In today’s Gospel, we find a powerful snapshot of the Christian life. Jesus enters a home filled with worry. Peter’s mother-in-law is sick, burning with fever. Without hesitation, without conditions, Jesus goes to her, rebukes the fever, and heals her. Her response is immediate and beautiful: she gets up and serves them.
In this one moment, we see the entire mission of Christ: to teach, to heal, and to pray. He had just been teaching in the synagogue with authority. Now, he demonstrates that his words are backed by compassionate action. And later, he will withdraw to a lonely place to pray, showing us that his power flows from intimacy with the Father.
But there’s another crucial detail. The healing didn’t start with Jesus alone. It started with the friends. They saw the need and brought it to him. “Lord, she is sick. Please, help.” Their intercession was the bridge that allowed grace to flow into that home.
This is the very pattern of life we celebrate in today’s saint, Pope St. Gregory the Great.
He famously said, “The proof of love is in the works.” And this mission of teaching, healing, and praying is not just for popes or priests. It is the calling of every Christian by virtue of our baptism. It is lived out most powerfully in our families.
My friends, holiness is not a distant ideal. It is the daily work of making our homes places where Christ’s teaching, healing, and prayer become real.