YOU HAVE RESTORED ME TO LIFE

XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 5:21-43

This Sunday’s gospel gives us a passage of Mark, in which he puts together two episodes that bring forth our fragility and mortality. We may become delusional with dreams of total victory over sickness and death. We have lived as if nothing is impossible to science, being sure that it will find soon a remedy for all sicknesses. However, the covid-19 pandemic has shuttered those false hopes. And the science we trust may be the same one that caused the pandemic. It is as if we were lost, suffering the consequences of a curse. We may remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah: 

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.” (Jr 17,5). 

Faced with suffering and death, we may point to God, accusing him of being the source of all evil that we suffer. Why are we mortal? And if that is our fate, why do we have a profound desire for everlasting life? Why do we feel the pain of death and refuse to resign ourselves to it? These are difficult questions, which we go on asking, even though we do not find answers beyond those already found.

The book of Wisdom, reflecting on life and death, gives a clear answer:

“Death was not God’s doing,

he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living.” (Wis 1:13).

And then it adds:

“It was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world,

as those who are his partners will discover.” (Wis 2:24).

In the gospel, Jesus shows God’s compassion towards those who suffer. He is on the side of all those who feel trapped in the limitations of this earthly life. The woman “who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years” lived a hopeless life, as if she was already dead. Due to her condition, she would not have children, thus being considered cursed and impure. The girl who was twelve years old died in the prime of life, without being able to assume responsibility for her life or contribute to the wellbeing of her people. It is as if she had not lived. In such situations, we lose hope and everything becomes meaningless. Then, we must turn to Jesus and approach him with confidence. He is “the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25). Only with him we can overcome death and pass through the gate to eternal life.

We may sing with the psalmist:

“I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me

  and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,

  restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.” (Psalm 30).

LORD JESUS, SAVE US

XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 4:35-41

At the end of the day, with his disciples, Jesus crosses the lake “to the other side”, that is to the territory of Decapolis, which was already outside the land of Palestine, thus being pagan land. This symbolises the move of the Church towards foreign land to proclaim the Good News to the Gentiles (all those who were not Jews). This move was not an easy one. It was more like a dangerous adventure.

The crossing of the lake had everything to make it terrifying: the darkness of the night, the heavy and strong winds and the waves tossing the boat in all directions and spilling water all over as if they were going to engulf it. Jesus was with them. However, while the disciples struggled with the waves and tried to steer it to safety, Jesus slept, unconcerned, as if he was not there. It is the same with the Church. Many times, when she sails through rough waters, we have the feeling that the Lord Jesus Christ is absent, but he is with us. He has entrusted the work to us and he is with us, always ready to hear our cry for deliverance. Whenever we feel in danger, we can approach him and repeat the words pronounced by the apostles: “Master, do you not care? We are going down!” Jesus reproached them for their lack of faith, but he used all his power to bring everything under control so that the disciples could find rest and peace.

In the second reading (2 Corinthians 5:14-17), we hear Paul telling the Corinthians that Jesus’ love is overwhelming. He died for all of us so that in him we might be alive for God. We should be dead to the world, “so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.” In Christ, we have become “a new creation”, as the glory of God become more and more manifest in our lives.

“Some sailed to the sea in ships

  to trade on the mighty waters.

These men have seen the Lord’s deeds,

  the wonders he does in the deep.

For he spoke; he summoned the gale,

  tossing the waves of the sea

up to heaven and back into the deep;

  their souls melted away in their distress.

Then they cried to the Lord in their need

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper:

  all the waves of the sea were hushed.”

Psalm 107

INTENT ON PLEASING HIM

XI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Paul looks at human life here on earth and considers it to be living in exile. We don’t belong here; however, while we are here, we proceed forward with confidence. We are not alone in this journey, since we are in the hands of the Lord (Ro 14:8). As we move ever closer to our final destination, we must have only one concern: “We are intent on pleasing him”. To please the Lord, we must lead a way of life that is detached from this transient world. As we live in exile, we walk guided “by faith and not by sight” and this faith fills us with confidence.

The Lord has sown in us the seed of eternal life and salvation. Even though small, the seed germinates and grows until it will reach maturity and give fruits. Because we may not see immediate results, we may be filled with misgivings. However, we are not walking in vain. The Lord will make sure that his seed will produce good and plentiful fruits. The Kingdom of God is like a man who “throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.” (Mk 4:26-29).

When the time comes, we will be subjected to judgement: “For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in the body, good or bad.” (2 Cor 5:10). While we live in this world, let us pay attention to Paul’s advice:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Ro 12:2).

THIS IS MY BODY; THIS IS MY BLOOD

THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI - Mark 14:12-16,22-26

The Church has dedicated this solemnity to celebrate the Eucharist, putting the stress on the bread of life that is the body of Christ. We may ask ourselves why, since we celebrate the Eucharist every day and in a special way every Sunday. As humans, we lose easily the sharpness of our senses and become dull and mindless in what we do. This feast was established to help us strengthen our faith and remind us of the essential aspects of the Eucharist. Thursday is the day of the Eucharist since Jesus ate the Last Supper on a Thursday evening. Thus the solemnity of Corpus Christi is supposed to be celebrated on the Thursday following the Sunday of the Holy Trinity. However, in the countries where that Thursday is not a holiday, the feast is transferred to the following Sunday.

We call the Eucharist the Most Blessed Sacrament because in it we celebrate the great mysteries of our salvation, mainly the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this Most Blessed Sacrament, we enter in communion with Jesus Christ to become with him one body. And being one with Him, we become children of God. The celebration of this solemnity helps us not to lose sight of the body and blood of Christ, who offered Himself as the sacrifice that seals the New Covenant. We are people of the New Covenant, who have been reconciled with God through Jesus’ passion and death: “his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.” (Hb 9:15).

In the Last Supper, Jesus gave the meaning and purpose of his death: “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many.” (Mk 14:24). He brought about the New Covenant and in it, he offers himself in sacrifice. He is the High Priest and at the same time the sacrifice without blemish which is acceptable to God. As we celebrate the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are called to offer the Sacrifice of the New Covenant, the perfect sacrifice, the sacrifice of the People of God, in which we offer ourselves with Jesus. 

In this Solemnity of the Body of Christ, we are called to the faith that the bread we eat is the body of Christ and the cup of blessing from which we drink is a share in the blood of Christ. We believe it and that belief we keep the faith of the Church, expressed since the beginning in writings of the Fathers of the Church. In his first Apology, Saint Justin wrote:

“And this food is called among us Eucharistia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.

For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” – (First Apology, 66)