Message of Abbot Paul - Monday - 5th February 2024

Today the Church venerates the memory of St Agatha, the third century Sicilian virgin martyr, a saint so immensely popular throughout the world, making the city of Catania such an important place of pilgrimage. We ask her intercession on all whose faith is weak and can do with an injection of faith, hope and charity.

 

Mark tends to be the forgotten Gospel when compared with the other three and, yet, in many ways it’s the greatest and the best. Abbot Jerome once commented that I could fit a letter onto a postcard. That was when we sent each other postcards rather than text messages and the like. Mark has certainly filled his short Gospel with an extraordinary amount of detail and today’s short passage, (Mk 6: 53-56), is a perfect example. “Having made the crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up.” No explanation is given as, originally, they had been heading for Bethsaida. Never having visited the Holy Land, I always need a map in front of me when reading about Jesus’ travels: you probably do the same. “No sooner had they stepped out of the boat than people recognised him, and started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard he was.” By now Jesus is well known and easily recognisable, especially in the company of his disciples. No matter where he goes, the sick in great numbers are brought to him for healing. Reading Mark, we can picture the sick being brought to him from all around on stretchers. Jesus always looked on the sick with compassion and was eager to assist them. “And wherever he went, to village, or town, or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were cured.” Now we know that Jesus visited a number of towns and villages, but the mention of farms or homesteads out in the countryside is unusual. Then the fact that the sick would be laid out in the market places or open spaces rather than in any building indicates an open-air ministry, but the climate was in his favour. Jesus heals many sick people simply by allowing them to touch him, indeed, it’s sufficient for them just to touch the fringe of his garment and they are healed.

 

​This short account of multiple healings invites us to pray for the sick and for all those in need of Jesus’ love and mercy. Intercessory prayer is an important and integral part of our daily prayer and is not inferior to other forms of prayer. It’s always consoling and encouraging when someone tells us that they will pray for us. We should be thankful and show that gratitude by praying for others.