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)