the eternal victor over death and all of its ugly manifestations. A simple woman, an illness, and a response remind us of the importance of what Jesus did for us and continues to do through his Sacraments of healing: The Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick.