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Commentary on Mark 9:2-13 Read Saturday of Week 6 of Ordinary Time – Gospel »

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Commentary on James 3:1-10 Read Saturday of week 6 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on James 2:14-24, 26 Read Friday of week 6 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Mark 8:34—9:1

Having warned his disciples of the future that lies ahead for him, Jesus now calls the crowds and his disciples together, and lets them know in no uncertain terms what following him entails. To be a follower of Jesus is to be ready to go exactly the way that he went:

If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wishes to save his life, will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.

Yet, this is the paradox. Self-preservation and self-centred aggrandisement leads to nothing, only to a kind of death. Surrendering one’s life totally through a commitment to Jesus and to his Way (as expressed in the Gospel) leads to an enrichment which nothing else can supply.

This is a clear challenge: that anyone who wants to follow Jesus must be ready both to suffer and give their lives in love for others. Those who make every effort to preserve their lives, and hang on to what they have with no regard for transcendent values or the needs of others, are destined to lose everything, not least their integrity, dignity and self-respect.

This was very practical teaching for people who were frequently being persecuted for their Christian faith. Those who betrayed that faith to save their lives or their property had lost something more valuable—their integrity, their wholeness, their consistency. Undoubtedly many could not live with themselves afterwards. There are certain things which are more important than human life or material possessions.

What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin [the true meaning of] his life? And indeed what can a man offer in exchange for his life?

We have a long list of martyrs (from the Greek, meaning ‘witnesses’) to the faith whose memories we cherish, and whose example we respect and admire. We have no list, and no desire, to remember those who avoided martyrdom and compromised their faith and their values, and who may have enjoyed wealth and position as a result. They lived on for a while and then disappeared; the martyrs are still very much alive.

There are overtones here of a Church in persecution. There must have been those who, when their faith was challenged, “were ashamed of Jesus and his words” and denied their faith to save their immediate lives. They will hear the terrible words cited in Matthew’s Gospel:

Truly I tell you, I do not know you. (Matt 25:12)

The final phrase is ambivalent:

There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.

This can refer to the establishment of the Christian communities, as witnesses to the Kingdom’s being established in the world, which will be the result of the great experience at Pentecost. It can also refer, of course, to a belief among many in the early Church, that the Second Coming of Jesus, the Parousia, would take place in their lifetime.

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Commentary on Mark 8:27-33

We now come to a high point in Mark’s Gospel which the texts of previous days have been leading up to.  Since the beginning of this Gospel the question has been continually asked: “Who is Jesus?”  Today we get the answer.  The blind and deaf disciples show that they are beginning to see more clearly.

So Jesus himself puts the question that has been underlying all that has gone before:

Who do people say that I am?

The disciples give a number of answers reflecting the speculations of the people.  These include:

• John the Baptist come to life again
• Elijah, who was expected to return to earth just before the arrival of the Messiah
• One of the other prophets

Then Jesus asks his disciples what they believe:

But who do you say that I am?

Peter speaks up in the name of all:

You are the Messiah.

This is indeed a dramatic moment.  Jesus is not just an ordinary rabbi, not just a prophet. He is the long-awaited Christ, the Messiah, the anointed King of Israel. This is a tremendous breakthrough for the disciples.  However, they are told to keep this to themselves for the time being.  There were many expectations about the Messiah and Jesus did not want to be identified with them.

But it is not the end of the story.  There is a sudden and unexpected twist for which they were not at all prepared.  Jesus immediately begins to tell them what is going to happen to him in the days ahead: that he will suffer grievously, be rejected by the religious leaders of his own people, be put to death and—perhaps most surprising of all—after three days rise again.  And there was no mistaking his meaning for:

He said all this quite openly.

The religious leaders mentioned here are part of the Sanhedrin, a 71-member ruling council of the Jews consisting of elders, the chief priests and the scribes.  Under Roman rule, the Sanhedrin had authority in religious matters.

For the first time in this Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man”.  He will do this many more times.  The title was first used in the book of Daniel (7:13-14) as a symbol of “the holy ones of the Most High” (Dan 7:27), referring to those faithful Israelites who receive the everlasting kingdom from the “Most High” (i.e. God). 

In the apocryphal books of 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra, the title “Son of Man” does not refer to a group, but to a unique figure of extraordinary spiritual endowments—who will be revealed as the one through whom the everlasting kingdom decreed by God will be established.  Of itself, this expression means simply “a human being”, or, indefinitely, “someone”, and there are instances of this use in pre-Christian times. Its use in the New Testament is probably due to Jesus’ speaking of himself in that way, “a human being”, and the later Church’s taking this in the sense of the Jewish apocrypha and applying it to him with that meaning.

It is not difficult to imagine how the disciples must have been profoundly shocked, and could not believe their ears at what Jesus was telling them.  Peter, their impetuous leader, immediately begins to protest.  They have just pronounced Jesus to be the long-awaited leader of the Jewish people, and now he says he is going to be rejected and executed by their very own leaders.  It made absolutely no sense whatever.  Jesus turns round, looks at his disciples and scolds Peter with the terrible words:

Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.

This is what the gradual opening of the eyes of the blind man in yesterday’s story indicated.  They had reached the stage where they had made the exciting discovery that their Master was none other than the long-awaited Messiah.  They had answered the first question of Mark’s Gospel: Who is Jesus? But they were still immersed in all the traditional expectations that had grown up around the coming of the Messiah as the victorious and triumphing king who would put all Israel’s enemies to flight.

But they would have to unlearn all this. The rest of Mark will answer the second question: What kind of Messiah is Jesus? or what does it mean for Jesus to be Messiah?

And a further question follows from that: What will all that mean for the disciples—and for us?  We will see some answers to that tomorrow.

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Commentary on James 1:12-18 Read Tuesday of Week 6 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Mark 10:28-31

Having overcome their initial shock at what Jesus had to say about the danger of wealth as a serious obstacle to being a follower of Jesus or of being a member of the Kingdom, his disciples begin to take stock of their own actual situation. Clearly they cannot even be remotely numbered among the wealthy. Is there something to be said in favour of their relative poverty? Worried, the ever-irrepressible Peter exclaims:

Look, we have left everything and followed you.

Indeed they had. At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel we are told that, on Jesus’ invitation, they had abandoned their whole livelihood and become followers of Jesus. It was a bold step when they really had no idea where it would lead them.

Jesus replied:

Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

This sounds like a pie-in-the-sky promise, but has it been fulfilled? In fact, it has been—and many times over. By leaving a world where each one scrambles for a piece of the cake and where some get a huge piece and others only get crumbs, the Christian who truly has the spirit of the Gospel enters a community where everyone takes care of everyone else, and where each one’s needs are taken care of by a sharing of the community’s resources.

This is how, by leaving one’s home and family and giving away one’s material goods, one enters a new family in which there are far more mothers, brothers and sisters; where one home is replaced by many homes offering their warmth and hospitality—in essence, offering a home away from home.

This is a reality which, unfortunately, has not been realised among many Christians—those who choose to live their daily lives in the rat race for acquisition characteristic of our modern capitalist societies. Their behavior reflects their belief that what they cannot get by their own efforts they will never come to enjoy.

Yet there are examples. One of the most obvious is religious life where the words of Jesus are lived out. The question is why should only religious have this experience of shared love and shared material goods? There are Christian communities and some charismatic groups where families live in a communal style sharing all their resources.

But by and large, we have to a great extent failed to realise that Christianity is not meant to be a religion where individuals, rich and poor, live individualistic lives and carry out certain ‘religious’ acts to “save their own souls”. Rather, Christianity essentially consists of creating a whole new way of living, by which people relate to each other in mutual love and care.

Jesus says that in his world the first will be last and the last first. In fact, he is saying that in his world there is no first and no last. Perhaps this can be illustrated by the following story.

A rich man was concerned about his future salvation, whether he would ‘go to heaven’ or not. In order to motivate himself, he asked God to give him a preview of heaven and hell, and God agreed. God said that they would first pay a visit to hell. When they got there the man was greatly surprised. He was brought into a sumptuous dining room of a large restaurant all decorated in red and gold. In the centre was a large round table and on it were the most exotic and delicious dishes that could be envisioned. Around the table were seated the diners. They were the most miserable-looking group one could imagine, all sitting there motionless and in silence just looking at the beautiful food in front of them. The reason for their glumness was that they had been given utensils which were three feet long! There was no way they could get any of the food into their mouths. And they were going to sit there like that for eternity. That was hell!

God then brought the man to heaven. Again he was amazed. Because they were in an identical banquet room, with the same kind of table and the same wonderful food. But everybody was in the highest spirits. The sound of laughter rang out everywhere. They were really enjoying themselves and the meal. Was this because they had the normal length utensils? No! Theirs were also three-feet long, but here everyone was reaching out food to serve people on the opposite side of the table—that was heaven.

It is a very good illustration of today’s Gospel. When everyone serves, everyone is served. When everyone gives, everyone gets. It is a lesson even we Christians seem to find difficult to learn.

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Commentary on Mark 9:30-37

Jesus was now spending more time with his disciples and teaching them. He was teaching them things that the crowds were not yet ready to hear. As we will see, his disciples were not too ready either.

Today we have the second of three predictions of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection which he communicates to his disciples. On each occasion, the pattern is exactly the same:

1. A prediction of what is going to happen to Jesus;
2. Total lack of comprehension of the meaning of what Jesus is saying on the part of the disciples;
3. A teaching of Jesus arising out of their lack of understanding.

The prediction is stated simply. First, Jesus will “be betrayed into human hands”. Other translations say “handed over” and still others use “given up”. These terms are used many times in the Gospels. John the Baptist is handed over; Jesus is handed over; the disciples later on will be handed over; and, in the Eucharist, the Body of Jesus is handed over for our sakes (“This is my body, which is given [tradetur] for you”). Second, he will be put to death; and third, three days later he will rise again.

They arrive in Capernaum and, in the house, Jesus asks them a question. Once again we have a reference to the “house’ with overtones of the Church, the place where God’s people gather, as they do here to listen to the Word of God. Jesus asks his disciples what seems an innocuous question:

What were you arguing about on the way?

Here we have another important word of Mark’s: “way” or “road” (Greek, hodos). In the context of the Gospel it has theological overtones. Jesus is the Way or the Road, and Christians are those who walk on this Way or Road. So the disciples “arguing” has implications about Christians arguing among themselves as they follow Christ ‘on the way’.

Jesus’ question is met with an embarrassed silence, because they had been arguing among themselves about which of them was the greatest. The minute the question was asked, they knew they were in the wrong.

Why were they arguing about this? It was once suggested that, as Jesus had now for the second time announced his coming death, they were beginning to accept the possibility of it really happening. They began to wonder what would happen to them as a group without Jesus. Who would be in charge? Which of them had the best qualifications? Hence, their argument. If that was the case, then Jesus’ question was even more embarrassing. They could hardly say, “Well, we were wondering which one of us would take over when you are no longer with us.”

Jesus, of course, knew exactly what was going on in their minds, so he gave them some guidelines if they wanted to be truly his followers:

Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

This is quite a hard saying, and most of us find it difficult to put fully into practice. It is, of course, totally in opposition to what goes on in the secular world, where ‘success’ means being on top, being in charge, being in control, calling the shots.

Yet, who are really the greatest people in our society? Is it not those, who are especially talented intellectually or in other ways, who use their talents totally for the well-being of others, to the point of even sacrificing their lives?

Apart from the obvious example of Jesus himself, we have a long list of saints who all have one thing in common—they put themselves totally at the service of their brothers and sisters. Success, promotion, status, material wealth or executive power meant nothing to these saints. They served, and their service was their power, a power which inspires in a way that no mere politician, business tycoon or dictator could ever do.

To serve is not to be submissive or weak; it is not putting oneself on a lower level than those being served. It is simply to be totally committed to the good of others, and to find one’s own well-being in being so committed.

Jesus then takes a little child, as a symbol of all those who are vulnerable, weak and exploitable. Children are used by Jesus as symbols of the anawim, the lowly and weak in our society. They are the ones who are most of all to be served and protected and nurtured. In so doing, one is recognising the presence of Jesus and the presence of God in them.

As Christians, we have much to be proud of in our record of service to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are weak and vulnerable. But we also have to confess that within our Church and in our dealings with the ‘world’, we have had our fair share of hungering for power, status and position. And, we have so often argued bitterly with each other “on the Way”, about just such things.

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Sadly, we do not have a reflection about St Columbanus.

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Commentary on Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40

“Love and do what you like” is a statement attributed to the great St Augustine. He did not say “Do what you like”, rather he said, “Love, and do what you like.” The word ‘love’ changes the meaning of the statement completely. We have a similar theme in today’s Gospel. It touches on the very heart of the Christian message and indeed of all human living.

We are at a stage in Matthew’s Gospel these weeks where Jesus is being challenged by various leading groups among the Jews. Jesus had just reduced a group of Sadducees to silence, much to the delight of their rivals, the Pharisees. Now it is some Pharisees who approach him with their own question, a question much debated among themselves: “Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” Unlike other encounters, there is not necessarily any malice in this approach. As a Rabbi, influential with the crowds and known by many as someone with a mind of his own, Jesus’ opinion was of great interest to them.

There were over 600 different laws, and much time was spent in arguing over trivial details of observance. This question is about getting to the very heart of the matter. Among so many laws, was there any one law which touched the core of people’s relationship with God? Was there one which summed up what the other laws were trying to say?

One plus one equals one
Jesus often answered people’s questions with one of his own but in this case he gives an answer. And he cites not one law but two. He first quotes the book of Deuteronomy which says:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deut 6:5)

Jesus says this is the “first and greatest commandment”. Probably Jesus’ hearers would have had no problem agreeing with that. He then goes on immediately to say:

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

For Jesus’ listeners, this commandment would have been seen very much as a secondary requirement. And, as we know, the word “neighbour” could be taken in a highly restricted sense. The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel indicates that Jesus had a very different understanding of who our neighbour is, although it is not raised here.

Concern for people
God’s special concern for people and not just for worship of Himself is already expressed in a telling sentence from today’s First Reading, taken from the Book of Exodus. Compassion and sympathy are to be shown in particular to the stranger, the widow, the orphan:

If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry…

Further, money lent to the poor should not require interest; a garment taken as a pledge must be given back before sunset if that is all its owner has to cover himself with during the cold night:

If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry…

Undoubtedly many people would have felt little compunction in not doing these things to people they regarded of no account provided they themselves were fulfilling all their direct obligations of worship of God in terms of prayer, fasting, alms-giving and other ritual observances in temple, synagogue, and home. Jesus, echoing what the Old Testament already is saying, affirms that religious observance is not enough.

Jesus was making a significant change in linking these two commandments together as one and inseparable. From the rest of the New Testament, it is clear that one cannot love God without loving one’s brothers and sisters at the same time. Nor does one love others just for God’s sake or to please God or observe a commandment. One is expected to go much further. One does not go to God through others but one seeks, finds and loves God in others:

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)

Jesus identifies himself with the hungry and thirsty, with the naked, the sick and those in prison (irrespective of their crimes). Jesus identifies himself with those in most need of love and compassion. He is also to be loved in the leper (nowadays the victim of socially-transmitted diseases, the alcoholic, the drug addict, the homeless), the outcast – and even in the enemy who threatens me.

A way of life
These “commands” to love God and those around us are not really commands. Love is not love unless it is free and spontaneous. What Jesus proposes are not just commands or rules but a whole approach to life and to our relationships with others.

There is only one “commandment” consisting of two inseparable parts. The key word is “love” but there are really three loves involved: love of God, love of others and love of self. Ultimately, love of God, the source of all being and life, comes first. Then comes, as a natural outcome, love for all those in whom God dwells and whom God creates. Because they are the objects of his love, they must also be the objects of mine. Lastly, there is the love of self. I also am worthy of being loved.

Turning things round
Strangely enough, to implement these loves effectively, we may have to reverse the order to: love of self, leading to love others, leading finally to love of God.

In a way, the most basic love is love of myself. Today’s Gospel says:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On the one hand we might think this is an unnecessary command. What people do not love themselves, think about themselves, worry about their welfare? At the same time, we have been taught many times to not be loving ourselves, to not be selfish and self-centred. And it seems that a great many people do not really love themselves very much at all. Quite a number actually hate themselves and a large number have a low level of self-esteem. They do not like very much what they see in the mirror.

Many secretly dislike themselves and would dread people getting to know them as they see themselves. Why do we spend so much money on clothes, make-up, appearance, image? The cosmetics business is a huge industry involving billions of dollars. Why do so many chase various status symbols to show that they have “arrived”? The part of the city in which I live, the model of my car, my clothes and accessories – all carefully chosen to enhance my image and make me look better than I feel I really am. So much of advertising is directed to this inner fear.

Why are we afraid to let others know what we are really like? Why are we so shy to stand up in front of a crowd or ask questions at a meeting or make a speech? Why do people go around looking for status symbols that will make them seem more important in society?

We know the obsession of many people for “famous brands”. A story is told that a man had a suit made at a shop known for making inexpensive suits. When he went to collect it, the tailor pulled open a drawer with all the most famous labels. “Which one would you like?” he asked. So the man walks out wearing a cheap suit, but with the prestigious label conspicuously sewn to the cuff. Did he walk taller because of that? What about the phoney expensive-brand watches they sell on sidewalks in some big cities?

Why do so many try to be one of the crowd? Why do so many escape into alcohol and drugs? Why do so many, especially the young, even destroy themselves by taking their own lives? In a world of plenty, of endless means of entertainment and pleasure, why is the level of teenage suicides so high? Ultimately, it is because so many people do not or cannot love themselves – and sadly, they think that no one else really loves or could love them either.

Loving others
If we have difficulty loving ourselves, it will be difficult to reach out in love to others. We will be too busy worrying whether others are loving us, or at least the facade we present to others. And indeed that is the case. Individualism is rampant. Freedom means “doing one’s own thing” and to hell with everyone else, except for that small number around them who enhance their self-esteem.

It even affects the way we often behave in church, having very little sense of community. How many of the people around you – at church or in your neighborhood – do you know? And what have you ever done for any of them? And what have they ever done for you?

When I love myself, I accept myself totally as I am, recognising both my good qualities and my deficiencies and making no effort to hide them from others. I do not really mind what people think of me. That is really their problem, not mine. And, because of that, I have plenty of time to think of them and their needs. Then I have the freedom to reach out and be concerned with the well-being of others. In short, I can begin to love my neighbour as I love myself and because I love myself.

Loving God
And then there is the question of loving God. Saying “I love you God” is one of the easiest things in the world. But it is difficult to speak realistically of loving God, if I have no real experience of what love is, or of loving and being loved by people. Only then can I begin to see that God is present in all truly loving experiences. It has been said, “wherever there is love, there is God.” My whole life can be lived in a sea of love, given and received.

Then the commandment of Jesus begins to be realised. I begin to be aware that when I am being deeply loved by another person, it is in fact also God’s love that I am experiencing. “Where there is love, there is God” – all real love is a manifestation of God’s presence.

Most of the time, God shows his love for me through the people that enter my life. He loves me when they love me; and I am loving him when I love them. In the end, there are not three kinds of love but only one.

This person – this me – with all my strengths and weaknesses, this person with whom I have learnt to be perfectly comfortable, lives a life of loving and being loved. At the centre of it all is the source of all love – God.

Finally, we need to say that this love is not necessarily an emotional and romantic love. It is a love, as the First Reading indicates, which involves treating every single person with deep respect, with justice, with compassion. It reaches out even to those who behave badly or wish to harm me. It is a deepdown desire that wishes that every person experience what is the very best for them. It is a way of relating to people that helps them also to become more caring and loving – of themselves, of others, and of God. As Paul tells the Thessalonians today:

…you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord…

That is the core of all evangelisation. It is not just a question of “converting” people and getting them to the baptismal font to become Catholic. It is rather gently to lead them so that they find the God who loves them and find God in loving those around them.

What I am to myself becomes what I am to others and vice versa. And together we all go to God as he comes to us – in love.