As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:29-31

Sometimes it is the simple and short accounts in the gospels that are the hardest to interpret. Sometimes these stories are so familiar that we convince ourselves that we know everything there is to know about them. The fact that all first three gospels recount this episode tells us that something profound has occurred which has impacted the hearts and minds of the gospel writers.

As in most of the healing accounts in the gospels, we know very little about the person being healed. Nevertheless, we have details on how Jesus went about healing her. He treated her with great tenderness and affection. He took her by her hand and lifted her up. I will just focus on this for our reflection.

This is not the first time that the gospels described the tenderness of Jesus in the healing process. The same gospel relates another account immediately after this where Jesus touched a leper before healing him. It seems like a simple gesture and can be easily overlooked. Our minds tend to focus on the big things because we have been programmed to think that great things come in a grandiose manner. The Kingdom of God is different. It expresses itself in small and unassuming actions.

I just finished reading a memorial of a well-known Brazilian oncologist. He was one of the principal actors in helping Brazil deal with the Aids epidemic in the nineties. Besides this, he also dedicated almost forty years serving as a volunteer in the penitentiary system of São Paulo. It happened by chance. He was asked to give an educational talk on the HIV virus and how to prevent its dissemination. After the lecture, the warden asked him if he could examine some sick prisoners who had been waiting for medical attention for months. Very few doctors were willing to serve these prisoners. He examined his first patient. He placed his stethoscope on his chest and gently placed his hand on the prisoner’s shoulder. Then the prisoner turned around and told him, “You have conquered a hardened criminal with your gentle touch.” The doctor later discovered that all the doctors who had previously examined the prisoners refused to have any physical contact with the prisoners. This doctor commented that he did not understand how these doctors could examine someone without touching them. It is easy. They disliked the people they served. Soon this doctor conquered the hearts of the incarcerated. Someone we know told us that when she was imprisoned, all the prisoners wanted to be attended by this doctor. There was a four months wait and all of them thought it was worth it. He was a Light of healing in their dark world.

“Don’t touch! Is dirty!”

In almost every context, this would be considered a cruel and insulting phrase. However, it is one of the funniest things we heard in the streets. One of the older youth, who has a dry sense of humor, was secretly learning English phrases to impress us. Bruno always give us a hug whenever he sees us and at the opportune moment, Rone blurted out this phrase. The timing was perfect. Everyone laughed including Bruno after we explained its meaning. Both Bruno and Rone are opposites. Bruno is always dressed in soiled and tattered clothes. Anyone looking at him would say that he is the stereotypical homeless youth. Rone, on the other hand, is always well dressed. Very few people realize that he is actually homeless.

Bruno survives by begging but he never asks for money. Instead he wears old and torn clothes and sits quietly in the corner. People give him money all the the time and buy him food. In fact, the rest of the teens sometimes wait around for him to bring over donated food to them. We have tried giving Bruno clean clothes. Actually sometimes Rone finds nice clean clothes for him. He is good at scavenging through donations to find something good. Bruno takes these cleans clothes and rips them at certain spots. Then he does something to do them to make them look dirty. He is convinced that in order to get any attention from the general public, he has to play the part of a stereotypical homeless person.

Bruno is actually a very tactile person. He likes to hug and show affection. I think it is important for him to know that we will reciprocate, despite his appearance. There is something going on here. Perhaps it is sad resignation on his part that no matter what he does in life, people will always see him as a dirty homeless person.

Rone is very different. He refuses to have any physical contact. He has accepted the fact that he is an untouchable. Most of the time, he pretends that he does not want any contact with people. He greets everyone with a fist bump. He claims that it is his fear of Covid but in reality, it is a lie. He admitted this to us. His life is a tragic tale. Recently, he told us that he is going to commemorate 17 years of being homeless. His used his sense of humor again to deal with this dire situation. He told us that on several occasions he saw his relatives in the streets and ran away and hid from them. He did not want them to see him and refused to talk to them. He never told us why he was homeless. There is some trauma involved which connects him with the other children and teens even though he is much older than them. This is the link binding all our children and youth together.

Not too long ago, it was Rone’s birthday. We decided to buy a simple gift for him and a liter of Grape Fanta. This is his favorite soft drink but it is quite expensive here in Brazil; well, expensive for someone living in the streets. We arranged to meet somewhere else because our teens have a little bit of the jealous nature. They don’t tend to like it when someone else gets more attention than usual. It is quite natural, I suppose. We actually ended up spending the whole day with him. At the end of our time, he said goodbye and I held out my fist but he opened his arms and hugged us. I was a little taken aback. It was a simple gesture. Perhaps one which is often taken for granted but for Rone, it was something special. There was a barrier which was overcome. Nowadays, he walks with us whenever we head for home. He walks part of the way and told us that one day he wants to have tea in our home. He even gave us a beautiful tea pot for the occasion. He saw someone trying to get rid of it and he kept it for us. We invited him to our place months ago but he refused then because he wasn’t sure if he was truly welcomed. Now, he knows that he has a place in our home.

Healing comes in a simple gestures. Sometimes these simple acts speak volumes. We should not attempt to reduce healing to one or two actions. We should never glamorize healings as they do in some places. The foundation of an act of healing is not the physical contact but Love. When a simple gesture is performed on the basis of Love, its significance can be sensed in the soul of the person receiving it. It opens up hearts. It overcomes barriers and eradicates lies. Sometimes people feel like they are incapable of doing great and marvelous things for the Kingdom of God. They confuse God’s standards with those of the world. Jesus said the greatest in the Kingdom is the servant of all. A servant does simple things which no one wants to do. In the streets, we see people who spend great sums of money on the homeless. Sometimes we see people come in busloads and do all kinds of spectacular things for the poorest of the poor. All these are good but most of our children and youth hardly remember any of these folks after they are gone. Sometimes they introduce us to people who hardly have done anything spectacular or complex. Most of the time, they are people who just smile at them and spend a few minutes talking to them. Sometimes they are just people who shake their hands. Simple gestures but they are done with great love.

Going back to the oncologist, he wrote that in the prisons where he served, there is hardly anything in the clinic. Many times he would only have a white sterile desk and a completely impersonal room. Many times he has only a stethoscope to attend to the prisoners but he was amazed how much healing occurred in the room just by listening and talking to the patients. It is not the listening and talking which helps people but the Love which is the foundation of these actions.

The apostles saw great Love expressed in the simple gestures of our Lord Jesus.