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Commentary 3-09-2024
We Receive to Give
This woman, Peter’s mother-in-law, appears only once in the Gospel. Peter, without a doubt, had the duty to respect and protect his mother-in-law (who was supposedly a widow, because otherwise, she would be living with her husband…). But this mother-in-law must have been quite extraordinary. Because what’s extraordinary is that she gets up from an illness (it must have been serious because, requiring Jesus’ intervention, it wouldn’t have been a passing cold), and she starts serving. The gift received immediately goes into action of service. She’s an extraordinary woman because the most common thing would have been to have a few days of convalescence. But gratitude is the engine of action. It’s a sign of selflessness and lack of selfishness. It’s a humble recognition of what has been received.
Those who are freed from their demons do the same. The first thing is to proclaim the power of Christ. They could also have taken a vacation after so much suffering from being possessed. But they know that they haven’t been saved by themselves, but by the Son of God. The gift is received for a purpose. It’s not to be wasted.
We have received many gifts from God. The question is, first, to recognize them and then to know what we do with them. When we’re given a gift, we usually keep it or display it to celebrate the good taste or kindness of the person who gave it to us. We don’t give it to someone else because that would be an insult to the giver. But, in the case of grace, its essence is to continue giving grace. The giver, God himself, gives freely so that it may be given freely. Grace is a fountain that should not be cut off. Receiving a grace, a healing, a liberation from something, is energy for service. Refusing to give it away means losing it. If one has received, for example, the gift of generosity or the spirit of service, not practicing it would cause it to wither away. Peter’s mother-in-law doesn’t receive healing to remain bedridden, as if she were still sick, because then she would certainly end up seriously ill or dead; she receives the gift so that her health benefits everyone around her. The same happens with all gifts.