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Scripture today: 1 Samuel
3:1-10.19-20; Psalm 39; Mark 1:29-39
Then
going out of the synagogue he came with James and John to the house of
Simon and Andrew. Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of a fever: and
immediately they told him of her. Coming to her he lifted her up,
taking her by the hand; and immediately the fever left her and she
served them. Then when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to
him all who were ill and possessed by devils and the whole town
gathered at the door. He healed many who were troubled with various
diseases and he cast out many devils, not allowing them to speak
because they knew who he was. Rising very early, he went out into a
desert place and there he prayed. Simon and those who were with him
followed him and when they had found him said to him, “All are looking
for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go into the neighbouring towns
and cities, that I may preach there also; for to this purpose have I
come.” And he continued preaching in their synagogues and in all of
Galilee, casting out devils.(Mark
1:29-39)
Our Gospel scene
today opens with Jesus effortlessly dealing with the burdens and
afflictions of the people. He enters the house of Simon and Andrew and
at their request he cures Simon’s mother-in-law of her fever by just
taking her hand. She rose and proceeded to wait on them. Then after
sunset (when people had finished the day’s work) all who were ill and
possessed by devils were brought to him at the door of the house. He
healed them and expelled the demons. Early in the morning he rose and
went out alone to pray, and Simon
and his companions sought him out. They then made, I would suggest, a
very significant statement: “All are looking for you.” All wanted him
and saw in him the answer for all their needs, as indeed he was. They
wanted him to stay with them. With him among them all would be well.
Setting aside the issue of their inadequate notion of what our Lord had
come to do for them and what they were seeking him for, those words are
surely symbolic of the world’s need for Christ. “All are looking for
you.” Whether it realizes it or not, the world seeks and needs God and
wants God to stay. But where is God? I remember watching a brief debate
between a very intelligent Anglican bishop and an atheist. The bishop
dealt well with all the atheist’s objections, but one point I remember
especially well among his remarks was his answer to the question, who
is God? He replied, “God is Jesus.” The bishop’s point was that God can
be located and precisely identified in space and time. As St Paul
writes, in Christ dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily. All this
is to say that the world, without knowing it, seeks and needs the
person of Jesus. So the words of Simon and his companions are very
potent: “All are looking for you.” They wanted him to stay with them.
But what was Christ’s answer? It was that he had to go. He had to move
on and leave them for the sake of many others. “For this purpose have I
come” that the others too may hear me, know me, and be blessed as a
result.
And so Christ moved
on “preaching in their synagogues and in all of Galilee, casting out
devils” (Mark 1:29-39). He could
not stay constantly in the company of particular communities of the
children of Israel such as Capernaum. He was constantly moving on. This
was a necessary condition of his becoming man. The Incarnation involved
dwelling among men as man, but being constantly at a bit of a distance,
as it were. He was limited by space and time. He was the treasure of
each man, the treasure of his people (though many would not accept
this) and the treasure of the world, and yet he had to be moving on for
the sake of the others who needed him. “All are looking for you”, but
Christ could not stay. If they wanted to be with the Saviour, they had
to physically follow him and often vast crowds did follow him. Now, all
this changed with his death, his resurrection, his ascension and then
the descent of the Holy Spirit to the Church. The risen Christ then
remained with each of his disciples while being able to continue to
move on. All those looking for him were then able to remain with him.
The risen living Jesus now abides within his body the Church and every
member of the Church can be with him constantly and in full intimacy.
Wherever the Church built on the Apostles with Peter at their head is
to be found, there the whole, living, risen and bodily (though unseen)
Christ dwells. He is present in the Church’s preaching and teaching and
in her Sacraments. When the Church pronounces and teaches the word of
God (and here I especially include the teaching of the Pope and Bishops
in union with him) there is the unseen Christ present and teaching.
Wherever the Mass is celebrated and the Eucharist administered, there
is Christ present in his fullness. The person in the state of grace
enjoys the presence of Christ dwelling within him, together with that
of the Father and the Holy Spirit. All this is to say that while during
his earthly life Christ had to move on, now he remains present for each
and every believer. He truly is God-with-us. He moves on to others by
means of the Church’s witness and missionary work, but he stays with
each of us to be our life and our salvation. He had to move on then. He
never leaves us now. To the cry, “all are seeking you” he now answers,
I am with you forever.
Let us be filled
with the thought of the blessing we have in the person of Christ. He is
our all, and we can say with Simon Peter, “all are looking for you,”
including each of us. His reply to each of us is, I shall stay with you
forever as your Saviour and your God. I shall never leave you because I
abide to the end in the Church which is my body and of which you are
members. I must move on to preach and be with all others, but you I
shall never leave. Let us treasure our membership in Christ’s Church,
for by the plan of God where the Church is, there is Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
Your Crucifix. — As a Christian, you should always carry your Crucifix
with you. And place it on your desk. And kiss it before going to bed
and when you wake up: and when your poor body rebels against your soul,
kiss it again.
(The Way, no.302)
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The five precepts of the Church:
1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and
remain free from work or activity that could impede the sanctification
of such days.
2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
3. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the
Easter season.
4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by
the Church.
5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Appendix)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 4:1-11; Psalm 43; Mark 1:40-45
There
came a leper beseeching him, and kneeling down he said to Jesus, “If
you will you can make me clean.” Jesus felt compassion for him and
stretched forth his hand and touching him, said, “I do will it. Be made
clean.” Having spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was
clean. He strictly charged him, and immediately sent him off telling
him, “See you tell no one; but go and show yourself to the high priest
and offer in testimony for your cleansing what Moses commanded. But
having gone, he began to broadcast everything everywhere so that Jesus
could not openly go into the city, but remained out in desert places.
They flocked to him from all sides.(Mark
1:40-45)
Our Gospel scene
opens today with the poignant spectacle of a leper in all his
impossible predicament coming and actually kneeling down before Jesus
to ask him for a healing. His prayer is heartfelt, it is worthy, it
presents a true and pressing need, and it is full of faith. He tells
Jesus that “if you will, you can make me clean.” It evoked the power
and compassion of Jesus and at a word he cured him: “I do will it.
Become clean!” Immediately the leprosy disappeared. This entire scene
prompts many thoughts,
but one
is this — and it is an ever-recurring thought in a very broken world.
Our Lord had the power and he certainly had the compassion, why then
did he not seek out the rest of the lepers in the land and do something
for them? Numerous persons afflicted with various diseases were brought
to him or sought him out and he cured them. Well then, why did he not
go further and do something for those others who did not make personal
contact with him? What was he doing all those years in Nazareth quietly
working at his trade? He could have been out and about curing people of
their afflictions and raising even more people from the dead and so
bringing consolation to so many — just as he did for the widow of Nain.
It is the old question of, where was God when people were suffering?
Was he asleep during the holocaust? Did he exist? Consider our Gospel
passage again and notice that when our Lord did cure the leper he
“strictly charged him” him not to tell anyone about it: “See you tell
no one.” It looks as if, much as our Lord responded to the afflictions
of people who came for him to take them away, that was not the
essential mission he had come to fulfil. The lifting of suffering had
its place in his work but it was not the fundamental need to be met. In
fact the leper did what our Lord told him not to do — he broadcast
everything. The result was that hoards of people came seeking our Lord
to get him to take away their sufferings. The result? The Gospel tells
us that “Jesus could not openly go into the city, but remained out in
desert places. They flocked to him from all sides.”(Mark 1:40-45)
All this is
instructive. Our Gospel scene shows that Christ had a greater goal and
one that allowed for the presence of suffering. His goal, as the
Scriptures make clear, was as the Lamb of God to take away the root
cause of the evils in the world, which is sin. He came to fix the
universe at its core and that core problem is man’s sin. Christ
suffered and died and then rose from the dead, having in this
unexpected and mysterious way implanted at the heart of the world the
principle that would gradually make all things new. That principle is
redemption and the gift of the Holy Spirit. But what of suffering after
the root problem was dealt with? It is still not eliminated, indicating
that the elimination of suffering from human life is not the first
priority in the plan of God, though God wants us, in union with Christ
(who said “I do will it. Be clean”), to do all we can to alleviate and
lessen it. Suffering is still with us even though the Messiah has come
and gone. There are forms of Christian spirituality which in the face
of suffering simply respond by praying for healing as did the leper.
They see no other response than that of the leper and the crowds that
sought our Lord for him to take away their afflictions. But no.
Suffering has not been taken away. Rather it has been given a new
meaning and possibility. There is a far richer spirituality, a fuller
putting on of the mind of Christ in the face of suffering, and the
saints knew how to live it. Their sufferings were the means of deep
union with Christ who suffered and died for sin. Christ himself
suffered beyond imagining and his sufferings were essential to his life
and mission. Suffering is redemptive and sanctifying if it is marked by
union with Christ. Just as Christ’s highest and greatest moment was the
moment of his obedient suffering, so too the Christian’s greatest
moments are those when he suffers in union with Christ. Great as is the
blessing of being freed of our suffering — if God grants this blessing — greater still is the blessing of suffering with Christ for our own
sanctification and for the redemption of the world.
It is clear from
the life and work of Christ that though God hates to see his children
suffer, and though he commands us to do all we can for those who do
suffer — and our judgment by God will depend on it — nevertheless, the
presence of suffering does not prevent the triumph of good. Indeed, God
in Christ has transformed suffering from being a pointless burden to
being a means of new life. This is what Christ did through his obedient
suffering. And so the mark of a true disciple of Christ? It is to take
up one’s cross every day and to follow in Christ’s footsteps, right to
Calvary. If we suffer and die with Christ we shall experience the power
of his resurrection and contribute in and with Christ to the redemption
of the world.
(E.J.Tyler)
Don't be afraid to call our Lord by his name — Jesus — and to tell him
that you love him.
(The Way, no.303)
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The seven corporal works of mercy:
1. Feed the hungry.
2. Give drink to the thirsty.
3. Clothe the naked.
4. Shelter the homeless.
5. Visit the sick.
6. Visit the imprisoned.
7. Bury the dead.
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Appendix)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 8:4-7.10-22; Psalm 88; Mark 2:1-12
After some days
Jesus again returned to Capharnaum. People learnt that he was in the
house and so many came together that there was no room, not even at the
door. He preached the word to
them. A person sick with the palsy was brought to him carried by four.
When they could not reach him because of the crowd they uncovered the
roof where he was, and opening it they let down the bed on which the
man sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
palsied man “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” There were some of the
scribes sitting there who thought in their hearts, “Why does this man
speak thus? he is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins, but God only?”
Jesus immediately knew that they were thinking thus and he said to
them, “Why are you thinking thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to
say to the palsied man ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say ‘Arise,
take up your bed, and walk?’” But that you may know that the Son of man
has power on earth to forgive sins, (he said to the sick man,) I say to
you “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he
arose, and taking up his bed, went his way in the sight of all, so that
all wondered and glorified God, saying “We have never seen the like.”(Mark 2:1-12)
It is generally
recognized that the Gospel of St Mark is really the Gospel of St Peter,
which is to say that Mark was Peter’s companion and assistant, and that
the Gospel he wrote was the record of Peter’s teaching and preaching
(probably at Rome). Well then, let us notice a detail in our passage
today. It contains the first great shock that our Lord gave to “the
scribes”, according to the recollection of St Peter as recorded in
Mark’s account. The occasion was our Lord’s calm, assured, unhesitating
and very public forgiveness of sin. He was in the presence of a great
number of people. The sick were everywhere and scribes of the Law were
included in the throng listening to Jesus teach and heal. This occasion
included the first great surprise to the scribes of what we might call
a doctrinal character that led to their rejection of Jesus. Jesus
forgave the palsied man his sins — which is to say that he uttered the
words “Your sins are forgiven” in such a way as to indicate
unmistakeably that on his own authority he was forgiving sins. He was
not just declaring that in view of the repentance of the palsied man
God had forgiven him his sins. He was taking God’s place and doing what
belonged exclusively to God to do. The scribes had not objected to what
the Baptist had done and what initially our Lord’s disciples also had
done. This was to administer a rite in which a person declared his sins
in a spirit of repentance, and was then washed in a baptism that
indicated faith in God’s pardon. No, what Jesus did here was very
different. He read the heart of the sick man and forthwith personally
and with unhesitating authority forgave his sins as would God himself.
John the Baptist had not done this, nor had any prophet in the history
of God’s people. It was a display of singular power and authority in
the life of God’s chosen people and it startled the scribes, who
thought “Why does this man speak thus? He is blaspheming. Who can
forgive sins, but God alone?” They saw the implications immediately. It
was an omen of more to come. In Mark’s account (and therefore in
Peter’s recollection) this happened early in our Lord’s public ministry
and it was part of a piece in our Lord’s extraordinary claims.
“Why does this man
speak thus? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
(Mark 2:1-12) This is a response
that has been heard at various times in the Church’s long ministry of
the forgiveness of sins. Before our Lord began his ministry John the
Baptist pointed him out to his disciples as the Lamb of God who would
take away the sin of the world. The forgiveness of sin was at the
forefront of Christ’s mission. He forgave the sins of various people
during his public ministry as a sign of what was to come. The
forgiveness of sins is a principal benefit of the Kingdom of God and
those who enter the Kingdom, as present in the Church Christ founded,
have access to this inestimable benefit. On the first day our Lord rose
from the dead he appeared to the Eleven and breathed on them the gift
of the Holy Spirit and entrusted them with a share in his mission. Then
what did he do? He gave to them the power to forgive sins: “whose sins
you forgive, they are forgiven them.” Christ entrusted to the Apostles
a share in this power which he exercised repeatedly during his public
ministry, which no other before him had presumed to exercise, and which
was part and parcel of his unfolding claim to be the very Son of God.
The Apostles were endowed with this ministry and it is transmitted from
them to all those who receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders in the life
of the Church. Thus it is that the forgiveness of sins is so readily
available to all the Church’s faithful. It is available in the
Sacrament of Penance administered by the ordained priest through whom
Christ continues to forgive sins. The forgiveness of sin occurs in the
first instance, of course, at the moment of baptism. It occurs in
various other ways too, such as when a person makes what the Church
calls a genuine and true act of contrition. But repeatedly and easily
and completely and with power it is available in the Sacrament of
Penance. All of Christ’s faithful, all the Church’s children ought to
receive this Sacrament repeatedly and often and, of course, with true
repentance. The Catholic Church has insisted on this Sacrament and has
condemned in the past those who have denied its legitimacy.
“Your sins are
forgiven you”, Christ said to the sick man. The response of the scribes
was, “Why does this man speak thus? Who can forgive sins but God
alone?” Christ as present in his body the Church continues to forgive
sins through the ordained priest. He does so in the Sacrament of
Penance, a Sacrament we should devoutly and with gratitude avail
ourselves of all through life on our path to holiness in Christ.
(E.J.Tyler)
Each day try to find a few minutes of that blessed solitude which you
so much need to keep your interior life going.
(The Way, no.304)
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The seven spiritual works of mercy:
1. Counsel the doubtful.
2. Instruct the ignorant.
3. Admonish sinners.
4. Comfort the afflicted.
5. Forgive offences.
6. Bear wrongs patiently.
7. Pray for the living and the dead.
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Appendix)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 9:1-4,
17-19; 10:1; Psalm 21:2-7; Mark 2:13-17
Jesus
went forth again to the sea side and all the multitude came to him, and
he taught them. When he was passing by he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus
sitting at the receipt of custom and he said to him, “Follow me.” And
rising up, he followed him. It came to pass that as he sat at table in
his house many publicans and sinners sat together with Jesus and his
disciples, for they were many who also followed him. The scribes and
the Pharisees, seeing that he ate with publicans and sinners, said to
his disciples, “Why does your master eat and drink with publicans and
sinners?” Jesus hearing this said to them, “Those who are well have no
need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I came not to call the
just, but sinners.” (Mark 2:13-17)
Surely any observer
would recognize that one of the mightiest phenomena of the world’s
history is the fact of Christianity. Its enormous spread and influence
and especially its power to penetrate cultures and its force for good
and holiness of life all make of it the worthiest subject of study and
consideration. But of course the study and consideration of
Christianity means in the first instance the study and contemplation of
the person of Christ. By any standards he is a giant of history, while
of course if one judges as a Christian, Christ is the giant of history
with whom no one can compare. The gospels enable us to enter his mind
and draw near to him at the level of the heart. He says, “come to me
all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Learn
from me for I am meek and humble of heart.” He invites us to draw near
to him, to learn from him, and to take our rest in him, and we must do
this as to a living person and not just to a distant figure of the past
who remains a model and teacher through historical records. Christ
lives and we contemplate his person in the gospels so as to know the
mind and the heart and the action of the living Jesus. Well then, let
us observe what he is doing in our Gospel passage today. The great
phenomenon of Christianity began in simple, ordinary events. Jesus
passes by the office of a tax collector, Levi the son of Alphaeus
(probably Matthew the evangelist), and simply asks him to follow him:
“Follow me”, he said. Jesus disregards the opprobrium attached to
Levi’s profession and wins his heart. That is to say, he loves him and
honours him with the invitation to be part of his company and mission.
Christ loves the one in the lowly spot and lifts him up, in this case
raising him to friendship with him. Levi will go on to write the
wonderful First Gospel and through that Gospel will present Christ to
the Church and to the world till the end of time. Jesus is the One who
loves sinners and who calls them to repent and to be part of his
company.
Our Lord’s call to
Levi and Levi’s immediate acceptance of the call led to the surprising
event — surprising to the scribes and the Pharisees — of our Lord
dining and mixing with a concourse of tax collectors and sinners. We
read that “it came to pass that as he sat at table in his house many
publicans and sinners sat together with Jesus and his disciples, for
they were many who also followed him” (Mark
2:13-17). Our Lord was in the midst of some of the most
disreputable people in the country and was showing perfect ease in this
situation. The tax collectors and the sinners who were dining and, we
might say, partying in his presence, felt at ease with him and felt
loved by him. They loved him. This was, perhaps, one of the
distinguishing features of Jesus precisely as a prophet. He attracted
sinners and showed that he loved them and liked being with them,
provided, of course, they understood that he expected of them
repentance from sin. The sinful woman entered the house of the Pharisee
where she knew Jesus was dining, and proceeded to pour oil on his head
and to wash his feet with her tears. She felt at ease in his presence
and felt loved by him. She went away with her sins forgiven and
undoubtedly with her life changed. Zacchaeus the leading tax collector
ran ahead and climbed the Sycamore tree to see Jesus who, when he
arrived at the tree, looked up and (undoubtedly with a smile) invited
himself to Zacchaeus’s home for dinner. Zacchaeus was completely
converted by the love for him that Jesus, the all-holy prophet, showed.
We notice too that whenever a Pharisee invited our Lord to his house to
dine there as a guest he willingly accepted, thus showing his love for
them too. But our Lord did not find in them the recognition that they
were sinners. They resisted and were hostile to his corrections. They
were like the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
praying in the Temple. Our Lord’s love and holiness could not penetrate
their pride and jealousy.
Christ tells us in
our Gospel passage today that he came to call sinners. That means us.
He comes to call us to his friendship. This means sharing his life,
accepting totally his doctrine, and living in his company which is the
Church he founded. What we get is the inestimable benefit of his
friendship and the singular privilege of sharing in his mission. We
grow in his friendship by daily prayer and the work of our life, both
done out of love for him. We engage in his mission everyday through the
theatre of our work and any other apostolates we are led to participate
in. Let us then firmly resolve to follow Jesus who came to call sinners
to himself.
(E.J.Tyler)
Prayers this week:
May all the earth give
you worship and praise, and break into song to your name, O God, Most
High.(Psalm 65: 4) Father
of heaven and earth, hear our prayers and show us the way to peace in
the world. We ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
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The next
day John saw Jesus coming to him and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God,
behold the One who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom
I said, ‘After me there comes a man who is preferred before me because
he was before me.’ I did not know him, but it is in order that he may
be manifest in Israel that I have come baptizing with water.” John gave
his testimony, saying: “I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from
heaven and he remained upon him. And I did not know him. But he who
sent me to baptize with water said to me: ‘The one upon whom you will
see the Spirit descending and remaining, he is the One who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and have given testimony that this is
the Son of God.”(John 1:29-34)
It is well known to
any reader of the New Testament that the inspired authors gave a
special prominence to the person and testimony of John the Baptist. He
was accepted by the people as a prophet and Christ
confirmed
that he was the greatest of the prophets. The New Testament makes it
abundantly clear that he formally testified both to Jesus himself as
the long awaited Messiah and to his mission. It seems that some who at
one point or other had been disciples of John were not aware that he
had identified Jesus as the Christ, and we read in both Acts 18:25 and
Acts 19:1-5 of their being made aware of this by Christians. Perhaps
the Baptist had had disciples who came and went at various points
during his ministry, and had not heard his testimony about Jesus. One
does not gain the impression, incidentally, that John the Baptist
sought disciples as such, but rather that they sought him. His humility
may have led him readily to allow or encourage them to pass on from him
and we see an instance of this in the first chapter of St John when two
of his disciples leave his presence to go after Jesus. His mission was
to bear witness to Jesus and once he had done this he surely saw Jesus
as the Master to whom all disciples ought go. In this respect he was
very different from our Lord who sought disciples and who taught that
life would be theirs if they remained his disciples always whatever
might be the cost. Life for the Christian is to be a total love for and
following of Jesus the Master. Indeed, the very mission of his Church
would be to go to the whole world and make of all the nations his
ardent and loving disciples. John pointed to the one who is to be at
the centre stage of every human life. Our Gospel passage today (John 1:29-34) presents John’s amazing
prediction about One who was still unknown to the public. It sums up in
what we might call embryonic form the teaching of John’s Gospel about
Jesus because John tells us that he wrote his Gospel so that the reader
“may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
believing this” he “may have life through his name.” (John 20:31).
Well, this is exactly what in seminal form the Baptist said of Christ
before our Lord showed himself publicly.
Just as all his
life John the Evangelist lovingly remembered and meditated on the words
and testimony of the Baptist about Christ, so too ought we. Let us
think of the scene of our Lord walking towards John the Baptist and
then the Baptist saying to a few of his disciples nearby that there was
the Lamb of God. He would take away the sin of the world. What an
extraordinary thing to say, said by a great prophet of one who was
nearby and who was as yet unknown in a public sense, a statement made
of no other person in the Old Testament to that point. He takes away
the sin of the world! He is God’s Lamb, hinting at the idea of
sacrifice, a sacrificial Lamb, a Lamb of God perhaps in the sense that
God himself had provided the Lamb. It seems to intimate the Suffering
Servant of Yahweh presented in the book of Isaiah, and that this
particular individual coming to him is all of that. The image of the
Lamb of God contains in seminal form the doctrine that this man Jesus
is the Messiah and the Suffering Servant whom God had sent to atone for
the sins of the world by his sufferings and death, which in the event
was death on the Cross. It was an extraordinary light given to him and
for good reason did Christ state that John was the greatest of the
prophets. But there is more. Not only is Jesus the Lamb of God who as
sacrificed takes away the sin of the world, but he is the one who
fulfils the prophecy of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on mankind.
The prophet Joel (3:1-5) had prophesied that this baptism of the Spirit
of God would occur, and John the Baptist now states that he saw the
Spirit of God descending on Jesus, and that he had then been told by
God that he is the one who would pour out on others this baptism of the
Holy Spirit. In seminal form it predicted not only the redemptive
sufferings of Jesus but his sending of the Holy Spirit to mankind,
which in the event would follow his resurrection and ascension, and
which would be done by means of the ministry of his Church of which he
is the Head. To crown it all, John the Baptist solemnly affirmed that
Jesus is the Son of God.
In embryonic form
and perhaps without realizing fully all the implications of his
inspired prophecy John gave testimony not only to the doctrine of the
Atonement from sin but to the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus is the Son
of God. Thus it was that prior to our Lord’s public ministry the Good
News of Jesus Christ had been already intimated. This Good News would
be made more and more public by our Lord himself. His redemptive death
would be in witness to the truth about himself. Let us embrace in our
hearts the person of Christ and his truth, and then be faithful to it
every day. He is the only Saviour of the world, the Lamb of God who was
sacrificed for the sin of the world, the one who gives the Holy Spirit
to mankind through the ministry of his Church, the Son of God and Lord
of lords. Let us live for him and bear witness to him, with John the
Baptist as our inspiration.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 15:16-23; Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23; Mark 2:18-22
The
disciples of both John and the Pharisees used to fast. People came to
Jesus and said to him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the
Pharisees fast; but your disciples do not?” Jesus said to them, “Can
the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long
as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days
will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they
will fast. No man sews a piece of raw cloth on to an old garment.
Otherwise the new piece pulls away from the old and a greater rent is
made. And no man puts new wine into old skins. If he does the wine
bursts the skins and the wine is spilt and the skins lost. New wine
must be put into new skins.”(Mark 2:18-22)
There are indications in the
Gospels that for many people Christ was disconcerting in the newness of his
person, his religious style, and of course his practice and doctrine. He did not
observe a number of the Sabbath prescriptions laid down by the scribes and the
Pharisees, saying that they were the traditions of men and not the Law of God — and indeed that in the
process of observing their own traditions the Pharisees were
disregarding the weightier matters of the Law. There were many other
things too, such as his calm and sovereign forgiveness of sin. Examples
could be given of the newness of his doctrine, such as, for instance,
that while it had been said that one must not commit adultery, he,
however, lays it down that anyone who even looks at another lustfully
already commits adultery in his heart. Most new was his teaching about
himself. In our Gospel today people approach him puzzled at the
apparent laxity of his disciples at least by comparison with the
disciples of John and the Pharisees. His disciples did not seem to
fast. Why was that? Our Lord’s reply confirmed the newness which his
presence constituted. There is nothing wrong with fasting — on the
contrary, his disciples would in due course be fasting. But now is not
the time because they have him in their midst. A reply such as this
once again reveals the uniqueness of Jesus and points to him as the
object of revealed religion (Mark 2:18-22).
The fast of John and the Pharisees is meant to direct the attention and
the life of their disciples to God through renunciation from that which
can distract them. But with Jesus present among them, there is present
in their midst the very object of their life. At this point there is no
danger of their being distracted from him because he is there before
them, he the bridegroom. Our Lord’s reply sets forth his own very
person as being the centre of religion. Moreover, in describing himself
as the bridegroom he is intimating, insinuating, that he himself is far
more than any prophet or religious guide as was John or any one of the
Pharisees. As all knew, the word bridegroom is a word
used of God in the Old Testament and Christ claims here to be the
'bridegroom'. John the Baptist had used this term of Christ too.
Just as Yahweh God
is the centre of revealed religion for he is the bridegroom of his
people, so too is Jesus. He is present among them to be seen and his
presence is a cause of rejoicing. It points to St Paul’s directive that
the Christian is to rejoice. “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say,
rejoice!” The complaint that our Lord was not insisting on notable
fasts among his disciples not only drew forth his emphasis on the
uniqueness and place in religion of his own very person. It also
illustrated the joy which his presence brings. The Christian life ought
always involve joy and the foundation of Christian joy is the presence
of Jesus. Whatever be the situation a Christian finds himself in, his
life ought be marked by joy. The source of this joy is that the
Christian is in Jesus and Jesus is in him. So it is a joy no one can
take away, and if the Christian is not living a life of joy then Christ
does not yet occupy the place in his life which he should. This joy can
coexist with suffering because Christ will be especially present when
he is suffering. Not only that, but — mysteriously — suffering is a
most special time when Christ will be present provided that time of
suffering is characterised by the desire to accept and do the will of
God. The saint finds his deepest joy in being constantly near to Christ
as Christ makes his way to Calvary. In his own suffering the saint
unites himself to Christ on the Cross, and therein lies his surest joy.
It is the joy that comes from love and union with the Beloved. Christ
said that if anyone wishes to be his disciple he must take up his cross
daily and follow in his footsteps. Every Christian is called to
discover in lived practice this secret to joy in Christ. The bridegroom
is present. However, our Lord makes it clear to those who approached
him that while he did not instruct his disciples to fast while he was
with them, fasting will certainly be part of his life when he is gone.
For when he is gone from sight, then the Christian can be tempted to
lose sight of Christ in his heart. So self-denial is an essential part
of the life of the Christian now, and the lives of the saints show
this. Their lives are lives of joy and the cross.
In one of his Letters St
Paul tells us what is the mystery now revealed. It is “Christ in you,
your hope of glory!” By our baptism and membership in his Church we
live in Christ by grace. He is with us, he the bridegroom of the
Church, and the bridegroom of our souls. Therefore, as St Paul says, we
should rejoice in the Lord always. He is near and with us always, in
good times and in bad. But we on our part must put in our best efforts
to remain with Christ and faithful to him, living a life of true
self-denial. Christ has gone from our sight, and so we do now fast.
(E.J.Tyler)
That supernatural mode of conduct is a truly military tactic.
You carry on the war — the daily struggles of your interior — far from
the main walls of your fortress.
And the enemy meets you there: in your small mortifications, your
customary prayer, your methodical work, your plan of life: and with
difficulty will he come close to the easily-scaled battlements of your
castle. And if he does come, he comes exhausted.
(The Way, no.307)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 27-28; Mark 2:23-28
It
happened that as the Lord walked through the corn fields on the Sabbath
his disciples went ahead to pluck the ears of corn. The Pharisees said
to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath
day?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and
his companions were hungry and needed to eat? How he went into the
house of God, under Abiathar the high priest, and ate the loaves of
proposition which only the priests were allowed to do, and then gave to
them who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord of
the Sabbath also.”(Mark 2:23-28)
There is no getting
away from it. In passage after passage of the Gospels Jesus makes
extraordinary personal claims and in this he is like no other prophet.
In the case of the prophets, their claims were far beyond the ordinary,
but essentially their claims came down to having received a revelation
from God. The prophets of the Old Testament
up to
John in the New claimed that God had spoken to them and had sent them
to his people with a message. Generally the message was a call to
repent or else either a great opportunity would be missed or a great
punishment would be suffered. In the process of this warning the
prophet would remind the people of what God had revealed about himself
and his covenant and he might perhaps contribute to this revelation — such as in the prophecies of Daniel about the Son of Man or those of
Isaiah about the Suffering Servant. But except for the fact that the
prophets claimed to have received a particular revelation they did not
direct the attention of their hearers to themselves. They themselves
were not part of the revelation. The revelation was about Yahweh and
they the prophets were merely his servants. But the case is very
different with Jesus of Nazareth. He was accepted by the people as a
prophet, and John the prophet before him had borne testimony to him.
Now, John’s testimony pointed above all to the very person of Jesus.
Elijah had passed on his mantle to Elisha who received, as it were, a
double portion of his prophetic spirit. In this particular respect we
could even see a likeness between those two prophets and John and
Jesus. But again, the case is very different. Neither Elijah nor Elisha
pointed to themselves. John pointed to Christ, and Christ pointed to
himself. He pointed to himself as the only way to the Father. He is the
Way, the Truth and the Life. No one could come to the Father except
through him. The prophetic process stopped with Christ. All pointed to
him and he pointed to himself. He who sees me, he stated, sees the
Father. Our Gospel passage today is one such instance of this(Mark 2:23-28).
One could say that
a very great deal of the living of Jewish religion hinged around the
observance of the Sabbath. It celebrated communally the very fact of
the one and only God on whom the entire creation depended for its
existence. At the end of his work of creation, we read in Genesis, God
rested, and the Sabbath rest was given over to the acknowledgment of
God’s reality and that all creation depended on him. The Sabbath bore
witness to God’s lordship. It was sacred and great efforts were
expended to preserve its sacredness in the life of the chosen people — in fact, as we read in the Gospels, these efforts ran aground with
numerous abuses. The entire Sabbath was often smothered with man-made
rules. Our Gospel passage today reports the Pharisees complaining to
our Lord that his disciples were violating the Sabbath rest by picking
ears of corn as they passed through the fields. Our Lord’s reply? They
had forgotten to consider Scripture itself (as in David’s action) and
how the Scriptures portray the observance of the Sabbath. God
instituted the Sabbath to help man and not to oppress him, to help man
to honour him and not to crush him. But more still, the Pharisees were
to understand that he, the Son of Man (a title, surely, alluding to
Daniel’s prophecies), that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. No one in
all Judaism would have claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath. No
prophet ever claimed this, not even Moses who received the Ten
Commandments from God, including the third which stipulated the
observance of the Sabbath. Only Christ claimed to be the Lord of the
Sabbath itself, and he claimed this with the effortless assurance that
was characteristic of his many other claims. It was a claim
unparalleled in the Old Testament, having no precedent, yet Christ made
it with simple and sovereign serenity. He was the Sabbath’s Lord — and
he was speaking here of the Jewish Sabbath. Of course, within the life
of Christ’s Church the new Sabbath (Sunday) has Christ as its Lord and
living Object, but here we are merely considering the person of Jesus
in view of his claims.
At the end of the
Gospel of St John the risen Jesus appears to the Eleven and turns to
Thomas, who had not believed their testimony that he had risen from the
dead. He shows Thomas his wounds, and Thomas adores him. He adores him
as God, saying, “My Lord and my God!” Our Gospel passage today is one
among the numerous striking indicators of his transcendent and unique
status among the children of men. He is even the Lord of the Sabbath.
(E.J.Tyler)
You write: 'My joy and my peace. I will never have real happiness if I
have not peace. And what is peace? Peace is something closely
related to war. Peace is a consequence of victory. Peace demands of me
a continual struggle. Without a struggle I will never have peace.'
(The Way, no.308)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 17:32-33,
37, 40-51; Psalm 144:1b, 2, 9-10; Mark 3:1-6
Jesus
went into the synagogue again and there was a man there who had a
withered hand. They watched him whether he would heal on the Sabbath
day in order that they might accuse him. He said to the man who had the
withered hand, “Stand up in the middle.” And he said to them, “Is it
lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, or to do evil? to save life, or
to destroy it?” But they remained silent. And looking round on them
with anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he said to
the man, “Stretch forth your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand
was restored to him.” And the Pharisees going out immediately made
plans with the Herodians as to how they might destroy him. (Mark 3:1-6)
John Henry Newman,
the leader of the Anglican Oxford Movement in nineteenth century
England and future Cardinal of the Catholic Church, was once visited
during his Oxford years by members of Cambridge University. He was told
about various persons at Cambridge, and he replied that their problem
was that they lacked fear. He meant by this that their
image of God was of one who is entirely “benevolent” and from whom,
therefore, there is nothing ever to fear. They lacked a sense of the
wrath and anger of God in respect to unrepented and deliberate sin. In
various of his discourses he attacked the prevalent image of God as of
One who is simply “benevolent” and from whom nothing could be expected
other than happiness — despite deliberate sin. Indeed, he wrote, there
was a widespread assumption that a moral God (in the very nature of the
case) could only be “benevolent” and that a good God could not be
judgmental and punishing of wrongdoing. In his various sermons he spoke
at times of the loving kindness of God, and at other times of his anger
and judgments and made the point that the infinite richness of God
includes both his boundless love and his holy abhorrence of sin.
Scripture illustrates time and again the holy anger of the all-loving
God in respect to sin — difficult though it might be to express this
theologically and philosophically. But it is by no means unimportant,
for Newman says elsewhere that the first principle of religion itself
is the thought of a judgment, which evokes fear. The thought of being
sentenced to Hell for serious and unrepented sin can lead a person to
turn to the all-loving God who is our Father. All this is to say that
it is part of divine revelation that in a sense analogous to human
indignation God is angered by unrepented and deliberate sin and that it
is deeply offensive to him. His anger at sin is shown in his judgments,
and his judgment on sin is likewise part of divine revelation. The
answer to the fact of sin is not to deny that it offends God, but
genuinely to repent of it and thus to discover his infinite love.
We surely catch a
glimpse of this in our Gospel scene today in which our Lord is
portrayed as being angry. Inasmuch as our Lord was and is God himself,
God the Son made man, our Gospel scene today portrays the anger of God.
Our passage tells us that he asked the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do
good on the Sabbath day, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy
it?” But they remained silent. And looking round on them with anger,
being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, he said to the man,
“Stretch forth your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was
restored to him.”
(Mark 3:1-6). The setting is that
of the synagogue and there was a man there with a withered hand. The
Pharisees were present watching like vultures to spot any violation of
the Sabbath so as to be able to accuse Christ of religious wrongdoing.
Would he heal the injured man? Their attitude was one of cold and
determined hostility and a refusal of the light. Christ challenged them
with his question and none were willing to answer — undoubtedly for
fear of being publicly and resoundingly refuted. Their silence placed
them beyond the reach of Christ’s light and grace, and his love showed
itself in his anger. He loved goodness, he loved truth, and he loved
them. Their silence manifested their unrepentant sin against the light
and it constituted a hard resistance against the divine power to save.
Christ’s reaction? He looked round on them with anger, sorely grieved
at their deliberate and sinful blindness. God the Son was angry at
their deliberate refusal to see and assent to his truth. It is a
warning to us that we ought have a wholesome fear of the anger of God.
We must strive never to commit a deliberate sin and if we do then we
must repent of it. God loves the repentant sinner, but the refusal to
repent grieves him in the way it did Christ and that loving grief of
Christ showed itself in a holy anger. This is not the only time that
Christ’s anger is shown in the Gospels but it reminds us that sin is
offensive to God.
It all comes down
to this that the God who revealed himself to Abraham and Moses, the God
who is the Father of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, is an all loving
and at the same time an all holy God. He is love, as St John writes,
but it is a holy love. He commands us to be holy, for he is holy. If we
disregard this and choose the path of unrepented sin, God will not be
pleased. He will be offended and his judgment on sin will come. So let
us resolve to show our love for Christ by renouncing sin and striving
to repent of it all through life. Let us live and die truly repentant.
(E.J.Tyler)
What depths of mercy there are in God's justice! For, in the judgments
of men, he who confesses his fault is punished: and in the Judgment of
God, he is pardoned.
Blessed be the holy Sacrament of Penance!
(The Way, no.309)
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Scripture today: 1 Samuel 18:6-9;
19:1-7; Psalm 56:2-3, 9-10-13; Mark 3:7-12
Jesus
retired with his disciples to the sea and a great multitude followed
him from Galilee and Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond
the Jordan, and from the area of Tyre and Sidon. A great number,
hearing the things which he did, came to him. He directed his disciples
to make a small boat ready for him lest the crowds overwhelm him. He
healed many and all who suffered evils pressed on him to touch him. The
unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him and cried,
saying, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly charged them that
they should not make him known.(Mark
3:7-12)
Not many can be
found who, knowing of Jesus of Nazareth, would deny his greatness in
one or other sense. The Dalai Lama acknowledged him on one occasion,
referring to him as a great instance in history of the spirit of the
Buddha. Islam readily admits his greatness as a prophet, and no one
could possibly deny his outstanding influence on
the
world. The issue is not his greatness for all admit of this. Even the
scribes and Pharisees who gradually became — out of jealousy — his
implacable enemies, could not avoid his greatness. The issue is above
all over the claims — especially one — as to his person. It is obvious
that he was a man and a very great one at that — although some
gnostic groups in the early Church even called into question that he
was a true man. The claim that provoked the outrage of the
Pharisees and provided the excuse they needed to move against him is
expressed in our Gospel passage today. It is that, while being truly
man (which was obvious to all and which Christ knew to be so) he is the
Son of God. Our Gospel passage reports the devils shouting this great
fact out. The devils had divined that this person before them who
possessed such invincible spiritual power and unassailable holiness was
the Son of God, and Christ imposed silence on them not to make him
known. It was the great mystery which our Lord revealed only gradually
but nevertheless unambiguously. We read in the Gospel of St John that
our Lord referred to God as his own Father, and the scribes and
Pharisees attempted to stone him for, they said, he was only a man and
yet he was making himself equal to God. Finally before the Sanhedrin
our Lord bore witness to the truth of his person. He was the Son of the
Living God, and they would see him coming on the clouds of heaven
seated at the right hand of the divine Power. He was God’s Son and
equal to God. It is the crunch point, the claim that Christ himself
made, that his disciples make of him, and that the Catholic Church
makes and has made of him from the beginning. It is the parting of the
ways between Catholic Christianity and Judaism, the parting of the ways
between Christian doctrine and the doctrines of the many great and not
so great religions of mankind.
This matter of the
claim of Christ and his followers that he is divine is no mere
curiosity. It is not a mere academic matter. It relates directly to
what Christ claimed to do and what mankind can therefore expect to
benefit from him. In our Gospel passage today our Lord is shown
attracting vast crowds to him and “he healed many and all who suffered
evils pressed on him to touch him.” (Mark
3:7-12)
Those who came to him and who benefited from his healing and
exorcising power did not know that this man who was dispensing such
benefits was God the Son. Rather, he was obviously a great prophet
acting as an instrument of the power of God. But Christ did not come
simply to heal, to raise to life some who had died, and to drive out
many devils. These were just signs of something far greater to come
which he would do for man, and that was to take away the sin of the
world and to make men children of God. It is especially here that his
divinity was so absolutely necessary. No mere man could possibly take
away the sin of the world and in principle make it new by pouring out
the Holy Spirit on mankind. At the threshold of his public ministry
before he was publicly known, John the Baptist had revealed to some of
his disciples our Lord’s mission. He was the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world and who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He had come
to give man a share in the divine nature, making of him an adopted
child of God. It is for this essential work that our Lord’s divinity
would be so necessary. That is why so much hangs in the balance of
acceptance of his claims of being divine. Time and again during his
public ministry our Lord showed that faith in him was the prelude to
receiving from him his blessings. Likewise faith in his divinity, in
his claim to be the Son of God and equal to the Father, is the prelude
to receiving from him the blessings of salvation from sin and
sanctification to holiness. Belief in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son
of God is the intended door to redemption.
Let us day by day
take our stand with Jesus and contemplate his person, his words and his
claims. Let us draw near to him for, as he says, he is meek and humble
of heart, and we shall find rest for our souls. He is at the centre of
the universe and is its Lord. He is the Lord of lords and the King of
kings, and of his Kingdom there will be no end. He is the Son of God
made man, and it is he and he alone who takes us to the Father. Let us
cleave to him and thus find life in his name.
(E.J.Tyler)
'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ', says Saint Paul to the Romans. It is in
the Sacrament of Penance that you and I put on Jesus Christ and his
merits.
(The Way, no.310)
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Scripture today: 1
Samuel 24: 3-21; Psalm 56;
Mark 3: 13-19
Jesus went up on a mountainside and
called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—
designating them apostles— that they might be with him and that he might send
them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the
twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of
Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means
Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of
Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
(Mark 3: 13-19)
Christ and his ChurchThere is the danger for the Christian of not appreciating the profoundly Jewish
roots of his religion. The Jewish people are our elder brothers. This is not the
moment to expatiate on the love that ought mark the relations between the
Christian and the Jew, for our focus here is on the person of Jesus Christ. But
it is the moment to remember that Jesus our Lord was entirely Jewish. He was not
a Roman. He was not a Greek. He was not a man of Gaul, nor a Briton, nor a
Syrian, nor an Egyptian, nor a Persian. He was a Hebrew, a son of David, a son
of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah. He was a descendant of Isaac and Jacob, and
Jacob’s son Judah. He undoubtedly had, we might say, classic Hebrew features and
the build and stature of a Hebrew. Though he was raised in Nazareth and spoke
with a Galilean accent (we remember that Simon Peter was identified during the
Passion by his Galilean accent), Jesus was born in the town of his forefather,
David. The Shroud of Turin shows forth a man of majesty in features and build,
and one, I suspect, quintessentially Hebrew in its best sense. Just gaze on that
face, so calm in death
— or perhaps in rising to life. Observe the royal beauty
of its proportions, the nobility of the forehead, eyes, nose and mouth! But
Christ’s human mind and culture also was profoundly Hebraic, steeped in the
inspired Scriptures and filled with the history of the chosen people. How he
must have loved the chosen people and often thought of the patriarchs, the
kings, the priests and the prophets
— especially, perhaps, of the patriarchs and
the prophets! After all, he, the second Person of the most holy Trinity,
together with the Father and the Spirit, called this people and formed it.
“Before Abraham ever was, I am,” he said to the leaders. “Abraham saw my day,
and was glad,” he said again. All that he did as the redeeming Messiah would
have had the Scriptures and God’s dealings with his people for their backdrop.
It is indisputable that being steeped in the Old Testament (as our Lord himself
was) assists us to understand the Christ of the New.
Let this be the context for our reading of the Gospel passage of today
(Mark 3:
13-19). Our Lord goes up the side of “the mountain” - perhaps a large and
extensive hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee. He would have thought of the
long centuries of God’s chosen people. Let us imagine his mind going back to the
beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let us imagine him with Jacob’s sons in
mind, the twelve patriarchs. His mind passes from these beginnings to the long
and all-too disappointing history of the twelve tribes of Israel. Abraham had
been promised that through him the nations would be blessed. The prophets had
foretold a new covenant, a new beginning. Now that new beginning had arrived in
his own person, the person of Jesus Christ. There he stood on the mountain, the
Man who embodied God himself. In him was the fulness of the godhead bodily. He
also embodied the best and noblest of his race, and now a new beginning was to
be made in the story of salvation. So we read, “Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve —
designating them apostles — that they might be with him and that he might send
them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” Why twelve?
Clearly because it was a new beginning. As Jacob
— Israel — had summoned his
twelve sons and constituted them patriarchs of the people to come, so Christ,
the new Israel, was constituting certain of his disciples to be the new
patriarchs of the people to come. He was laying the foundations of his Church.
There were to be striking differences between the Old and the New. Jacob had
entrusted his sons (the patriarchs, especially Judah), with their missions, but
it could not compare with the mission being entrusted to the new patriarchs.
These were “apostles,” his own envoys who were to be with him and who would be
sent out to do as he was doing. They would preach and drive out the demons. It
was a harbinger of the universal mission to come and the grace they would bring
to the world. The new people were to be missionary, and led as such by the
patriarchs, they would bring the Redeemer to the ends of the earth.
The Church which Christ built has the Twelve Apostles for its foundation. In
this sense it is “apostolic.” It is also “apostolic” in that it shares in the
mission entrusted to the Twelve. Its members share in that mission in diverse
ways, depending on the vocation, the grace and the circumstances of their lives.
The direct successors of the Twelve are the bishops, united with the successor
of the Rock on which Christ built his Church. The Pope and bishops are the
visible foundation, and in and through this Church we live in the person of
Jesus Christ and have the mission to bring him to others. Jesus Christ is the
rock of mankind, and it is his Church that brings him to the world.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Scripture today: 2
Timothy 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5; Psalm 96:1-3, 7-8a, 10; Mark 3:20-21
Jesus and
his disciples came to a house and the multitude again gathered together
such that they could not so much as catch a meal. When his relatives
heard of it they set out to restrain him for they were saying, “He is
out of his mind.”(Mark 3:20-21)
The Zeal
of Christ
Every sentence of the Gospels reveals something of the Son of God made man. St
Jerome once wrote that the one who is ignorant of the Scriptures is ignorant of
Christ — a statement which certainly sets forth the spiritual power of the
Scriptures, even
though it must be remembered that an explicit reading of the Scriptures is not
the only way to gain a knowledge of its content. Well then, let us consider our
brief Gospel of today, consisting of a mere two verses. Christ and his
disciples come to the house and are, we might say, besieged with the requests
and importunity of the crowds. What led to this? It was not only our Lord’s
evident power to aid them in their needs, but also his readiness and desire to
assist them. His active love shone through in his deeds of mercy and it was
this love that attracted them. We remember how shortly after our Lord called
Levi (or Matthew) the tax collector to follow him, a banquet for our Lord was
held in the house of Matthew. We read that many sinners and tax collectors were
there too at the banquet. They were desirous of being with Jesus. What
attracted them to him? His holiness and his love. He loved them and they felt
it. In our Gospel passage today (Mark 3:20‑21)
the crowds were swarming the house because they wanted to make contact with
Jesus. They could see that he loved them and was concerned for them, and that
he could help them. Their presence and their pressing from all sides drew forth
the response from our Lord of even more intense work and service of them. There
was no stop to the work, and we read that they did not even have time to catch a
bite to eat. We notice also the response of our Lord’s own relatives. They
heard of his immense work and they set out to put a stop to it — perhaps they
were concerned for his health. He is out of his mind, they were saying.
Perhaps, too, it indicates the powerful impact our Lord was beginning to have
because of his unceasing work and that of his disciples.
There are other indications in the Gospels of our Lord utterly spending himself
for the salvation of souls. We read how our Lord boarded the boat with his
disciples and embarked on the Sea of Galilee to cross to the other side. A
storm began and what a storm! So great was the turbulence that the boat was in
imminent danger of capsizing, and yet what of our Lord? He was fast asleep! All
others in the boat were terrified at what was happening, and finally in
desperation they awoke him with the question, did he not care? But the point
here is that despite this violent and tumultuous situation, our Lord was sound
asleep. He was tired out beyond description. His all consuming work left him
in a profound sleep despite what was happening around him — and this was, from a
human point of view, an outstanding man in his physical prime. It suggests to
us how intensely given over to his mission our Lord was. Or again, we read in
the Gospel of St John that once, when passing through Samaria with his
disciples, our Lord stopped at the well while his disciples went on to buy
something to eat. Why did he stay behind? He was profoundly weary. It
indicates the degree of intensity of his unceasing work. Yet, weary as he was,
he was ever on the look-out for opportunities to win souls. When the Samaritan
woman came to the Well to fetch water, he drew her out and converted her, and
that in turn led to the evangelization of many Samaritans of that village. It
all suggests that all that could have been done was done by our Lord. Yet we
read how our Lord would rise early and go out into the hills to pray to his
heavenly Father, at times spending the whole night in prayer. Our Lord’s public
life was a life of prayer and work and of drawing his disciples into such a life
with him. They shared his friendship, they shared his life, they shared his
ministry and they shared in his prayer. There were no half-measures with
Christ, and he asked of his disciples that there be no half-measures with them
too.
Our Lord gave everything during his public ministry, and finally he gave
everything in his Passion and his Death. In the Eucharist he gives everything
in giving us himself. St Paul writes that in Christ we receive every heavenly
blessing. He gives us his whole self in the Eucharist and he invites us to give
our whole selves to him. Let us learn from the total dedication of Christ to be
totally dedicated ourselves, dedicated in love to him and in union with him to
others.
The power of your name, Lord! As a heading to my letter I
had written, as always, 'May Jesus watch over you.'
And he replies: 'The "May Jesus watch over you" of your letter has
already helped me out of more than one tight corner. May he also watch
over all of you.'
(The Way, no.312)
Prayers
this week:
Sing a new song to the
Lord! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Truth and beauty surround him,
he lives in holiness and glory.(Psalm 95: 1.6) All-powerful
and ever-living God, direct your love that is within us, that our
efforts in the name of your Son may bring mankind unity and peace. We
ask
this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
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When Jesus had
heard that John was arrested, he retired into Galilee. Leaving the town
of Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea coast, in the
borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim.
Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “Land of Zabulon and land of
Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness has seen great light, and to
those who dwelt in the shadow of death light has dawned.” From that
point Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.” As Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee he saw two
brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a
net into the sea (for they were fishermen). He said to them, “Come
after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately leaving
their nets they followed him. Going on from there he saw two other
brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with
Zebedee their father mending their nets. He called them, and they
immediately left their nets and father and followed him. Jesus went
about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel
of the kingdom. He healed all manner of sickness and every infirmity
among the people.
(Matthew 4:12-23)
The Light of life The
prelude of our Lord’s activities in our Gospel passage today is the cutting
short by Herod of the public work of John the Baptist. He was a great prophet
and the people held him to be such. Our Lord told his disciples at a later date
that he was the Elijah whom the Scriptures predicted would come again. We
remember how Elijah appointed his successor who received a double portion of his
spirit, Elisha. Elisha went on to preach the word of God and to work miracles
(2 Kings 2).
We see something of this pattern of one prophet leading to the next in our Lord
taking over from John after John’s arrest. But great as John was, now there
appeared a Light beyond compare outclassing John in every respect. Matthew
already (in chapter 2:2) had stated that John was the man Isaiah referred to
when he prophesied a voice in the wilderness calling all to prepare a way for
the Lord. In our passage today (ch.4) Matthew quotes him again in speaking of
Jesus to whom John had borne witness. Jesus is the great Light Isaiah had
spoken of dispelling the shadows of death. “The people who sat in darkness has
seen great light, and to those who dwelt in the shadow of death light has
dawned.” That light brought life where there had been death. The tree sapling
deep in the darkness of the valley reaches up to the light so as to live and
grow. Christ’s light gives life. Matthew’s reference to Isaiah reminds us of
the words of St John about Christ in the prologue of his Gospel. John tells us
that “all that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a
light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overcome” (John
1:4-5). Christ appeared among men as a great light, the greatest Light God had
given to his people, and he himself knew and stated that he was the greatest
light to come to man. He claimed to be the light of the world and that the man
who refuses to live by his light lives in the darkness, a darkness leading to
death. So our Gospel today makes clear that two great things come from
Christ. Firstly, he is the light of men and that light is present in his
teaching. That light continues to shine in the Church’s teaching and
preaching. He is also the life of men, and that life, present in his miracles
of healing, continues to vivify us in the Church’s sacraments. By our union
with Christ we possess his light and his life dispelling darkness and death.
St Matthew tells us that our Lord began his public ministry in a serious sense
in Galilee after the sudden demise of John at the hands of Herod. It signalled
our Lord’s specific mission which was to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
But our passage today portrays our Lord actively seeking disciples who would
share in his mission. This does not seem to be characteristic of the prophets
before our Lord. They did not actively seek disciples who would share in their
mission and become a force in their society and world in concert with them. But
our Lord did. “He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of
men.’ Immediately leaving their nets they followed him. Going on from there he
saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat
with Zebedee their father mending their nets. He called them, and they
immediately left their nets and father and followed him”
(Matthew 4:12‑23). This in turn points to the future mission of
Christ and his Church to the world. Christ’s personal mission during his public
ministry was to Israel, the Israel of Galilee and Judea, allowing for brief
excursions beyond — such as to Samaria and the Decapolis. But this great Light
that had suddenly appeared was not to be a Light for the chosen people alone.
We remember how, in the book of Genesis, Abraham had been told that through him
all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Christ is that blessing, the
great blessing for the children of Abraham in the flesh and the great blessing
to all of Abraham’s children in the faith. Abraham, St Paul writes, is our
father in the faith, and the faith which is his legacy is our faith in the one
God and in Jesus Christ his divine Son. The blessing by which through him all
the nations can be blessed is Jesus Christ. We remember St Paul’s words that in
Christ is to be found every heavenly blessing, and this heavenly blessing which
is Christ is brought to the world through the Church, founded on the Apostles
whom our Lord is calling in our Gospel passage today. So then, our Gospel
passage today sets forth the person of Jesus and his Church. The Church’s
treasure is Jesus, and her mission is to bring Jesus the Light to the world, and
through this Light which is Christ the world may find life in his name.
The kingdom of God which our Lord proclaimed as being near is nothing other than
the lordship of God over the hearts of men. This lordship is brought about by
means of union with Jesus and sharing in his life by the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Christ is the blessing of God to mankind, and membership in his Church
is the divinely intended path to gain access to this all-important blessing.
The Church and all her children have the calling to bring Christ, the Church’s
treasure, to all. It is in this way that the Kingdom of God will come. Let us
entrust ourselves entirely to Jesus and take our stand among his disciples whom
in today’s Gospel he calls to share his mission
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Scripture today: 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10; Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 25-26; Mark 3:22-30
The
scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub, and
by the prince of devils he casts out devils.” When he had called them
together he said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If
a kingdom be divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. If a
house be divided against itself that house cannot stand either. If
Satan rises up against himself he is divided and cannot stand. He is
coming to an end. No man can enter into the house of a strong man and
rob him of his goods unless he first bind the strong man. Then he will
plunder his house. Amen I say to you that all sins will be forgiven
men, and their blasphemies. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit will never receive forgiveness but will guilty of an everlasting
sin.” He taught this because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
(Mark 3:22-30)
Blasphemy against the Spirit
There are various ways of approaching the reading and the study of history. One
way is through biography, which is to say through the study of individuals and
their impact on the course of events. Whether
it be in relation to politics, economics, religion, philosophy or ecclesiastical
events, such an approach would analyse the issues primarily (though not
exclusively) through the prism of the individuals who were involved. Taking the
history of the Church, for instance, this approach would emphasise the study of
individuals — say, the saints — and their impact on the course of the Church’s
history. An interesting corollary is the study of those who consciously reject
Christian dogma. Let us take an example, say, the nineteenth century Anglican
Oxford Movement, at the forefront of which was John Henry Newman. Now, one of
Newman’s acquaintances was Blanco White, an ex‑Catholic priest who had abandoned
Catholicism and who, during his acquaintance with Newman, gradually abandoned
his acceptance of the doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity and died a
Unitarian. He was sincere but spiritually blind. I mention the case of Blanco
White only in passing, for we cannot possibly judge what was the state of his
heart, nor can we of any particular individual. My point, though, is that
individuals such as this prompt us to think of the rejection of Christ and his
claims. Our Lord speaks with great solemnity of this in our Gospel passage
today. The setting is the response of the scribes to our Lord’s driving out of
the devils. The scribes accused him of being in league with Satan. He was,
they murmured, casting out demons with Satan’s power in order to gain a
spiritual ascendancy over God’s people, and all in Satan’s interest. Though it
was evident to all that Christ was being led by the Spirit of God in the way the
prophets had been before, and was driving out Satan by the power of the Holy
Spirit, they deliberately chose to name the spirit leading him as being none
other than Satan. Let us consider Christ’s response to this sin against the
light.
Our Lord
summons them together and begins by refuting the charge on grounds of mere
common sense. How could Satan be so inept in his strategy? Is he directing one
person — Jesus himself — to destroy various of his own forces all the while
expecting to gain the victory? If one kingdom advances against another and as
part of the strategy allows its greatest officer turn on and attack its own
troops with devastating effect, will not that kingdom be thus weakened and fall?
Their argument is absurd. Incidentally, implied in this refutation by our Lord
is the indication that Satan is indeed intelligent and that he is organized in
his resources and in his methods. But of course he is no match for Christ. Our
Lord then goes on to deliver a terrifying warning to those who deliberately
resist the light. “Amen I say to you that all sins will be forgiven men, and
their blasphemies. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
never receive forgiveness but will guilty of an everlasting sin.” He taught this
because they said, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark
3:22‑30). The implication of our Lord’s words is that at least some
of the scribes were setting themselves so knowingly against the Holy Spirit as
to place themselves out of the reach of grace altogether. They were, despite
what was most clear to all including themselves, accusing Christ of being
inhabited by a demon. They were in effect in danger of deliberately accusing
the Holy Spirit of being bad, of being wicked. Our Lord warns that such a
person reviles and blasphemes the Holy Spirit. More ominously, he says that a
person who blasphemes the Spirit of God is guilty of an eternal sin. Just as
the conscience of man is able to wield its influence for good because man knows
that his conscience is good, so too if the Holy Spirit is to exercise his power
and influence a person must recognize that he, the Spirit of God, is supremely
good. He is the Spirit of Christ and of God. Deliberately to call him wicked
is to place oneself beyond his influence. It all indicates the mystery of evil
and of how the gift of free will can be put to tragic and utter misuse, with
eternal consequences.
Let
us understand that the worst thing that man can do is to commit sin. If we sin
then we must immediately repent. To repent requires the grace and help of the
Holy Spirit. Let us profoundly reverence the Holy Spirit. He is the one who
sanctifies us and in whom is our hope. Let us treasure the light that he sends
us and be faithful to it, understanding that if we are faithful to the light we
are given then more still will be given.
I wrote to you and said: I'm relying on you: you'll see what we can
do...!' — What could we do, except rely on Him!
(The Way, no.314)
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Scripture today: 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19; Psalm 24:7-10; Mark
3:31-35
The
mother of Jesus and his brethren came. Standing outside they sent for
him. Many were sitting before him, and they told him, “Behold your
mother and your brethren outside are looking for you. Answering them he
said, “Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on those who
sat about him, he said “Behold my mother and my brethren. For whoever
does the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.(Mark 3:31-35)
The
family of Christ
If one grants the Christian claim and dogma that Jesus of Nazareth was God — the
Son of God made man — then it is surely a source of unending fascination to
think of him dwelling among men. Particularly wondrous is the phenomenon of the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity being a member of a human family, with a
true mother and a foster‑father, living a humble and ordinary life those thirty
years at Nazareth. The God of might lived as a member of an obscure family in a
backwater village which was not looked on very highly by its neighbours. We
know of this meagre reputation Nazareth had from the response of Nathanael (in
the Gospel of St John) to Philip’s telling him about Jesus of Nazareth. The
point I wish to make, though, is that God took the Incarnation seriously in that
he became as all men are except for sin. He became a member of a family, a
member of a wider circle of relatives, a member of a clan. That he was a good
member truly immersed in his family relationships is shown in our Gospel today
when, as the text says, “His mother and brothers came. Standing outside they
sent for him. Many were sitting before him, and they told him, ‘Behold your
mother and your brethren outside are looking for you’.” They were on easy and
familiar terms with him and despite his unique moral qualities and his growing
position in the life of the people, they felt quite free to come and summon him
to their company. This detail says much for the reality and the scale of the
Incarnation. God became man in every sense except for man’s condition of being
sinful. It is a wholesome and instructive thought to ponder on our Lord’s life
during all those years at Nazareth: thirty of his thirty-three years. Just as
family is fundamental and central to the individual, and to the life of the
community, so too family must have been fundamental to our Lord, humanly
speaking.
But there was to be a wider and far greater family of Jesus, and our Lord’s
words in today’s Gospel allude to it. We read that, ‘Answering them he said,
“Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on those who sat about him,
he said “Behold my mother and my brethren. For whoever does the will of God, he
is my brother, and my sister, and mother”‘ (Mark
3:31‑35). Christ our Lord was establishing his new family, and those
who sat before him as his disciples were on the way to being members of it.
Yahweh God had established his chosen people as his family. The covenant he had
with them was a family covenant. The prophets described Yahweh as a Husband,
the Husband of his people. His people was his bride, his spouse. It has also
been suggested by some scholars that the word “Yahweh” not only means “I am”,
but includes in this brief phrase the promise to abide with his people: “I am
(as the One always there with you)”. It suggests the fidelity and presence of
the Bridegroom. Israel was his spouse. In other contexts, Israel his people is
regarded as Yahweh’s son, his child. For example, he called Israel his “child”
out of Egypt. The point in all of this is that in the Old Testament God
regarded his chosen people as his family. But now with the coming of Christ a
new and far loftier family was being established and its grandeur derived from
the presence of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Church is God’s
family and Christ is our brother. The covenant whereby this new family comes
into being is the new covenant in the blood of Christ. Each member of the
Church is a brother to Christ through faith and baptism, and through a life of
obedience to God. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and
mother.” The exemplar for all the brothers and sisters of Christ is his own
Mother whose life was summed up in her words to the Angel, “Be it done unto me
according to your word.”
As we look out on the world and the stars we cannot but be awestruck at what the
Creator must be like to hold all that we see in constant existence. He is the
God of heaven and earth, above us in a manner far beyond imagining. And yet, he
became man and as our brother lay down his life that we might share in his
life. Let us live every day in such a way that Jesus will look on us and say to
those around him, behold my brother, my sister, for whoever does the will of
God, he is my mother and my sister and my brother.
A missionary. — You dream of being a missionary. Another Francis
Xavier... And you long to conquer an empire for Christ. Japan, China,
India, Russia... the peoples of the North of Europe, or America, or
Africa, or Australia?
Stir up that fire in your heart, that hunger for souls. But don't
forget that you are more of a missionary 'obeying'. Geographically
distant from those apostolic fields, you work both 'here' and 'there':
don't you — like Xavier — feel your arm tired after administering
baptism to so many?
(The Way, no.315)
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Scripture today: 2 Samuel 7:4-17; Psalm 89:4-5, 27-30; Mark 4:1-20
Jesus again began
to teach by the sea side, and a great multitude gathered before him so
he boarded a boat and sat there on the Lake. The whole concourse stood
on the land by the shore. He taught them many things in parables, and
said to them: “Listen. Behold, a sower went out to sow. While he sowed
some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air
came and ate it up. Others fell upon stony ground where it had little
soil and it shot up immediately because it had no depth of earth. When
the sun rose it was scorched and because it had no root it withered
away. Some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and
it yielded no fruit. Some fell upon good ground and produced a crop
that grew, increased and gave its yield, one thirty, another sixty, and
another a hundred.” He then said, “He that has ears to hear, let him
hear.” When he was alone the twelve who were with him asked him about
the parable. He said to them, “To you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God. But to those outside all is explained in
parables in order that seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing
they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be
converted and their sins forgiven them. He said to them, “Are you
ignorant of this parable? How shall you know the other parables? He
that sows, is the sower of the word. Those by the wayside are those
whom, upon hearing the word that was sown, Satan immediately approaches
and deprives of the word that was sown in their hearts. Similarly the
seed sown on stony ground are those who when they have heard the word,
immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root in them and last
only for a time. When tribulation and persecution arises on account of
the word they stumble. Others there are who are sown among thorns.
These are they who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the
deceitfulness of riches and the lusts after other things enter in and
choke the word, and it is made fruitless. The ones who are sown on good
soil are those who hear the word and receive it. They yield fruit, one
thirty, another sixty, and another a hundredfold.”(Mark 4:1-20)
The
human heart
What must have been the thoughts filling the heart of our Lord as the crowds
sought to be with him? We are told of his immense compassion and of how power
continually went forth from him. But our Lord had no illusions about the crowds
as such. In our Gospel passage today we are told that the numbers were so great
and importunate that he chose to move out from the shore and teach them from the
water. He sat in the boat and spoke from there, gazing on the people whom on
another occasion he said were like sheep without a shepherd. As
he spoke his eyes roved among the people, observing persons of all ages and
various walks of life. Our Lord did not look on people as simply members of a
crowd. He, we are told elsewhere in St John’s Gospel, knew their hearts. So
what do we find him speaking of? He is speaking of the attitude of those who
listen to his word. Very many do not listen with the attitude that is necessary
for what he is saying to have its effect. He is trying to alert the crowd to
the change of heart they must undergo as they listen to him. He uses a parallel
from their everyday life drawn from their work in the fields. Some are hard of
heart and his word will not penetrate at all. They are like the seed that falls
on the path and the birds take it away. What our Lord is saying to them gets
nowhere at all. Others are like the seed that gets a happy reception initially,
but there is no depth to them. A little difficulty and it is gone. Others are
filled with other interests and cares, such as their income, their possessions,
their worries and ambitions. With them, what our Lord is speaking of in his
discourses does not have a chance. It is choked out of life. But there are
some among the crowd who will do well with what our Lord is saying. They will
do well because they will truly receive the word into their hearts and retain
it, allowing it to germinate and bear fruit. They hang on to what our Lord is
telling them. They treasure it in their hearts and because of their readiness,
their appreciation, their inner freedom to appropriate it, it flowers in the
results God intends.
We observe that our Lord deliberately spoke to them only suggestively. He was
not explicit in his description of their dispositions. He told a story and let
it stand without its explanation, hoping that the crowd would ponder on it and
grasp its point. Why did he do this? He explained to his Apostles that he did
this because basically they were unwilling to accept the light. “To you it is
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those outside all is
explained in parables in order that seeing they may see and not perceive and
hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be
converted and their sins forgiven them” (Mark 4:1‑20).
They were blind to their own unwillingness. It was an unwillingness to convert
from their sins and hardheartedness, and so have their sins forgiven them. In
this way our Lord reveals man’s basic problem, and the problem facing all those
who hear the proclamation of the Good News of Christ. That problem is the
condition of their own hearts, the readiness to turn away from sin and believe
what Christ has revealed. They are not ready because they do not want it — all
the while, perhaps, not realizing it. The sin that is in their hearts is at
times before them and at times somewhat hidden to them, but it is due to their
own fault. They are unwilling to recognize and turn away from their sins and be
converted. It is this attitude and stance of the will which our Lord saw in the
crowds who converged on him and who pressed about him. As already mentioned, St
John in his Gospel tells us that our Lord could read the hearts of all, and here
in our Gospel passage today our Lord is speaking of the hearts of the crowds
before him. It was precisely because of the condition of their hearts that he
spoke here to them in parables. We are all thus warned. It is so very
difficult to be alive to the starting points and assumptions that pervade our
hearts, let alone to set them right. We ought ask the Holy Spirit to make us
truly ready for the word of Christ.
Our vocation in life is not merely to be very good people, which the natural
conscience presses upon every man and woman. No, we are called to the holiness
that Christ came to offer us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. But we must
on our part be the good soil of our Lord’s parable. This means having the
readiness to receive wholeheartedly the word and teaching of Christ which,
generation after generation, comes in and through the word and teaching of the
Church he founded on the Apostles with Peter at their head. That readiness is a
gift of the Holy Spirit — and for this reason our Lord tells his Apostles in our
Gospel passage that to them it has been given. Let us pray to the Spirit of God
asking that this grace be given to us too — and then let us be faithful to it.
You tell me, yes, that you want to. Very good: but do you want to as a
miser longs for gold, as a mother loves her child, as a worldling
craves for honours, or as a wretched sensualist seeks his pleasure ?
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Scripture today:
2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29; Psalm
132:1-3, 5,
11-14; Mark 4:21-25
Jesus said to them,
“Does anyone put a candle under a bushel or under a bed? Does he not
put it on a candlestick? For there is nothing hidden which shall not be
made manifest, nor made secret which shall not be manifested. Those who
can hear, let him hear.” Jesus said to them, “Take heed what you hear.
In the measure you meet out, so shall it be measured to you again and
more besides. For to the one who has it shall be given. From the one
who has not, even what he has will be taken away from him.”(Mark 4:21-25)
The
judgment
I invite you to count the number of times in the Gospels in which Christ alludes
either directly or indirectly to the judgment of God on each person. There are
many such allusions. There used to be a glib generalization which stated that
while the Old Testament stresses the wrath and judgment of God, the New stresses
his love. Now,
while the great doctrine of the New Testament is indeed that God is love, it is
a great error to think that the judgment of God on unrepentant sinners is
underplayed. Indeed, the divine judgment is emphasised far more in the New
Testament because far more is revealed of its eternal consequences. My
impression is that many Jews do not derive from their reading of what Christians
call the Old Testament much clear knowledge of the awesome results of the
judgment of God following death. The doctrine of an eternity in either heaven
or hell is not to them an indisputable revelation of the Old Testament. The
Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead.
I think one can say that generally, Jewish traditions do not accept an eternal
hell following the divine judgment on the one who dies in a state of unrepentant
mortal sin. Punishment is basically temporary. Whatever of this important
difference of dogmatic view, there is no question that Christ stressed the
ominous nature of God’s judgment on sin and also his judgment on the one who
perseveres in the good. He keeps it before his audience because of its
importance for each of us, and his words are unmistakable: “there is nothing
hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor made secret which shall not be
manifested. Those who can hear, let him hear.” He continues in the same vein.
“Take heed what you hear. In the measure you meet out, so shall it be measured
to you again and more besides. For to the one who has it will be given. From
the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away from him”
(Mark 4:21‑25).
Cardinal Newman, who was perhaps the foremost religious mind of nineteenth
century Britain, spent a lot of time and thought endeavouring to make more
acceptable to the modern mind the doctrine of an eternal hell. But one thing he
did maintain was that the first principle of religion is the thought of a
judgement as it operates in the feeling of a conscience, especially the guilty
conscience. A person feels guilty at the thought of the wrong he has done, and
the element within that feeling that will turn him to religion is the thought
that God will judge his deeds. It adds to his fears and it makes the thought of
God more vivid. God bears down on him the more because of his perceived
displeasure and threats. If this doctrine is lost sight of then God may be lost
sight of in the midst of a trail of sins and neglect. Of course, Newman did not
say that the thought of the divine judgment is the beginning and the end of
religion, but he did say that in general it is the beginning of it. Such a view
could be debated — especially in the light of comparative and indigenous
religions — but at least it throws into full view the importance of it and the
reason why Christ revealed it and then stressed it so very often. We must not
lose sight of God’s judgment, for it is a holy and wholesome thought that can
keep us from sin and from religious neglect. In our gospel passage today our
Lord tells us that faith and our deeds will merit their deserts, and that “to
the one who has,” the more will be given. From the one who has not — that is,
who lacks in faith and good deeds and merits — what he has will be taken from
him. The saints urged on all Christians that they keep before them the thought
of the last things. Those last things are death, the judgment of God that
follows on our death, and then either heaven or hell for ever. Those judged
worthy of a place in heaven will, of course, very likely need further
purification from sin in Purgatory prior to their definitive admission to the
presence of the all‑holy God forever and ever.
Most persons who can, try to prepare for the future. The young student is
continually preparing for his future. The breadwinner is preparing for the
future of his family. One could claim that most of the work of any government
is to prepare for the country’s future. Our Lord has told us of our future
beyond the grave and how to prepare for it. Let’s prepare for it, then. Christ
is our Way and our Life. If we abide in him here in this life we shall abide
with him forever in heaven
What zeal people put
into their earthly affairs: dreaming of honours, striving for riches,
bent on sensuality. Men and women, rich and poor, old and middle— aged
and young and even children: all of them the same.
When you and I put the same zeal into the affairs of our souls, we will
have a living and operative faith: and there will be no obstacle that
we cannot overcome in our apostolic undertakings.
(The Way, no.317)
(January 25) Conversion
of Saint Paul, Apostle
Paul’s entire life can be explained in terms of one experience—his
meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus. In an instant, he saw that
all the zeal of his dynamic personality was being wasted, like the
strength of a boxer swinging wildly. Perhaps he had never seen Jesus,
who was only a few years older. But he had acquired a zealot’s hatred
of all Jesus stood for, as he began to harass the Church: “...entering
house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over
for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3b). Now he himself was “entered,” possessed,
all his energy harnessed to one goal—being a slave of Christ in the
ministry of reconciliation, an instrument to help others experience the
one Saviour. One sentence determined his theology: “I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5b). Jesus was mysteriously identified
with people—the loving group of people Saul had been running down like
criminals. Jesus, he saw, was the mysterious fulfilment of all he had
been blindly pursuing. From then on, his only work was to “present
everyone perfect in Christ. For this I labour and struggle, in accord
with the exercise of his power working within me” (Colossians
1:28b-29). “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also
in power and in the Holy Spirit and [with] much conviction” (1
Thessalonians 1:5a). Paul’s life became a tireless proclaiming and
living out of the message of the cross: Christians die baptismally to
sin and are buried with Christ; they are dead to all that is sinful and
unredeemed in the world. They are made into a new creation, already
sharing Christ’s victory and someday to rise from the dead like him.
Through this risen Christ the Father pours out the Spirit on them,
making them completely new. So Paul’s great message to the world was:
You are saved entirely by God, not by anything you can do. Saving faith
is the gift of total, free, personal and loving commitment to Christ, a
commitment that then bears fruit in more “works” than the Law could
ever contemplate.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not
pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own
interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it
does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7). (AmericanCatholic.org)
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Scripture today: Acts 22:3-16 or Acts
9:1-22; Psalm 117:1bc, 2; Mark 16:15-18
Jesus
said to his disciples, “Go into the whole world and preach the gospel
to every creature. He who believes is baptized will be saved, but he
who does not believe will be condemned. These signs shall follow those
who believe: In my name they will cast out devils. They will speak with
new tongues. They will take up serpents and if they drink any deadly
thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and
they will recover.”(Mark 16:15-18)
Christ
and the Church
Traditionally, the distinguishing marks of the Catholic Church are that it is
one, holy, catholic and apostolic. This is not the place to discuss the nature
of these marks and how they apply to the Catholic Church. However the Gospel
of this day, the feast of the conversion of St Paul, places at least one of them
into sharp prominence. It
is the mark of catholicity, or universality. St Mark (and let us remember,
Mark’s Gospel consists of Peter’s preaching about Christ) presents us with the
risen Lord’s final charge to his disciples before ascending into heaven. They
were to go everywhere and bring the Gospel to the entire world. If we set our
Lord in the context of the entire prophetic tradition before him, this is a new
and unique step. There is no prophet before him who laid on his disciples such
a charge. The prophets had their disciples, and some of them were very
notable. Consider Elisha, the disciple of Elijah and his successor. He was
granted a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. But Elijah did not require
of Elisha that he go to the whole world and preach his doctrine. John the
Baptist (the Elijah who was to come again) did not ask this of his disciples.
No one in the history of God’s people asked this, but it was a requirement of
discipleship in the school of our Lord. They had to be missionary and their
outreach was to the entire world. Indeed, so important was their message — the
Gospel of Christ — that the salvation of people would depend on their acceptance
of it: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not
believe will be condemned” (Mark 16: 15-18).
Not only do the prophets before our Lord not expect this universality, but I am
not aware of any other religion requiring it. I am not aware that Mahomet
expected a fully universal and missionary outreach from his disciples.
Widespread though Islam became, it never became what we might call universal.
Nor did Zoroaster expect this, nor did Buddha, nor did Confucius, nor did any
of the great Greek philosophers expect this of their disciples. I would be
hard pressed to think of anyone commanding the genuine respect of history who
required this, but Christ most certainly did, for the salvation of the world
depended on it.
At the very beginning and through till now, Christ requires of his Church that
it be missionary in a universal sense. It is to go everywhere, it is to be
everywhere, it is to be world‑wide. It is to be the Church of the nations,
embracing their cultures while embedding Christ’s doctrine in all of them so
that their peoples might more easily accept Christ as their Saviour. Christ
established his Church on the basis that it would be catholic (i.e., universal),
and we notice that at Peter’s first sermon following the coming of the Spirit at
Pentecost, those converted by his preaching were drawn from all over the world.
The Church instantly was catholic, universal. So, both in the intention of
Christ and in the facts of the case the Church of Christ is Catholic. This has
to be so because Christ is the one and only Saviour of the world. If the world
is to be saved then the Church, which bears within herself the person of Christ,
has to go everywhere and be everywhere to preach him. As already mentioned,
nothing less than the salvation of men is at stake because, it is belief in the
Church’s word about Christ together with baptism into him, that saves. A
knowing and deliberate refusal brings condemnation, because Christ is present
within the Church and acts through it as its head. The Church is a kind of
sacrament of Christ who abides within her midst working through her preaching,
teaching and ministry. That is why our Lord said that miracles would, to an
extent, accompany her work. It is he himself who is constantly working within
her. The Church is Christ’s body, and the one who loves Christ will love his
Church and accept the testimony and teaching of the Church as coming from him.
When the Church ministers to others, it is Christ who is ministering within
her. Above all, when the Church preaches and teaches the Word, and when the
Church administers the Sacraments, it is Christ who is doing all this. There
must never be the attitude expressed in the caption: Christ yes, but the Church
no. Christ comes to the world in the ministry of the Church. For that reason
the Church is essentially universal, catholic.
Today is the feast of the conversion of St Paul the Apostle. When Paul fell to
the ground on the way to Damascus, Christ spoke to him saying, “Paul, why do you
persecute me?” Christ identified with his body the Church, and he called Paul to
devote himself to bringing the Church to the world. Let us take our cue from
St Paul and in the living out of our vocation, whatever it might be, let us
endeavour daily to bring Christ to the world and to the world of our own
everyday life.
On Australia Day
the citizens come together as a nation to celebrate the nation, the culture and
in general, being Australian. It is the day to reflect on what has been achieved
and the blessings that are the source of gratitude and national pride. It is the
day for all to re-commit themselves to making Australia an even better place for
the future. Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the
First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union
Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788. Though 26
January marks this specific event, Australia Day celebrations reflect
contemporary Australia: its diverse society and landscape, its remarkable
achievements and its future. It is an opportunity to reflect on the nation's
history, and to consider how Australia can be made a better place in future.
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Scripture: Isaiah 32: 15-18; 1 Cor 12: 4-11 or Rom 12: 9-13; Luke 12: 22-32
Then Jesus said to his disciples: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more
than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow
or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more
valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the
rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you,
not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is
how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you
need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the
kingdom. (Luke 12: 22-32)
Love for
the Fatherland
It would probably surprise the average person to learn of the number of National
Days that there are in the world. I think it can be said that most, perhaps
all, countries have their National Days. As far as I am aware, even the Vatican
has a National Day of sorts. It is usually the date on which the reigning Pope
began his papal ministry. For the United States it is 4 July (Independence
Day), the day of the declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1776.
In France it is 14 July (Bastille Day), the day on which in 1789 the French
Revolution is considered to have started. In Australia it is January 26,
Australia Day. It commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in
1788, the hoisting of the British flag there, and the proclamation of British
sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. Records of celebrations on
26 January date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the
first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales in 1818.
Currently, because of its date, some Australians see Australia Day as a
celebration of the destruction of indigenous culture by British colonialism, and
for this reason other dates have been suggested. Whatever of such
controversies, it is evident to all that the fatherland and its foundation
should be celebrated by the citizens of a country. It is comparable to the
celebration of the birthday of one’s father or mother. All understand that
despite the vast migration in progress across the world, no migrant would prefer
as a first choice to leave the fatherland. It is a great wrench, even if it has
to be made. A person’s roots lie in his country of origin and wherever he
goes, he bears within himself the culture that country. Love for country is
self-evidently good and natural and universal. For this reason the Church joins
the faithful in the celebration of National Days and in doing so sanctifies
them. They are raised to the realm of God and invested with a Christian
perspective. So let us consider the National Day with the mind of Christ, for
as St Paul writes, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
To begin with, God loved the world so much that he sent his only begotten Son to
save it. God made the world his home. He came unto his own, even if many of
his own did not receive him. God the Son abides with us now. He has made his
home among us. Thus for all God’s children, God himself is their exemplar of
love for one’s home and country. Moreover, God chose one nation in particular
to be the love of his choice: Israel. There was a particular part of the world
which God in a special way called his home. He dwelt with his people there for
many centuries. In particular, he dwelt in the Temple of Jerusalem, and in
cleansing the Temple, our Lord referred to the Temple as the House of his
heavenly Father. Our Lord loved his homeland and in particular its religious
capital, Jerusalem. “Jerusalem! Jerusalem!” he lamented. “How often have I
wished to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you would
not!” His people were destroying themselves by their infidelity. He loved his
people and his country and this was part and parcel of his observance of the
fourth of the Ten Commandments, which is to honour one’s father and mother.
Christ insisted on this commandment in his teaching and ministry. He wants us
to love our homeland and to serve it as our ongoing responsibility. Now, the
important question is, how are we to best serve our country? When we set the
present stage of human history against the broader context of its past, a
notable feature becomes immediately evident. It is now assumed that faith,
religion and God are private persuasions and that this world and this life is
the only public Fact. Hence the things of this life are what a country ought
seek. Service of one’s homeland should be understood as the promotion of the
things which enhance this life alone. The most important thing is the economy,
or it may be the environment, but behind such particular goals which may be very
good in themselves, the supreme value continues to be this world and this life
alone. But no. As our Lord says in the Gospel above, the key to true and
lasting prosperity, a prosperity that is eternal, is to seek first God’s kingdom
and his will.
In fact, the Christian knows that the greatest benefit that could possibly be
brought to a country is the proclamation of the person and message of Jesus
Christ. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. All authority in heaven
and on earth have been given to him, and in him is to be found every heavenly
blessing. He is the only way to the Father, and he is the only name by which
men can be saved. Eternal life consists in knowing the Father and him, and this
by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it is that the greatest service that could
possibly be made to one’s fatherland is to do all one can to bear witness to the
truth and grace of Jesus Christ
It
is urgent that we strive to re-Christianise popular celebrations and customs. It
is urgent that public amusements should no longer be left to face the dilemma of
being either over-pious or pagan.
Ask God to provide labourers for this much-needed work which could be called the
'entertainment apostolate'.
(The Way, no.975)
Then
going out of the synagogue he came with James and John to the house of
Simon and Andrew. Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of a fever: and
immediately they told him of her. Coming to her he lifted her up,
taking her by the hand; and immediately the fever left her and she
served them. Then when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to
him all who were ill and possessed by devils and the whole town
gathered at the door. He healed many who were troubled with various
diseases and he cast out many devils, not allowing them to speak
because they knew who he was. Rising very early, he went out into a
desert place and there he prayed. Simon and those who were with him
followed him and when they had found him said to him, “All are looking
for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go into the neighbouring towns
and cities, that I may preach there also; for to this purpose have I
come.” And he continued preaching in their synagogues and in all of
Galilee, casting out devils. (Mark
1:29-39)
alone to pray, and Simon
and his companions sought him out. They then made, I would suggest, a
very significant statement: “All are looking for you.” All wanted him
and saw in him the answer for all their needs, as indeed he was. They
wanted him to stay with them. With him among them all would be well.
Setting aside the issue of their inadequate notion of what our Lord had
come to do for them and what they were seeking him for, those words are
surely symbolic of the world’s need for Christ. “All are looking for
you.” Whether it realizes it or not, the world seeks and needs God and
wants God to stay. But where is God? I remember watching a brief debate
between a very intelligent Anglican bishop and an atheist. The bishop
dealt well with all the atheist’s objections, but one point I remember
especially well among his remarks was his answer to the question, who
is God? He replied, “God is Jesus.” The bishop’s point was that God can
be located and precisely identified in space and time. As St Paul
writes, in Christ dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily. All this
is to say that the world, without knowing it, seeks and needs the
person of Jesus. So the words of Simon and his companions are very
potent: “All are looking for you.” They wanted him to stay with them.
But what was Christ’s answer? It was that he had to go. He had to move
on and leave them for the sake of many others. “For this purpose have I
come” that the others too may hear me, know me, and be blessed as a
result.
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but one
is this — and it is an ever-recurring thought in a very broken world.
Our Lord had the power and he certainly had the compassion, why then
did he not seek out the rest of the lepers in the land and do something
for them? Numerous persons afflicted with various diseases were brought
to him or sought him out and he cured them. Well then, why did he not
go further and do something for those others who did not make personal
contact with him? What was he doing all those years in Nazareth quietly
working at his trade? He could have been out and about curing people of
their afflictions and raising even more people from the dead and so
bringing consolation to so many — just as he did for the widow of Nain.
It is the old question of, where was God when people were suffering?
Was he asleep during the holocaust? Did he exist? Consider our Gospel
passage again and notice that when our Lord did cure the leper he
“strictly charged him” him not to tell anyone about it: “See you tell
no one.” It looks as if, much as our Lord responded to the afflictions
of people who came for him to take them away, that was not the
essential mission he had come to fulfil. The lifting of suffering had
its place in his work but it was not the fundamental need to be met. In
fact the leper did what our Lord told him not to do — he broadcast
everything. The result was that hoards of people came seeking our Lord
to get him to take away their sufferings. The result? The Gospel tells
us that “Jesus could not openly go into the city, but remained out in
desert places. They flocked to him from all sides.”