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)
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