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(Jb.7:1-4,6-7;\xa0\xa0 Ps.147:1-6;\xa0\xa0 1Cor.9:16-19,22-23;\xa0\xa0 Mk.1:29-39) \u201cHe heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.\u201d In our first reading, Job is about as brokenhearted as a man could be, beset entirely by the devil\u2019s trials as he is.\xa0 \u201cSwifter than a weaver\u2019s shuttle\u201d his complete loss of goods and family and his own health has come upon him.\xa0 And so he seems to see his days \u201ccome to an end without hope.\u201d\xa0 More miserable a creature there could not be. In our gospel we are told that \u201cSimon\u2019s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever\u201d and that the people of the town in which Jesus found Himself \u201cbrought to Him all who were ill or possessed by demons.\u201d\xa0 Surrounded is He with the afflictions man suffers, the weakness to which our fallen race is so prone.\xa0 It seems that all are indeed \u201cbrokenhearted\u201d and wounded; as Simon Peter says upon finding the Lord praying in a deserted place the next morning: \u201cEveryone is looking for you.\u201d\xa0 All need so greatly the healing only He brings. And He does heal all who come to Him.\xa0 As even before His birth into this world He served to set Job free from the clutches of Satan and grant him a new life which was beyond his hope; as Simon\u2019s mother-in-law \u201cHe approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up,\u201d the fever fleeing His touch; as \u201cHe cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons\u201d from those gathered at the door of the house where He stayed\u2026 so He continues \u201cpreaching and driving out demons,\u201d not only throughout Galilee and all of Judea and all of Israel, but to this day to the ends of the earth through His holy Church. Our Lord has become \u201ca slave to all so as to win over as many as possible.\u201d\xa0 Our weakness He has taken upon Himself to remove our weakness from us.\xa0 Our diseases, our darkness, our sin\u2026 our \u201cmonths of misery\u201d He has borne that He might heal us of all infirmities \u2013 that He might bind up our broken hearts.\xa0 Our salvation comes at the touch of His hand, at the breath of His mouth.\xa0 Let us rise and walk with Him, for the Dawn has come and His grace-filled blood is upon us. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: ""This World of Sin" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, drive the demons from our souls, heal our broken hearts, that we might rise and offer you praise all the days of our lives. YHWH, has your Son not made Himself weak for our sakes?\xa0 Has He not freely given His life to save us from sin?\xa0 Does He not bind up our wounds and cast all demons from our midst?\xa0 He heals the brokenhearted who cry out to Him \u2013 let us eagerly seek the touch of His hand. We gather around your Son, O LORD, for He is the door that leads to your presence.\xa0 Only He can save us from the misery of this dark world and redeem our troubled souls, and so let us praise your goodness to us as we draw near to Him. We are all sick, LORD, all in the grip of a fever from which there seems no escape.\xa0 The devil would have us believe the wickedness that surrounds us is eternal, but we know the night shall soon come to an end.\xa0 Your light has already dawned upon us in the presence of your Son; let the grace of salvation be fulfilled in our midst.