14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sometimes it seems that we are set up for failure. I can think of all the campaigns of education and parishioner mobilization that have occurred in recent years such as that against abortion in the 1970s and more recently against the de-criminalization of abortion and euthanasia. In all of these Catholics have been defeated. This week's readings also speak of failure: "Whether they hear or refuse to hear" (Ezk 2: 5) along with: "And they took offense at him... And Jesus could do no deed of power there." (Mk 6: 5) Even Jesus was not listened to! Should the Church, the Bride/Body of Christ, expect things to be different? We should take St Paul's attitude to be our own: "Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Cor. 12: 8-9) We, as Christians, are not called to save the world but to love it. It is through loving it, even if that involves tough love, that the power of Christ which brings about salvation through the mystery of the Cross, will be active in our world. Let us, therefore, not give up in proclaiming the truth and asserting Church teaching so that: "Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them." (Ezk 2: 5) 

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I read in a commentary that it is important in today's gospel that the woman with the hemorrhage "touches" Jesus. The crowd is around him jostling and bumping into him and the disciples. Yet, it is the woman who deliberately touches Jesus and trusts that in doing so she can be healed. How many people are observers of Jesus or bump into him but are unaware of who they have encountered? When I attend Mass do I want to touch Jesus or am I part of the crowd? Our focus needs to be on the Lord with all other aspects of the social and cultural situation taking a second place. In the gospel of Mark it is so often the unlikely people who "get" Jesus. They are the outsiders or those who are ritually unclean. One of the first things we need to do in order to reach out to Jesus is to perceive our own need of healing. It is then that we are open to the healing power of the Lord in whatever part of our life that it is required.

  

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus asks the question: "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" (Mk 4: 40) This remains valid for Christians today. We are not in a boat but we are buffeted by the pandemic, sex abuse scandals, declining numbers at Mass, hostile ideologies and our own private worries. The first reading reminds us of the majesty and omnipotence of God. Job suffered terribly even though he was righteous. He could not fathom God's ways and neither could his companions who kept insisting that he must have sinned. The effect of Christ is testified to in the second reading. We do not live in a perilous, unpredictable or aimless Universe. We are not crushed by suffering or persecution. It is the love of Christ that urges us on since his death and resurrection are the ultimate guarantee of God's power to save. We have the first installments of this salvation already at work in us and this gives us great joy and a sense of purpose. Let us not be intimidated by spiritual or material threats. We have been baptized into Christ and it is he who will vindicate his life in us: "So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation: everything has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Cor 5: 17).

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's readings speak of God's plan as dynamic, growing and imbued with immense potential. The mustard seed grows from a tiny grain to a large shrub. The gospel message sown in us, in the garden of the Church, will grow if we let it. We feel within ourselves, however, a tension. We are in a process of growth and we want to reach our potential. This is not surprising in a culture predicated on instant gratification. St Paul says: "... even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5: 6-7) We know that this life is good yet it is not where we belong. The important thing is to know that with God as our loving Father this tension is not unfruitful. It causes us to imitate the Lord who was always faithful to the mission of salvation knowing that the will of the Father is our greatest happiness: "Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Cor 5: 8) So, we should be grateful for our earthly existence, our bodies and even the sufferings we endure as we strive to live in this world. Our aim is to please God and respond to his grace: "So whether  we are at home or away, make it our aim to please him." (2 Cor 5: 9)

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Despite many advances in technology and science, along with the prosperity and comfort that come with them, many people in New Zealand still experience hardship and unhappiness. New Zealand has been described as "Godzone" and is seen by many overseas as an earthly paradise for its natural beauty and abundant resources. However, like the first humans in our first reading for today, the impact of sin divides us and causes shame. The man blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent. The humans feel shame and experience vulnerability where previously they enjoyed the garden in peace. In the gospel Jesus is opposed by both the scribes and his family. The former think he is evil while the latter think he has "gone out of his mind." (Mk 3: 21) Jesus is uncompromising in continuing his mission given to him by the Father. He is the one who will enter the house, bind up the strong man, that is the devil, and plunder his possessions. The opposite of what happened in the Garden of Eden is about to take place. Jesus will institute a new human family no longer afflicted by division, shame and vulnerability in each other's presence and with God. This reality, the Kingdom of God, is already present but the old order is yet to fully pass away. We experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit while at the same time we know ourselves to be subject to weakness and finitude. The key thing is for us to continue to walk by faith and live as Christ taught us knowing that he has prepared a future in which the Kingdom will be fully revealed. Saint Paul tells us: "So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not on what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal." (2 Cor 4: 16-18)