ONLY JESUS’ WAY IS THE THE TRUE WAY

I SUNDAY OF LENT - Genesis 2:7-9,3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11

The books of Genesis presents God fashioning man from the soil, breathing into him “the breath of life”. This indicates, on the one hand, our human fragility, because we are made of the dust of the earth animated by a breath that easily vanishes; and on the other hand, it indicates our dignity and our quality almost divine, because we have in ourselves the spirit (breath) of God. For human beings, God prepared a harmonious world, full of pleasant things to give them well-being and peace. In this harmonious and beautiful world, God gave only one rule: they should not eat the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" because it is a poisoned fruit. However, human beings see any rule as a denial of their freedom and an obstruction to their autonomy; and look at God as someone who destroys their dreams and prevents them from being themselves. The great sin of humanity is a cry of revolt against God, so that we become autonomous and independent, making our rules, deciding about good and evil and proclaiming ourselves to be gods. However, in the end, we have the same fate of Adam and Eve: like them, After all, we become ashamed of ourselves and of each other.

The story of Adam and Eve is not an old story devoid of any significance, because it sounds like a crazy story. In fact, it is a very actual story, speaking about ourselves and describing in a very simple manner the way humans try to live their lives. Today more than in the past, the humans affirm themselves and set themselves up as rulers of the universe, rejecting God’s commandments, so that they become the only judges of good and evil. God, if ever he existed, has died. We are the only gods and as the only true gods, we are the centre of the world. In this self-centredness, selfishness becomes rampant. We enjoy the fruits of our independence and our selfishness, but these fruits are poisonous; they bring envy, jealousy, hatred which bear violence, exploitation and oppression. We end up being slaves and bringing shame upon ourselves.

In the gospel (Mt 4:1-11), we find Jesus’ obedience and his total faithfulness to God, in contrast to Adam and Eve, the sinful humanity. Jesus was tempted like all of us, not only in the desert but throughout his life until the last moments, when he was dying on the cross. The temptations - those of Jesus and ours - are alternative proposals presented as beneficial and advantageous in order to achieve well-being and personal fulfilment. They always focus on ourselves, proposing to make life easier for us. It is as if everything revolves around us and we become the centre of the universe. In the first proposal, Jesus is told to use his divine power to solve his personal problems (his hunger), which become the only problems to which he must pay attention. In the second proposal, he is told to do something miraculous and extravagant (to throw himself down from the parapet of the temple), in order to gain fame and acquire followers. And finally, he is told to gain wealth and power in order to be the lord of the world, even if he has to resort to demonic powers and reject God. Jesus' temptations are an explanation of the temptations of Adam and Eve. They are the great temptations of humanity, promising progress, well-being, life in abundance and happiness. However, these proposals are false and misleading, leading us to hatred, violence, death and unhappiness.

We must choose which way we are going: either we behave like Adam and Eve, becoming gods unto ourselves or we decide to be faithful like Jesus, accepting God’s word and living by it.

THE PROPOSED IDEAL: BE HOLY

VII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18

“Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” This is the ideal proposed to all of us. We are called to holiness, since God who made us in his image, is holy. Being holy means that we should not distort God’s image with a kind of behaviour that brings dishonour to God. We may say that God’s word implies more than the proposal of an ideal; it is an order, a commandment. And this holiness is the reason for all other commandments. We should do nothing that brings harm to others. In our relationship with others, there is no place for hatred, violence and vengeance. We should not “bear a grudge against” others, but “You must love your neighbour as yourself”. The commandment of love - the so called golden rule - has its foundation on God’s holiness. We are very much mistaken if we think of holy things as being the things that mediate God’s holiness to us. The book of Leviticus makes it clear that God’s holiness must have a bearing upon our behaviour towards others. It is in our relationship with others that we may reveal the presence of God’s holiness in our lives.

In the gospel, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains what being holy means. He said: “be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). And in the manner of the Leviticus, Jesus explains that this perfection leads to a relationship with others based on love. To violence, we must not answer with violence. Instead, to hatred, we must answer with love: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. Only by doing that we show that we are God’s children. God’s merciful love must reveal itself on the way we relate to others. Being children of God, we must be a presence of peace and reconciliation.

Certainly to be holy or to be perfect according to God’s measure seems to be a wishful desire, impossible to fulfil. Indeed, how can human beings be perfect as God is perfect? Where can that perfection come from? In the second reading, Paul gives the answer: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16). He is the one who makes us holy. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us who transforms us from within, so that little by little we become more and more like Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God.

THEY ARE HAPPY WHO FOLLOW GOD’S LAW

VI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Sirach 15:16-21

In our lives, we are faced with a choice, which all of us will have to make. God “has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer.” It is up to each one of us to find the meaning of his life and to give a purpose to it. Nobody else will it for us. And it is unworthy of us to blame somebody else. Nowadays, a sense of victimhood is prevalent. Many people see themselves as victims and react in anger and resentment against the supposed victimisers. The ones who do so demand that the others change and compensate them for the damages suffered. If the others are the culprits of my dear situation, they must pay so that I receive what is due to me. This kind of attitude, in which I reject to be responsible for my own life, will not bring a better life since I put my own fate on the hands of others. The writer of the book of Sirach tells us that we are responsible for our own lives. The future of our lives is in our own hands:

Man has life and death before him;

whichever a man likes better will be given him.

In order to live a worthy life, the author tells us that there is a simple way: keep the commandments, since the commandments are not difficult to keep.

If you wish, you can keep the commandments,

to behave faithfully is within your power.

We must accept responsibility for our own lives. It is useless to blame others and it is pointless to blame God since God does not induce us in error:

He never commanded anyone to be godless,

he has given no one permission to sin.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches that the commandments must be accepted wholeheartedly. The evil actions come from within our hearts and we must check them when we become aware of them. Jesus gives four examples of the implications of the law:

1. The law “You must not kill” implies more than the physical killing of the body. Anything that leads to the destruction of the dignity of the other is unlawful and must be punished.
2. The law “You must not commit adultery” implies any lustful desire, demanding that quell them as we become aware of them.
3. As for the law of divorce, which allowed the husband to divorce the wife for trivial things, Jesus overturns that and makes the law very strict.
4. About the oaths, Jesus disallows them, advising not to swear at all: “All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Mt 5,37).

Let us be truthful to ourselves and to others. Only truth will set us free.

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

V SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 5:13-16

A Christian is someone who follows Jesus closely, adopting his values and accepting his rule of life. In doing that, he makes the difference. Following the wisdom of the world and being a Christian doesn’t go together. The traditional Bemba wisdom warns us saying: Uwikete fibili, afwile ku menshi (the one who grabbed two things, drowned). We cannot be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ and at the same time be marked by the attitudes of the world, which promote self-centeredness, hunger for power, lust for pleasure and greediness for wealth.

According to Jesus, the Christian must be different and people must be able to tell the difference.

We are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We don’t need to be many, but we must be faithful, so that, mixed with everybody else, as if lost in society, we may give good taste to the same society. Little by little, society will be shaped by Christian values, accepted as the way of life that manifests our human dignity. If we are like everybody else, then we have become like the salt which has turned tasteless and is only worthy of being “trampled underfoot by men”. 

In the same vein, we are called to be the light of the world, sharing the light of Christ and allowing it to reflect through us. We cannot hide and the eyes of people are upon us. In our modern societies, there is a concerted effort to reduce faith and the manifestations of faith to the private sphere, banning any Christian symbols from state buildings. They allow anyone who so wants to be a Christian, but nobody should know that he is a Christian. Christ tells us: “In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”

We become the light of the world through our “good works”, mainly works of justice, of mercy and of love. The Prophet Isaiah had already written about this:

Share your bread with the hungry,

and shelter the homeless poor,

clothe the man you see to be naked

and do not turn from your own kin.

Then will your light shine like the dawn

and your wound be quickly healed over.

If you do away with the yoke,

the clenched fist, the wicked word,

if you give your bread to the hungry,

and relief to the oppressed,

your light will rise in the darkness,

and your shadows become like noon. (Isaiah 58:7-10)

And Psalm 112 speaks in the same way about the righteous person:

The just man will never waver:

  he will be remembered for ever.

He has no fear of evil news;

  with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.

With a steadfast heart he will not fear;

open-handed, he gives to the poor;

  his justice stands firm for ever.

  His head will be raised in glory.

Let us ask the Lord that he may strengthen us for us to become truly the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

COMPASSIONATE AND TRUSTWORTHY

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD - Luke 2:22-40

This Sunday, on the second of February, we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. Joseph and Mary, being law-abiding Jews, they went to the Temple in order to fulfil the commandment of the Lord. The firstborn should be presented to the Lord and consecrated to Him. All firstborn belonged to the Lord and should be redeemed by the offering of a sacrifice. So Jesus, still a baby, was consecrated to God and he lived all his life at the service of the Father, doing his will. In the letter to the Hebrews (the second reading), Jesus is presented as the ”high priest of God’s religion”, who proved himself to be “compassionate and trustworthy”. In order to be so, he became “completely like his brothers”. He can “help others who are tempted” because he was tempted. Like all human beings, he shared “the same blood and flesh” and suffered death, “so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” (Hb 2:14-18).

In the narrative of the presentation of the Lord, Luke presents the old Simeon coming to the Temple, guided by the Holy Spirit, in order to meet the young child and recognise him publicly as the “light to enlighten the pagans” and the salvation “for all the nations”.

Immediately after this recognition, Simeon addresses himself to Jesus’ mother and hints clearly at a time of suffering and passion, in which Mary will share in the cross of Jesus when “a sword will pierce your own soul too”. Jesus’ passion and death will stand like a sign that is rejected by many. Before his cross, we are forced to choose: either we accept him or we reject him. So “he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many”.

On this day of the Presentation of the Lord, we remember and pray for all the men and women who have consecrated themselves to God, choosing to follow Jesus closely behind. By doing so, they become as well a sign of contradiction, being many times rejected. Let us pray that they may remain always faithful to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.