PUT ON A NEW SELF

XVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Ephesians 4:17,20-24

I remember that in Mozambique, during the first years of independence, following what they called scientific socialism, FRELIMO had the political goal of creating a new society and a new man. To achieve that, they were intent on destroying the old social and political structures, which they classified as oppressive. For a human being to be completely free, he must be made anew. However, that project was no more than a dream and the effort to implement it brought even bigger oppression and exploitation. Religion was denounced as obscurantism, thus being considered an obstacle to progress, which should be removed. Considered part of the colonial inheritance, Christianism should be put aside as something alien that had served the only purpose of justifying the colonial oppression.

Society is seen as the field in which a continuous and many times fierce struggle takes place. It is the struggle between the oppressed and the oppressor. In classical Marxism, the proletariat would rise against the bourgeoisie and create a new society in which the means of production would belong to all (the State) and be at the service of all. However, all the attempts at implementing this ideology have been a complete failure. The communist experiment in the Soviet Union, in China, Cambodia did not bring freedom, justice and development, but oppression, exploitation, enslavement and poverty. Despite that, the Marxist ideology that interprets and analyses society as a continuous struggle between oppressed and oppressor continues to thrive and to inspire many social and political movements. Some groups consider themselves to be victims of a society that is structured at the service of their oppressors. That society must be destroyed to create a new one, where equity may reign.

The proposal of creating a new man who would usher in a new society sounded very appealing, and with its goal of establishing a free and fair society, without injustice and exploitation, it brings to memory many Christian themes. In his dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus said that we must be born again (Jn 3:3), that is we must become a new kind of person. However, according to Jesus, for us to be born again, we must be born from above, that is, from God. Paul speaks the same kind of language: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Co 5:17).

In this Sunday’s second reading, Paul calls on the Ephesians to “put on the new self that has been created in God’s way” (Ep 4:24). Paul is not speaking about social, economic or political policies to bring about a revolution and create a new society. Paul speaks about a personal relationship with Christ, who fills us with His Spirit and transforms us from within, to become children of God. The Spirit who is poured upon us enables us to give up “our old way of life” and to “put aside our old self”, in which we had become slaves of our “illusory desires”.

As Christians, we cannot “go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live” (Ep 4:17). Our lives will become full of meaning and purpose if we follow the way which we learnt from Jesus Christ. And Paul speaks of a “spiritual revolution”, which will take place when we allow ourselves to be moulded by Christ.

LEAD A LIFE WORTHY OF YOUR VOCATION

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Ephesians 4:1-6

The letters of Paul are full of little jewels - in a few sentences, he summarises important aspects of our Christian life. Our Christian faith implies a way of life that we pursue to become like Jesus Christ. To be Christian is to walk on the steps of Jesus. Some may consider it a philosophy or an ideology that aims at dominating the world. However, to be Christian is to be in a deep relationship with Jesus because we were seduced by him and experienced his love and compassion. In his encounter with Jesus, Paul realised that he was being called and in that call, he found his vocation, the vocation that gave meaning to his whole life. Being Christian is a vocation. We are called by name and a way to life and salvation is proposed to us. As a consequence, Paul tells us: “… lead a life worthy of your vocation” (Ep 4.1). Jesus had said something similar: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 7:21).

We may ask what is a life worthy of our vocation? And Paul answers that a life worthy of our vocation is seen and proved in the way we relate to the others whom we live with: “… bearing with one another in love”. The traditional Bemba wisdom teaches nearly the same: Imiti iipalamene taibula ukushenkana - the trees close to each other always touch and brush themselves. Living together is not always a happy business; it demands effort, commitment, forgiveness and reconciliation. We need bearing with one another, and that is only possible with love. To do that, Paul presents three essential attitudes: humility, gentleness and patience. We may consider these as signs of weakness and then ignore and despise them. However, it is not so. To be humble, gentle and patient, one has to cultivate selflessness and self-control, overcoming the desires of the flesh. And that is possible only if we are moulded in the manner of Christ. We must be at peace with God and with ourselves and for that to happen we must be in peace with the others: “Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.” (Ep 4:3). God is the source of unity.

“There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.” (Ep 4:4-6).

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 6:30-34

Last week, the gospel was about Jesus sending the Apostles into a training mission. In this Sunday’s gospel, we are told that the Apostles came back and reported to Jesus about their experience, their teaching and actions. Interestingly, Paul and Barnabé did the same: “… when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them” (Act 14:27). This reporting back reminds us that we are accountable for the mission entrusted to us. When the community sends us to proclaim the Good News, we must give feedback on the way we carried out the mission. Maybe we have lost this sense of accountability, which leads us to communicate and to share. We are responsible for the mission entrusted to us before Christ and before the Church.

After listening to the Apostles’ report, Jesus took them to a lonely place for them to rest. There is always the danger of being drowned by super activism, which leaves no time to rest and reflect. We need time to be with Jesus and be replenished with faith, hope and love. Time to be alone with Jesus is important for us to confront our ways with reality and discover our failures and weaknesses. It is a time as well to feel the loving care of Jesus and to find peace in him. 

In the end, they had no time to rest because people guessed where they were going and arrive there before them. Seeing the crowd, Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”  This crowd represents humanity at large, who is always in a state of expectancy, hoping to find rest and peace. Time and again, humanity seems to be lost and is waiting for a reassuring voice and a liberating word, which may give meaning to our lives and the world in which we live. Indeed, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6). Before the crowds, Jesus behaved as the Good Shepherd, the one who came for us to have life to the full (Jn 10:10). In Jeremiah (the first reading - Jr 23:1-6), God promised to be the shepherd of his people and to send shepherds according to his heart to take good care of his sheep.

“The Lord is my shepherd;

  there is nothing I shall want.” (Ps 23:1)

JESUS SUMMONED THE TWELVE AND BEGAN TO SEND THEM OUT IN PAIRS

XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 6:7-13

Jesus came to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and the Good News is that the Kingdom is being initiated and will grow until it comes to completion. The message of the Kingdom of God must be announced and made known everywhere, so that people may choose which way to go: with Christ who is the way to life and salvation or against Christ, thus bringing damnation upon ourselves. Since the beginning of his ministry, Jesus prepared the way for the continuation of his mission. First, he called by name the ones he chose. Vocation comes from God and can neither question his choice nor blame him for his wrong choices. Most of the time, He chooses the humble, the poor and even the sinner so that his mercy and his power of salvation may be revealed. All those who accept his call and welcome his grace are transformed from within, becoming witnesses of God’s love and mercy. Then, Jesus started teaching his disciples and especially the group closest to him, the apostles. Practical experience was part of the training. So Jesus “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs”. Twelve is a symbolic number, representing the new people of God, the people of the New Covenant, built upon the Apostles with Jesus as the cornerstone (Ep 2:20). The group of the Apostles stands for the whole Church. Jesus entrusts his mission to the Church, that is the community of disciples. There is no place for individualism in the preaching of the Gospel. This is well stressed by Mark when he notes that Jesus sent them out in pairs so that one confirms and strengthens the other. As he sent them out, Jesus gave “them authority over the unclean spirits”. The goal of the mission is to set people free of everything that enslaves them, mainly the power of evil. Jesus came to save us from the power of darkness and transform us into children of the light. He came to establish peace, reconciling us with God. And that is the mission which the Church received from Jesus. 

How to carry out this mission entrusted to the Church? With simplicity, humility and poverty. Wealth and power are always a source of corruption and a wide road betrayal, ending up in selfishness, pride, jealousy and hatred which tramples down justice, righteousness and peace. If we carry out the very same mission that Jesus received from the Father, then we must do it as he did. At the end of his life, Paul was able to recognise that when he was weak, then he was strong because his human fragility made it possible to recognise God’s mercy and powerful love. Jesus advises us to avoid anything which hinders us or constitute an obstacle to the preaching of the Gospel.

“So they set off to preach repentance”. The mission entrusted to the apostles is the mission entrusted to us. Like them, do we preach the Good News? Do we call people to repentance? And do we give witness to God’s love and mercy? 

GOD’S POWER MAKES ITSELF PRESENT IN OUR WEAKNESSES

XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 6:1-6

Prophets never had an easy life. Time and again, they were ignored, ridiculed and despised. We may have the idea that the prophets were nearly super-human, who excelled in everything. However, that was not so. The prophets were common human beings like ourselves. In the first reading, listening to Ezequiel’s call, we become aware of that. God addresses him saying: “Son of man”. The prophet is a “son of man”, that is he is a human being, a common human being sharing the human condition like all the others. But God chose him and is going to speak through him so that they “shall know there is a prophet among them” (Ez 2:2-5). The glory, the power of God and His word are mediated through the prophet, who will be a witness to God’s presence and action in the middle of the people.

In the second reading (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), speaking of himself, Paul tells us about his weaknesses and shortcomings and he boasts about them because they are the proof that everything he does is done through the power of Jesus Christ. According to Paul, there is no reason to glory in his achievements because the weaknesses of his human nature are the proof that his work is done through the grace of God. And Paul concludes: “For it is when I am weak that I am strong.” God reveals his power in our weakness as he told Paul: “... my power is at its best in weakness”.

In the Gospel, Mark presents a narrative of Jesus’ visit to his home town and the reaction of his fellow countrymen to his teaching. They were astonished, but not happy. Their astonishment led them to be annoyed and to feel offended. Knowing his family, they thought they knew Jesus, and so they despised him, instead of believing in him. Due to their lack of faith, Jesus could not work miracles there. Despite all the history of salvation, they could not accept the presence and action of a God who assumes the human condition to manifest his power and his glory. And Jesus “was amazed at their lack of faith.”