THE FIRST OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS

XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 12:28-34

To keep all the commandments and remain faithful to God, the scribes, many of whom belonged to the Pharisees, scrutinised thoroughly the Scriptures made a list adding up to 613 norms and rules. In such a situation, many asked about the greatest or the first commandment. It was with such a question that one scribe came to Jesus. Listening to this Sunday’s gospel, we get the impression that he was well-intentioned; indeed, he was looking for confirmation of his understanding.

The first and most important commandment is recited in the Jewish daily prayer called “Shema”, which is a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:4-6:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

Jesus answered the scribe’s question with the recitation of the Shema. Yahweh (the Lord) is the only God and we must love him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might. He is the reason for our living and must occupy the centre of our lives.

We are going through difficult times, in which God has been put aside as if he was dead or did not exist at all. It seems that we don’t need him, and have substituted him by ourselves and the products of our hands and minds, like science and technology. Is that the way to happiness, peace and self-fulfilment? Or “we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth” (Is 26:18), as Isaiah wrote about a similar attitude during his time. Humanity needs to reencounter itself and that will happen only when we recognise God and are ready to be touched by his love and be guided by his word. To love God we must allow ourselves to be touched by his love and recognise his primacy in everything. 

A relationship of love with God will have a bearing on the society we live in. Being loved, we learn how to love, sharing love with others. That’s why the second commandment is the direct result of the first. If we love God, then we are directed to love others. Quoting Leviticus 19:18, Jesus said: “The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself.” To love myself is not the same as selfishness. Self-love means to accept myself and recognise my dignity as a child of God. Since God’s image shines on me, I can recognise it in others as well. Like me, they are children of God. If I have a poor self-image, I will end up hating myself because I feel worthless. Despising myself, I will despise the others as well.

When I love my neighbour, I will be happy with his happiness, feel his pain when he is going through difficult moments and I will be proud of his achievements.   In love, there is no place for envy, jealousy and hatred. Love is the only way to build a society where justice and peace reign.

Lord, may your Kingdom come.

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY: We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard.

XXX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 10:46-52

This Sunday, the 24th of October, we celebrate the World Mission Sunday, for which Pope Francis proposed the following theme: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard”.

When we speak of Jesus and invite others to encounter him and to make the experience of his redeeming love, we are not proselytising. Philip had been called by Jesus and that call changed his life. He could not keep for himself the extraordinary experience he had made. When he met his friend Nathanael, he had to give him the Good News: “We have found him”, the Messiah. Seeing that Nathanael was not convinced, Philip did not impose his newfound faith on his friend, and proposed to him a simple invitation: “Come and see”. (Jn 1:46).

When the apostles were forbidden by the religious leaders to announce Jesus as the Son of God and Saviour, they answered: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20). This has been the experience of countless people throughout the centuries: feeling loved and redeemed by Christ, they cannot but speak about that love. Jesus said: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49). When we are set on fire by Jesus’ love, we cannot hide it. All the ones who come close to us are warmed and enlightened by that fire.

In this Sunday’s gospel, Mark reports the healing of a blind beggar called Bartimaeus. The main purpose of Mark is not to present a historically accurate narrative but to give a lesson of catechesis.

Like Bartimaeus, we are in darkness, living by the side of the road, being ignored and despised by those who think highly of themselves. All pass through that plight and all are in need of seeing the light and being saved. Bartimaeus’ cry is our cry: “Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.” Recognising our sinfulness, we entreat Jesus to heal and save us. It is good to pray continuously as many Christians have done during generations: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me (us), a sinner.” No obstacle should deter us from calling on Jesus to have mercy on us. Hearing our cry, Jesus will call us to him as he did to Bartimaeus. Jesus wants to hear from our lips our request: “What do you want me to do for you?” The answer came clear: “Master, let me see again.” Let me have the light of faith to illumine my path and guide me to you. Jesus’ answer is reassuring: “Go; your faith has saved you.”. And the blind beggar became a disciple of Jesus, following “him along the road.”.

We cannot deny the light to all those who cry out to Jesus asking for the gift of faith. Indeed, “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard”.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR

XXIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 10:35-45

During his journey to Jerusalem, the two brothers James and John approach Jesus with a request, sounding very arrogant, as if they could impose their demands on Jesus: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Showing patience with them, Jesus asked: “What is it you want me to do for you?”

And they were bold enough to put forward their proposal: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” It is very clear what they were looking for: power, glory (status) and wealth. They wanted to guarantee their wellbeing with a high position, answerable only to Christ himself. They had realised that on their own they would never be able to get there. All politicians know that to get and keep power, they need to be propped up by somebody. Despite presenting themselves as strong and decisive, they are well aware that they depend on others to keep their power base. Maybe James and John were just trying their luck, seizing the opportunity or even trying to bribe Jesus. Power corrupts and, in the two brothers, we can already discover the fruits of corruption.

In his answer, Jesus makes it immediately clear that he cannot be deceived: “You don’t know what you are asking for.” So many times we ask for the wrong things because we have the wrong priorities and choose the wrong path. Power, fame and wealth don’t bring happiness. Instead of peace, they cast the seeds of violence and war. And that becomes clear, when, following the request of the two brothers, the apostles started quarrelling among themselves. All wanted the same and all were ready to fight to get power, fame and wealth.

To James and John and then to the others as well, Jesus presents himself as the role model. His way is the only way that leads us to happiness, peace and fulfilment. He “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And he asks James and John if they are ready to walk along his way: “Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?” If they do that, their request about the first seats will become meaningless, since they will realize that service is the only way to make life meaningful.

WHAT MUST I DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 10:17-30

Many times, I heard this question being asked: Are you saved? Such a question is an echo of the question put to Jesus by a wealthy man: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk 10:17) The question reveals a felt need of being assured of salvation. Following Paul’s teaching that we are justified by faith (Ro 3:28), many people give the standard answer: Believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord. However, apparently, Jesus gave a different answer: “You know the commandments”. Jesus implies that we must keep the commandments to “inherit eternal life”, that is, God will look at our behaviour to grant us salvation. We may not inherit eternal life (be saved) if we ignore and trample upon the commandments. Saint James said something similar when we wrote: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18).

In the conversation between Jesus and the rich man who was worried about his salvation, Jesus makes us understand that the keeping of the commandments must be accompanied by the right attitude, in which God alone becomes the centre and the reason for our living. Then, we must be ready to put aside anything that may take God’s place. Only God is God, and nothing else can have our complete trust, obedience and submission. In the end, the man “went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.” In the sermon on the mountain, Jesus taught: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3). If our hearts are so attached to riches that we become totally dependent on them, then God cannot find a door to come him and make his dwelling in us. That’s why it is so difficult for the rich to be saved: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Taking Jesus’ words to the letter, it is impossible for a rich man to be saved. However, God is powerful enough to knock down the walls of our hearts to establish there his throne. That’s why Jesus told the apostles: “For men, it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.”

To be saved, we need an open and docile heart, ready to listen to God’s word and be guided by his wisdom. In the first reading, we hear that wisdom is the greatest gift that comes from God.

“I esteemed her more than sceptres and thrones;

compared with her, I held riches as nothing.

I reckoned no priceless stone to be her peer,

for compared with her, all gold is a pinch of sand,

and beside her silver ranks as mud.

I loved her more than health or beauty,

preferred her to the light,

since her radiance never sleeps.

In her company all good things came to me,

at her hands riches not to be numbered.” (Wisdom 7:7-11)

Let’s ask the gift of wisdom and God will grant us his Spirit of wisdom and love. With him showing us the way, we will remain faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

WHAT GOD HAS UNITED, MAN MUST NOT DIVIDE

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 10:2-16

When I was young, in my village, divorce was rare or non-existent. Then, in a few years, the culture changed beyond recognition and divorce became a common practice. It became quite easy to get a divorce and many prefer to follow the easy way out. Marriage implies a relationship between two different people. For such a relationship to succeed, both of them must be committed and ready to work together to improve it. This is not possible without humility and self-denial. True love is not just a feeling or a passion; it is a decision that must be renewed every day. Nowadays, many follow the mutual attraction and are ready to live together as long as that attraction lasts. As time passes, the thrill of being together disappears, with disillusion and tiredness setting in. Everybody dreams of happiness and expects to receive it, as if it was a right, while in reality, it is something hardly attainable. I demand that my spouse makes me happy, without realising that my expectations may be too high. To achieve happiness, I must work for it and do everything possible to make my spouse happy. I will receive according to what I give. Happiness is not the absence of difficulties, hardships and pain. Here on earth, there is no life without those things. Happiness can be experienced when we feel at peace with ourselves because we are at peace with others and with God. There is happiness when we have a feeling of well-being because we make sense of our lives. Despite the struggles of life, we don’t regret it because they made our life word living.

In Zambia, I worked a lot with married couples in the parish and the movement Marriage Encounter. And I learned as well with the traditional understanding of marriage and the traditional instructions for marriage. In the tradition, marriage is understood as a journey of two people together through which they should become more and more committed to each other. This journey must be recognised and accompanied by the family and the community. The well-being of the community depends on the well-being of the couple and vice-versa. Even though the sexual relationship in marriage is of great importance and the young couples receive instructions on what is expected of each one of them, the purpose of marriage and its dignity goes beyond the search for self-satisfaction. However, many marriages end in divorce. When that happens, the children suffer a big trauma that will affect them for a long time.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is very clear about divorce: it is against God’s plan and God’s will. In marriage, through love, man and woman must become one, and “what God has united, man must not divide.” The teaching is very clear and it does not admit exceptions. 

Both the Catholic and the Orthodox churches, the two twin churches that come from the Apostles, affirm the dignity and the importance of marriage and propose God’s ideal as the true ideal for marriage. It is a commitment of love for life. Thus, in both churches, divorce is seen as a failure to accept God’s plan. The break of trust between the husband and wife, which leads to divorce, is seen as a break of trust with God. Then, how to deal with divorcees? In this respect, the pastoral practice of the two churches has been different. The Catholic Church, considering the marriage before God as an indissoluble bond, has excluded the divorcees from the sacraments and considers a second marriage as being out of the question. In the Orthodox Church, the approach has been different. The breakage of the marriage bond is seen as sinful. However, this sin is not viewed as unforgivable. Thus, in the Orthodox Church, a second marriage may be recognised.

In the Catholic Church, the situation of those who divorced and remarried constitutes an issue for a big debate. Any possible opening in the Church discipline about that is seen with many misgivings and brings the threat of division within the Church. Maybe we should ask ourselves if we cannot learn something from our twin brothers, the Orthodox.