Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 7, 2021 — Year B
Readings: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 / Ps 147 / 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 / Mk 1:29-39
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

It’s a beautiful snowy day in our area today, Super Bowl Sunday. Whether you are rooting for the Chiefs or the Buccaneers, I believe that you are hoping and praying that your team will win. There is a possibility that we will hear the words “Hail Mary” in the last few seconds of the game tonight, and for the record, American football did not popularize these words. Millions and millions of Catholic Christians have been praying the Hail Mary through the years, since the Angel Gabriel said these words to the Blessed Mother more than two thousand years ago.

In today’s gospel, we have heard about the Lord Jesus going to a deserted place very early in the morning to pray. By doing this, He is giving us an example that prayer is not something we do only when we are in trouble or having problems. It is what we are supposed to do before we begin a new day, as Jesus did. It will not only help us do something right in the eyes of God, but it will make the tough in us get going when the going gets tough. There is indeed no better way of beginning a new chapter of our lives than by being in close communion with the Lord God, the source of wisdom, strength, and life.

In today’s day and age, we can access all sorts of information by just using our fingertips. But it is one thing to be well-informed and it is another thing to be wise. The fact that many smart and well-informed people (and a good number of them are rich and famous) are making wrong decisions tells us that knowing all the facts is not enough.

Humans will always be imperfect and will continue to make mistakes. The good news is that we have a God who is perfect. He is just a prayer away. If we want to do something right, the sacred scriptures are telling us that prayer is the key.

The second part of today’s Gospel of Mark related to us that, when the disciples found Jesus praying alone, they told Him, “Everybody is looking for you.” Yes, even now, everybody is looking for Jesus, whether they know it or not, because everybody wants to have peace, hope, love, healing from all sorts of sickness, and most of all, a life of happiness for all eternity. These are the things that only Jesus, our Savior and Our God, can give.

St Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, shows us the way when he says, “By prayer and petition, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds for Christ Jesus.”’