THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE AND ACTIVE

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Hebrews 4:12-13

Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, after acknowledging our sinfulness, we sit to hear the word of God. During this part of the mass, our attention is concentrated on the lectern (ambo), where the word of God is proclaimed. Special honour is given to the proclamation of the Gospel in the liturgy of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. We recognise publicly that the Word is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. At the beginning of his gospel, John makes it clear that Jesus is the Word incarnate. Through Him, the world was created. He is the life and the light of men (Jn 1:4). In the book of Genesis, we learn that God created everything through his word. And the Holy Scriptures, as they present to us the history of salvation, give witness to the continuous presence and action of the Word. The prophets are the great spokesmen for this Word, challenging, denouncing, calling to repentance and conversion. At the same time, this word reveals God’s plan of salvation while showing the way to faithfulness and fulfilment. Through the word, God commits Himself to carry out the Promise of sending the Messiah to redeem humanity, leading it to the fullness of peace and life.

In the letter to the Hebrews, we are given a short passage on the role of the Word of God. When the word is proclaimed, it becomes “alive and active”, and God speaks to us. It confronts and challenges us, bringing to the open our “secret emotions and thoughts”. It may be painful since “it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely”. However, that pain is the pre-announcement of healing, bringing wholeness to our lives. We are reminded that “we must give account of ourselves” before God. The word of God is never proclaimed in vain, and we cannot behave as if we did not hear it. We will be answerable before God. Let us open our hearts and be docile to the work of the Spirit so that we listen and act accordingly to the Word of God.

DO NOT DIVIDE WHAT GOD UNITED

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

Time and again, the Pharisees approached Jesus to try his knowledge and his accordance with the law. So they came to Jesus and asked about marriage. At that time, there were two schools of thought: The followers of Beit Shammai held a strict approach, allowing divorce only for serious reasons, while the followers of Beit Hillel were much more lenient, accepting divorce even for trivial issues. The Pharisees wanted to know Jesus’ opinion: Did the Law allow or forbid divorce?

As he did many times, Jesus answered by asking: “What did Moses command you?” That is, what does the Law say? The Law allows the man to send away his wife, giving her a certificate of divorce (Dt 24:1-4).  

After this answer, Jesus had the opportunity to confront the Pharisees with God’s plan for marriage. Indeed, the Law allows divorce, but in doing that, the Law is in clear discordance with God’s will for marriage. The commandment concerning divorce was given “because of your hardness of heart”. In a given society, laws are made to regulate prevailing situations, and in doing so, those laws may be against the ideal that God proposes for us. Jesus makes it clear that divorce is always a sign of our sinfulness. From the beginning, God presents us with his plan for marriage. He took the bride to the groom, who accepted her as a partner with whom he could walk along the paths of life. In her, he could see a reflection of himself - “bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh!” as both of them are made in the image of God. Bring them together, God intended them to be one. And Jesus gives the conclusion: “So then, what God has united, man must not divide.”

Let us pray for all married couples. May their love become stronger and give them the strength to overcome the difficulties they find in their journey together. May the Lord guide and protect them. 

QUEM NÃO É CONTRA NÓS É POR NÓS

XXVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

We must recognise good wherever we find it and never feel threatened by those who do good, even if they do not belong to our religious group. God has his own ways and is not limited by the fences we build to protect us. We fear what is outside our fence because we cannot control it. That’s why Joshua (in the first reading) wanted to stop the two elders who had remained behind and were not in the group with Moses. Was it not a sign of disunity on their part? They did not show commitment and communion. Thus, they did not deserve to receive the Spirit. Moses saw it differently, realising that those two were a sign and promise of God’s Spirit coming over all members of the people of God.

In the gospel, John was jealous of the man who performed miracles in Jesus’ name, even though he did not belong to the group of disciples. How could an outsider be endowed with such a divine power? There is always the danger of dividing people into two groups: the insiders are good and holy, deserving to receive the fullness of the Spirit, while the outsiders are evil and sinners, being excluded from God’s care and love. Jesus did not allow such a way of thinking. We cannot exclude others since we are not the owners of God’s grace and don’t control it. And Jesus concluded by saying: “Anyone who is not against us is for us.” It is interesting to notice that the outsider who performed miracles did it in the name of Jesus. He is the Saviour and the only way to the Father. It is through him that we are set free. There are countless numbers of people who do not know Jesus well but are guided by his Spirit to work for the goodness of others. For them, we must rejoice and give thanks to God.

MAKE YOURSELVES SERVANTS OF ALL

XXV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 9:30-37

In the second reading (James 3:16-4:3), taken from James, we are presented with two opposing models of behaviour: one guided by “the wisdom that comes down from above” and the other guided by the wisdom of this world. In between the two, we are compelled to make a choice.

Under the wisdom of this world, we allow “the desires fighting inside our own selves” to be in command of our lives. We are dominated by jealousy and ambition which brings about disharmony, violence, “wars and battles”; so we are “prepared to kill”.

The wisdom that comes from above has a different outcome: it “is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good.” When we guide ourselves by this wisdom, we become peacemakers. And the peacemakers shall be called children of God (Mt 5,9).

In the gospels, we can see jealousy and ambition at work in the apostles. Jesus was explaining to them that he would be arrested, tried, convicted and killed, but they couldn’t understand. Maybe they didn’t want to understand. Moved by ambition, they worried about their positions in the Kingdom of God. All of them wanted the first place to be the greatest. Aware of that, Jesus told them openly: “If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.” Then, he brought a child into their midst to be a role model. They must humble themselves and be ready to welcome those who are small, pure and innocent, like children. The world will despise them and try to get rid of them but, in the end, they will be welcomed into the Kingdom of God.

Let us pray with the psalmist: 

For proud men have risen against me,

  ruthless men seek my life.

  They have no regard for God.

The Lord upholds my life.

But I have God for my help.

  The Lord upholds my life. (Psalm 54).

TRUE FAITH SHOWS ITSELF IN TRUE DISCIPLESHIP

XXIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 8:27-35

In the history of the Church, the Reformation, brought about by Luther, came as a break from the past, introducing new ideas and a new rule of belief. Moved by a deep desire to be assured of salvation, Luther proclaimed that we are saved by grace alone and by faith alone, having Scripture alone as the basis for our theological understanding and the rule of faith for our lives. Surely, Saint Paul affirms clearly what is easy to see: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ep 2:8-9). And to the Romans, he wrote: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him,

we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Ro 5:1-2) Paul makes it clear that we cannot be saved without believing: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Ro 3:28) And we must ask: what does it mean to believe? Faith implies a relationship of love with Jesus Christ. We answer his call and accept his invitation, being ready to become his disciples and follow his footsteps. Surely, we have to say with Peter: “You are the Christ.” You are the Son of the living God. And this profession of faith has to lead us to take our cross and follow Jesus. Faith demands and implies a commitment to love Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the life.

It is always dangerous to do what Luther did, that is, to take a verse from the Bible and make it the basis of our understanding of salvation. The same Paul wrote to the Galatians: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” (Gal 5:6). And we cannot forget that from the three theological virtues “the greatest of these is love.” (1 Co 13:13).  In his merciful love, God has adopted us as his children, thus calling us to be perfect as He is perfect (Mt 5:48).

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ep 5:1-2)

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Ro 13:14)

“… for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ”. (Gal 3:26-27)

You must “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ep 4:22-24)

Faith implies much more than to say I believe. It demands a holistic approach leading to discipleship and a new self. In Christ, we become a new creation (2 Co 5:17).

In the second reading, James states what is obvious: Faith alone without the behaviour of a true disciple is dead and cannot save us. In the gospel, Peter affirms his faith openly and in front of others. Yet, immediately after recognising his proclamation of faith, Jesus scolded him because he did not have the faithful attitude of a true disciple. May the Lord grant us His Spirit to make us true disciples who are ready to follow Jesus.

HE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU

XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 7:31-37

Jesus was passing “through the Decapolis region”, east of the Lake of Galilee and the river Jordan. He was in a pagan land, where Greek culture was prevalent. The man brought to Jesus, who could neither hear nor speak, symbolises that pagan region needing someone to open their ears to the Good News and their mouth to proclaim their faith. That man also represents the situation of human beings, handicapped by all kinds of weaknesses and shortcomings. The society we live in is full of deaf and dumb, unable to hear and understand the word of God. We need someone to touch us and say: “Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.” We need to be saved. And Jesus came to save us, fulfilling the promise foretold by Isaiah:

“Courage! Do not be afraid.

Look, your God is coming,

vengeance is coming,

the retribution of God;

he is coming to save you.” (Is 35:4)

The healing done by Jesus is a sign of God’s presence in our midst fulfilling his promise and carrying out our salvation. Jesus’ action goes beyond the borders of Israel as he reaches out to foreign lands and pagan nations. The people’s reaction was of surprise and recognition: “He has done all things well!”

We live in difficult times. The limitless optimism we had disappeared and we live in a world that has lost direction. The words of Isaiah are addressed to us: “Courage! Do not be afraid.” Jesus, the Son of the living God, is with us to bring salvation. In Him, we find hope and this hope gives a new purpose for our lives. The Christians are called to live in hope and to become a source of hope in this hopeless world. We are sure that:

“the scorched earth becomes a lake,

the parched land springs of water.” (Is 35:6)

PURE, UNSPOILT RELIGION

 XXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus confronts the Pharisees who reproached Him for not keeping to the customs and traditions. Like the Pharisees, we honour our traditions more than God’s words and commandments. And Jesus put the finger on the wound, saying clearly: “You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.” We have created traditions, philosophies and ideologies to serve our interests and make us the masters of the world, a world without God. We are not different from the Pharisees. We become self-centred, twisting even religion to serve our interests. Following our human traditions, we see ourselves as faithful and righteous, while, in reality, we refuse to listen to God’s Word and obey his commandments. External obedience is possible and quite common, without a true openness to recognise God’s will and be guided by his Spirit. Human traditions can be props that facilitate obedience to God’s commandments, but they can never take their place. 

The Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of not following the rules of purification, keeping them in a state of impurity and putting those who come in touch with them in danger of contamination. Jesus makes it clear that external things do not make us unclean.

“For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.”

In the first reading, taken from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses advises the people to keep the commandments. We have no authority to change or modify them. Faithfulness to the commandments is the only way to wisdom and happiness.

In the second reading, St. James speaks of true, pure and spoilt religion, which implies always a relation with God. And the truthfulness of that relation is asserted by our relation to the others, especially to the poor, the needy and the suffering.

“Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.” (James 1:27).

The responsorial psalm makes this very explicit. For us to approach the Lord and dwell in his house, we must act with justice and speak the truth, showing respect to our brothers, and being ready to accept and love them. We may pray and meditate on the words of the Psalm 15:

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault;

he who acts with justice

and speaks the truth from his heart;

he who does not slander with his tongue.

He who does no wrong to his brother,

who casts no slur on his neighbour,

who holds the godless in disdain,

but honours those who fear the Lord.

He who keeps his pledge, come what may;

who takes no interest on a loan

and accepts no bribes against the innocent.

Such a man will stand firm for ever.