32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In a previous week I suggested that the evangelist invites a comparison between the rich young man and Bartimaeus. Today I think we have another comparison which builds on the attitudes necessary for worthy discipleship. Jesus points out the grandstanding, attention seeking and competition for status among the scribes. The NRSV uses the expression "to be greeted with respect" whereas I prefer the translation from the Jerusalem version which says: "to be greeted obsequiously." Nevertheless, it is clear that the scribes do what they do not for others but for themselves. Even their long prayers are "for the sake of appearance." (Mk 12: 40) This leads on to the rich who place large sums in the treasury from their abundance. This too, by implication of what has preceded it,  is for the sake of appearance. The poor widow gives from "out of her poverty" and "all she had to live on." (Mk 12: 44) Disciples are invited, like the rich young man, Bartimaeus and the poor widow, to give up everything for the sake of the Kingdom but it is only the poor who are capable of this generosity. The reward of eternal life is theirs. As our thoughts turn towards the end of the year and the festivities, both civil and religious, that surround Christmas it is worthwhile to reflect on what sacrifices we have made, material or spiritual, for the Gospel in 2018. To what extent are we attached to prosperity and material comforts? To what extent is our religious observance or acts of charity motivated by considerations of reputation or appearances? What addictions and compulsions prevent us from living as disciples dedicated to spreading the Gospel and following Christ on "the Way"?

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

The context for today's Gospel is the series of controversies between Jesus and the various Jewish factions after Jesus had announce his messiahship by entering Jerusalem in triumph. The implications of this action are made clear by Jesus bringing Temple worship to a temporary halt through preventing the selling of animals for sacrifice and the exchanging of money that made this possible. To oppose the outrageous presumption of Jesus in claiming messianic status the Jewish parties engage Jesus in debate hoping to discredit him. They are confounded by his responses as well as being divided among themselves. Then: "One of the scribes came near and heard the religious authorities disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, 'Which commandment is the first of all'?" (Mk 12: 28) It is apparent that disunity is toxic to religious community. It scandalizes believers and leads to mockery of them by those who maintain that religious belief is irrational. St Paul scolds the Corinthians for their divisions accusing them of childishness: "And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still in the flesh. For as long  as there is jealousy and quarreling among you you are not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos,' are you not merely human?" (1 Cor 3: 1-4) The scene in the movie The Life of Brian comes to mind where the protagonist encounters all the different versions of the People's Liberation Front for Judea. On this occasion Jesus perceives the goodwill and sincerity of the scribe and replies with his summary of the Law. Reciprocating his insight the scribe agrees with him. This is an excellent example of how Catholics should treat one another in debate by being prepared to listen to one another as well as to acknowledge the truths they share. When we are charitable in our differences and keep in mind the essential law given by Christ hopefully we will hear those words from the Lord: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." (Mk 12: 34)  

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I like to think of today's Gospel forming the conclusion of an inclusio starting with the rich young man at chapter 10 verses 17-22. The subsequent verses, chapter 10 verses 23-45 elaborate what it means to have the true detachment necessary in order to be a disciple. This attitude is them exemplified in Bartimaeus who throws aside his cloak, his only worldly possession, and shows the kind of faith in Jesus that is required. He receives back his sight and in contrast to the rich young man who: "was shocked and went away grieving" (Mk 10: 22) Bartimaeus: "followed Jesus on the way." (Mk 10: 52). Immediately, the Gospel narrative switches to the countdown to the Passion with the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem from chapter 11 verse 1. Thus, all who choose to follow Christ  "on the way," including Peter, James, John and Matthew, are also choosing to follow Christ to the cross. They do not aspire to worldly prosperity of glory and are obliged to leave their old lives behind. Bartimaeus possesses nothing yet in Christ he now has everything whereas the rich young man has everything but is so blinded by his bourgeois morality and riches he in fact possesses nothing. St Paul speaks of this dynamic when: "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish (lit. 'garbage' or 'human excrement'), in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but on that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of the resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Phil 3: 7-11)

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus says to the two disciples, asking to have precedence in the Kingdom they believe Jesus will establish as the Messiah: "You do not know what you are asking." (Mk 10: 38) It is clear that they have misunderstood the nature of his messiah-ship which will be revealed fully in his passion, death and resurrection. Nevertheless, Jesus accedes to their request, interpreting it as a desire to share in his mission. He then clarifies his destiny saying: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mk 10: 45) This statement challenged not just James and John but, as a part of the living Word, it challenges us, who wish to be disciples of the Lord, today. Am I prepared to use the grace and charisms I have received to ransom others from sin? There is a danger that I look upon the world, as well as those who are enslaved by sin and death, with judgement. The Catholic Bishops Conference's Pastoral Letter for Respect for Life Sunday says: "Today as shepherds or hepara, we stand close to those of you who carry the heavy burden and grief of an abortion. Sometimes that anguish, when shared, met with a cold detached judgement. That was wrong. We encourage those of you who need the burden of regret lifted, to share your story, and, in the words of Jesus, 'find rest for your soul'(cf. Mtt 11: 29-30 )." Part of our job as disciples is to listen to those who are damaged by sin and have them find in us a compassion heart attentive to the mercy of God. In this way we place ourselves at the service of the Gospel rather than looking for positions of privilege.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel Jesus tells the rich young man: "You lack one thing." (Mk 10: 21) What can that thing possibly be? Being rich, at a material level, he lacks for nothing. Also, he has kept the commandments and so is not lacking morally. Yet, he is kneeling before Jesus asking him: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life." (Mk 10: 20) He is sincere and Jesus: "looking at him, loved him." (Mk 10: 21) He is not lacking for God's love. What then is he lacking? The simple answer is that he lacks "treasure in heaven" (Mk 10: 21). What is that? In the Gospel of Matthew we hear that it is something  for which a person is prepared to give up everything to possess it. There is the treasure discovered in a field by a person who: "in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Mtt 13: 44) or the merchant: "on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." (Mtt 13: 46) We cannot inherit eternal life we must make a decision to prefer it to all other things. In the Gospel of John we hear: "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (Jn 12: 25) This begs the question of each one of us - how attached am I to my worldly possessions? Do I use them as a steward looking out for the good of others and in service of the Kingdom? Or do my possessions possess me demanding all of my time and energy to build them up, protect them and use them for my own pleasure? The Kingdom is not to be found in what is tangible: "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14: 17) Let us therefore place ourselves and our material goods at the service of God especially in the poor so that we might not be found lacking on the day we meet the Lord face to face.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The mystery of marriage is truly profound. For the Pharisees, asking Jesus about divorce, they were not interested in what God wanted regarding marriage but what suited themselves or to which school of thought Jesus belonged to. Jesus points out their "hardness of heart" (Mk 10: 5) and that the state of Jewish law was not what God had wanted "from the beginning of creation." (Mk 10: 6) What then would the Lord say about the state of marriage and sexual mores in our society today? It is not a question of hardness of heart but the lack of a heart! The sexual revolution of the 1960s made possible by the advent of artificial contraception has debased intimate human relationships by commodifying sexual experience and separating the goods of the sexual act: life-giving and love-giving. This has had implications for the whole of society and is threatening even greater chaos through so-called gender fluidity which denies any coherent understanding of the complementarity and mutuality of the sexes. The nature of amorous relationships is also debased by the separation of erotic love (eros) from that of chivalrous self-sacrifice (agape). Instead of becoming fruitful and  intimate relationships have become sterile and self-seeking. I read the following in a book entitled Ratzinger's Faith - The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI by Tracey Rowland:

"Applying this theology one concludes that for Benedict XVI the sexual revolution of the 1960s should be opposed, not on the basis of archaic casuistry, not because sexuality is merely a means to the end of procreation, but rather because the underlying vision of the dignity and meaning of human sexuality offered by 1960's Freudians, Nietzcheans and New Age sex therapists is really not truly erotic. It is not only destructive of human dignity and integrity but it takes the pathos out of the whole experience. It trivializes sex and undermines romance and courtly love because both romance and courtship presuppose spiritual chivalry. Being prepared for heroic self-sacrifice for the good of another is the very essence of chivalry and the very antithesis of the morality of Nietzche's superman or the feminist superwoman. Just as God and rationality either stay together or reason goes off on its own tangent and becomes violent, sexuality goes off on its own tangent and becomes banal and depressing" (p. 72)

What is the answer? Perhaps, we, by the grace of God, need to have a new heart fashioned for us purified of selfishness, pragmatism and self-indulgence: "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezek 36: 26-28)