Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
It is Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea to the freedom of the desert. It is the Allies pushing the enemy back in the Battle of the Bulge. It is the story of Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings, the battle for Narnia, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. It is Jesus preparing for the final and lasting assault on the Devil, sin, and death.
Simon’s mother-in-law was a nobody. With her sickness she was unable to fulfill her important duties as hostess to Jesus and the disciples. Her healing restored her to health and to her position in the household. Her healing was an assault on death and illness.
Jesus healed many. The demons knew who Jesus was, but Jesus did not allow them to speak. All the healing activity mentioned put Jesus in the middle of the struggle for liberty for captives, recovery of sight for the blind, freedom from oppression, and a year of favor from the Lord.
A sick woman had lost her place in the world and the family. She was confined to bed, to having others wait on her, and tend to her needs. She had lost her position and her purpose in life. She had become a nothing. When Jesus rebuked the fever, he restored her position and her place in the world and family.
Jesus left Capernaum and made the rounds of the other towns. He gathered disciples and prepared for the final and lasting battle. Jesus would fulfill all the epics of the world, the old ones and the new ones.
We shall be reading from Luke most of the time from now until November.