XXVI Sunday of the Year

DO NOT STIFLE GOD’S/GOOD WORK

Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Readings for the XXVI Sunday of the Year

Some years ago, during Cricket Australia’s tour of India, Matthew Hayden was to return home after the test series.

But he performed brilliantly in the tests, and the selectors added him to the ODI squad. Some argued that he shouldn’t have been included because he wasn’t in the original ODI squad. But that didn’t matter for Cricket Australia. What mattered was that Hayden was a good player in good form. They didn’t stifle Hayden, and it paid off.

This event happened some years ago, but it gives a sound principle to build the team for God’s Kingdom. It shouldn’t matter whether one was part of the original team or not. All that matters: how good is a person and is God’s Spirit in him/her?

The liturgy invites to recognize that God’s Spirit works in all people of good will, and to co-operate with it.

In the First Reading, Joshua asks Moses to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they were not part of the “in-group”. In the Gospel, the Jesus’ disciples stop a man driving out demons in his name because he was not one of them. 

Moses’ and Jesus’ responses are instructive! Moses tells Joshua: “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!” Jesus tells John: “Do not forbid him… for he that is not against us is for us.” Jesus challenges the disciples’ tendency to feel that they are the sole owners of his message. 

Moses and Jesus taught their followers to recognize the work of God inside and outside the immediate community. Kingdom work is not reserved to a few chosen ones; it is for all people of good will. 

This does not mean that we should apologize for our beliefs and water down our faith. Moses did not tell Joshua to leave the tent and join up with Eldad and Medad, nor did Jesus tell his disciples to follow the man driving demons out in his name. 

But to refuse to recognize that people of other faiths are doing the work of God or to stop them is denying the presence of the Spirit working in these people.

 

The world is saturated with the Spirit of God. 

Do I look at the church as an exclusive club? Can I open my eyes to the good that others do, recognize God’s spirit working in them, and co-operate with them? 

May I cooperate with (and not stifle) the Spirit and every person doing God’s work and good work. May I believe that there is place for every person of goodwill in “God’s Squad”!

XXV Sunday of the Year

WELCOME LITTLENESS

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16—4:3; Mark 9:30-37

Readings for the XXV Sunday of the Year

An oft-repeated anecdote to start! A fisherman was carrying his catch of crabs in an open basket. A passer-by remarked: “Aren’t you afraid the crabs will crawl out?” The fisherman replied: “No! Do you know anything about the behaviour of crabs? Watch!” As a crab crawled towards the top of the basket, the others pulled the climber down. This kept happening! The crabs would not allow the others to climb towards the top.

It’s not just crabs that pull one another down. We do the same because of jealousy and selfish ambition. 

Today’s readings address these two foibles that destroy people.

In the second reading, St James writes: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.” He lists the reason for war and conflict: unsatisfied craving.

The first reading from the Book of Wisdom is an inside-view of how selfish minds work and illustrates the extremes to which jealousy and selfish ambition can lead a person when confronted by a “righteous man”. 

It’s the same in the gospel. The religious leaders are jealous of Jesus, the righteous man; his virtue is an examination of conscience for them! He predicts that they will hand him over to torturers. 

Jealousy and selfish ambition destroy people and community. Jesus smells these foibles enter his fledgling church! He has just instructed his disciples on his passion, but suffering does not fit into their perspective of the kingdom. They are busy discussing their great positions in the kingdom. 

Jesus nips this one in the bud. He puts a child in their midst and challenges the twelve to welcome him/her. When they can welcome “littleness,” they welcome him.

In effect, Jesus compares himself to the child who cannot resort to power tactics when threatened. On the road to Jerusalem, in the face of suffering and death, he can only turn to his Father in trust; this makes him vulnerable.

When we are righteous and live upright lives, we can be sure that people will pull us down. The challenge before us: 

Will I give in to jealousy and selfish ambition? Will I resort to power tactics or will I welcome the vulnerability of a child?

How will I welcome and accept the child part of my personality, and become less power-conscious and success-oriented?

XXIV Sunday of the Year

WHO IS CHRIST? WHO IS A DISCIPLE?

Isaiah 50:5-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

Readings for the XXIV Sunday of the Year

Before joining an organization, prospective members need to know two things: the identity and the mission of the organization; and their job profile.

Likewise, to belong to the “organization” of Jesus, disciples need to know two things: Jesus’ identity and mission; what is involved in being a Christian.

Today’s readings set out in clear and unambiguous terms the answers to these questions.

The Gospel is the mid-point of Mark’s Gospel. 

The first part of the Gospel revealed Jesus as the Messiah who mediates God’s power by teaching and healing with authority. It reaches its climax with Peter’s faith declaration: “You are the Christ.” 

The second part will reveal the kind of a Messiah Jesus is and will be: one who must suffer, be rejected, and be killed. Must! There is a necessity about his suffering and death. Jesus is not a glorious Messiah; not a David-like figure; not a military leader. He is the suffering servant. The revelation of Jesus’ identity culminates on Calvary when the centurion looks at the cross and says: “Truly, this was the Son of God.” The crucified Jesus is the Son of God.

The first reading forms a backdrop for the Gospel! It highlights the resoluteness of Yahweh’s servant in unflinchingly facing up to the suffering that necessarily comes his way as God’s prophet.

But suffering has no place in Peter’s idea of messiahship. He rebukes Jesus, who tells Peter to take his place as a disciple… behind the Master! 

Jesus tells Peter to take up his place as a disciple – behind the Master! The disciple must take up the cross, lose his/her small- fearful-insecure self and follow Jesus. Being a disciple necessarily involves suffering.

Messiahship and discipleship are not only about suffering and the cross. Jesus is convinced that he will be raised on the third day (it indicates something definitive]; he promises his disciples that if they carry their cross and die to their selves, they will find their real life in communion with God.

We are not prospective disciples. We already belong to Jesus, but we need to be clear about his identity and a disciple’s profile. 

Who is Jesus for me? Is he merely a wonder-worker? A healer? 

How do I see discipleship? Do I see it as a taking up of my cross and following Jesus along the Via Dolorosa? Am I willing to accept pain and suffering of any sort, and the grief of life we can do nothing about?

XXIII Sunday of the Year

FACETIME OR “FACE TIME”?

Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

Readings for the XXIII Sunday of the Year

The great paradox of our time is that we live in an age of social communication, but we rarely communicate; we FaceTime with people, but seldom spend “face time” with them. We encounter (or create) several barriers to communication.

 

Jesus faced similar communication barriers in his ministry. 

We are almost mid-way through Mark’s portrayal of Jesus. Throughout his ministry, Jesus has been pleading with people to listen to his word. They do not: the disciples cannot understand his teachings, the crowds want wonders, his own people do not accept him, the religious leaders see him as a threat. Mark presents group after group with its spiritual blocks.

Then, Mark presents a man “who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech.” He wants to but cannot communicate. Jesus takes him aside, away from the crowd, and spends time with him; he communicates with him through touch, a language he could understand. Jesus gives him back his ability to communicate: he can hear and he proclaims about Jesus.

This miracle is more than just a healing story. 

First, there is a parallel between the deaf-mute and Jesus’ disciples. The man could neither hear nor speak; he needed healing. The disciples could not understand Jesus’ message, and therefore could not proclaim it; they, too, needed healing.

Second, the healing indicates that the Messianic age has dawned. It fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah to the exiles, which we heard in the first reading.

What are the communication barriers we face? 

In a communication-filled age, we lack the ability to communicate! We have the faculties and the means to communicate but little communication; we have hundreds of social-network friends but very few real-life friends; we are experts in virtual communication but failures in personal communication and communion.

We need to be healed of our spiritual deafness and spiritual speech impediments. Will I allow the Lord to take me aside from the multitude to touch me? Will I move away from the crowds (of people and gadgets) to spend time with my loved ones, and communicate in a language they understand?

May the Lord touch us and restore our ability to communicate. May we disconnect from the virtual world – at least sometimes – to connect with people and reality around us.