XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Wisdom 1:13-15,2:23-24

A deep desire for eternal life

Nobody wants to die, and we do everything possible to delay death. We know that we are mortals and that sooner or later we will depart from this life and this world. However, we want to live and to live forever. In our hearts, there is a deep desire for eternal life. And death, coming to destroy that light and that hope, is seen as an enemy.

Who to blame for death

What is interesting is that, in the Bible, God is not blamed for death. This Sunday’s first reading says it very clearly: “Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living” (Wisdom 1:13). In the second story of creation (Gen 2:9), we are told that in the midst of the garden of Eden there two trees: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. While man was forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge, he was not forbidden to eat from the tree life, because God is the God of life and he wants people to live. But we cannot have life outside God, who is the source of life.

Already in Genesis, we are led to guess that death came about because of the envy of the devil.  And the book of Wisdom states it openly: “But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.” (Wisdom 2:24)

It is interesting that, according to traditional thinking (like among the Bemba and the Kaonde peoples), God is not blamed for the death of someone. There is no natural death, and so death is always caused by someone – an enemy; and that enemy is a fellow human being, mainly a relative or a neighbour. Death is brought about by the jealousy, the envy and the hatred of someone who is close enough to harm you. Surely, following this way of thinking, many innocent people are falsely accused. However, God is never blamed for someone’s death.

In a way, the first death – the death of the body – is just a passage to other life. We fear the pain and the loss, but we can wait for it with hope. The second death, which comes with a rejection of God and an exclusion from the communion of love with God, that is the one to fear.

Psalm 138:1-3,13-15

This is a wonderful psalm, the psalm to be sung in the mass of St. John the Baptist.

We are a wonder, and we must praise God for creating us so wonderful.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

O Lord, you search me and you know me,

  you know my resting and my rising,

  you discern my purpose from afar.

You mark when I walk or lie down,

  all my ways lie open to you.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

For it was you who created my being,

  knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I thank you for the wonder of my being,

  for the wonders of all your creation.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

Already you knew my soul,

  my body held no secret from you

when I was being fashioned in secret

  and moulded in the depths of the earth.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

FEAST OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

A burning and shining lamp

John the Baptist stands out, between the Old and the New Testament. Being with a foot in the Old Testament, “the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”; however, coming before the Messiah and preparing the way for him, he is the greatest “among those born of women” (Mt 11:11).

We call him the Baptist, because of his call to repentance and of the crowds who came to him, confessing their sins and being baptised. Jesus called him “a prophet” and “more than a prophet” (Mt 11:9).

Like Elijah, John was bold, courageous and fearless in telling the truth. He was afraid of nobody, and he only cared about carrying out his mission and being faithful to God who called him. 

In a way, John was a very strange fellow. One might think that he was a bit deranged: living alone in the desert, dressed in clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt and having for food locusts and honey (Mt 3:4). His way of life was as prophetic as his own words. He rejected society, even their dressing and their food. Society was corrupt and in urgent need of radical transformation. We can say that he was a radical and uncompromising man. He did not claim to be what he was not. In fact, he considered himself to be only a voice, calling on people to repent, to change their ways and to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah.

People  - the common people who is full of wisdom and insight – understood that he was not a crazy man and went to him in search of guidance and of meaning for their lives. Jesus spoke of him saying: “He was a burning and shining lamp” (Jn 5:35).

John’s voice still resounds and proclaims anew: “‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mk 1:3)

XI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Mark 4:26-34

The mustard tree

Slow, but sure growth

This Sunday’s Gospel speaks of slow, silent, but sure growth. It is like the work in the fields. We cannot see the growth, and we may be disillusioned, thinking that all the work was a waste of time. We must learn with the farmer to be patient. He knows that the seed will germinate, grow and then produce a harvest. He knows that once the seed is cast on the soil, it will have a life of its own and the silent work is going on, even when the farmer is resting and sleeping.

The Kingdom of God is like a seed

We are called to sow the seed of God’s word; and we must do it tirelessly and with enthusiasm; but we should not think about measuring our own achievements and success. The Kingdom of God has a dynamism of its own. The seed is very small, but it will grow and it will become a giant tree, so that people can shelter in its shade.

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

In the Catholic Diocese of Solwezi, we organised a two week workshop for Catechists and Prayer Leaders. A short introduction to the Bible was part of that workshop. You can have a look at it, and if it helps you, make good use of it. Follow the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mbjwszmvzpkl1bs/Bible%20Short%20Introduction%202012.pdf 

THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

This Sunday’s feast is like a repetition of what we celebrate every Sunday: the Eucharist, in which we do what Jesus ordered us to do in memory of him. The feast was established to reaffirm the faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and to encourage the faithful to be in communion with Jesus by receiving his body and blood.

The language sounds crude and blunt, but it is no more than a repetition of the words that Jesus used in the Last Supper, when he said: “Take; this is my body”; and “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk 14:22-24).

In the Gospel of St. John, speaks openly and clearly about the need to make him our food and our drink: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (Jn 6:53).

His body broken on the cross and his blood spilt all over are the sacrifice of the New Covenant, sealed with his blood. By his death and resurrection, Jesus established a new order in the relationship with God. To enter that order, we must become one with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. And he shows us the way to be one with him. Paul put it clearly: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16).

FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY

THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD

Don’t be mistaken! We Christians do not believe in three gods. There is only one God. The first reading is very clear: “Understand this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the LORD is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other.” (Dt 4:39). 

Christians are strictly monotheists. But, in his actions towards people and in his work of salvation, God reveals himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, being one God. How is that possible? – you may ask. We have no answers that may answer fully that question. It is the mystery of God. And then there are so many questions in life for which we have no answers. Even if we are created in his image, God is so different from everything that we know. There is a Bemba proverb that says: The short one will never reach up there, where the tall one has put something (apasamika umutali, mwipi teti asamune). In the end, we cannot know the secrets of God, unless he reveals himself to us.

GOD IS LOVE

The New Testament makes it very clear that God is love and that he reveal himself as love. And basically that’s the reality we mean, when we profess the Trinity. God is love. In love, there is communion and sharing. The greater the love, the greater the sharing and communion. With perfect love, we have perfect communion. Love does not destroy the differences, but makes possible the union, so that they are truly one. And this love is eternal, without beginning and end, because it is God himself.

Celebrating the Holy Trinity, we are celebrating God’s love, a love that he shares with us, calling us to have a share in that love. God’s love for us is so great, that he makes us his beloved children.

CHILDREN OF GOD

In his letter to the Romans, Paul puts it very clearly:

“Everyone moved by the Spirit 

is a child of God. 

The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; 

it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ 

The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. 

And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.” (Ro 8:14-17).