What can we make of it from the liturgical readings of this Sunday? We have a very prominent theme in our Christian existence, that is, love which, is making itself present today. Our life has very little sense if we are not ready to contemplate, meditate and practice this Christian love which, the New Testament often speaks about. In love, the Christian expression of sacrifice finds its comprehensive meaning and truth.
1. Loving completely and wholeheartedly
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31). These words of Jesus to the scribe put all the controversies, moreover, the trapping questions to an end. Because the scribe recognizes Jesus as good and in turn, Jesus appreciates the scribe saying “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34).
What would you expect from a healer? Of course, healing! And this is exactly what we look for when we suffer from terrible chronic illness or birth deformity. The only thing that we want when we are sick is just the healing or getting over it. Every person in this world wants to spend his or her time in good health. In fact, health determines our destiny, our present and future.
1. Sight is the answer to blindness
The gospel reading of today (Mark 10:46–52) is full of promise, hope and deliverance. The poor beggar has been blind for long, probably from his birth. He might not have understood what colour is or what beauty means to his eyes. He might not have experienced the charm of a rose or might not have understood what a mountain is all about. Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus is looking for sight and waiting for his eyes to be opened. He was lost in the world because of his blindness. Not only he was blind, but even the world had blinded him. In other words, he had no place in society. He found comfort only at a street corner. In fact, streets had become his home. He was not considered a contributor to society's progress. In fact, he was marginalized in every sense of the word. That is why those words from the crowd are so stern and cruel: "And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent" (Mark 10:48). People even disliked his voice. That is why there is so much antipathy here.
The desire of every human person is to be somebody or someone in society. In pursuit of such desires, we are ready to undertake any means. Sometimes such means may be disliked by others. However, the desire to seek divine intervention through physical sacrifices is accepted by all. Recently I visited the Gunadala Matha Shrine in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh - India) while I preached a retreat to the Oblate Sisters of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (Luigine). I saw a young mother with two of her children making their way by kneeling-walk on that hot sand to the Gunadala Matha Church. In order to satisfy the diety, the simple faith of our people can take up very hard physical sacrifices in contrast to what the Gospel reading of today speaks about the power struggle of James and John.
1. Being a follower of Jesus means becoming a person of indifference
The reply of Jesus to James and John, the sons of Zebedee is astonishing. Jesus says "but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:43-44). To reach the greater heights there are no shortcuts but only long and tough routes. Jesus cautions his disciples that to be the greatest of all one has to dirty his or her hands. In other words, one has to get down doing things that many people may not take notice of them, or may not appreciate or recognize at all. Being a slave or servant means one must be ready to shed one's freedom, one's selfishness, one's ego, one's honour or even prestige. Such a state of life is not easy and almost impossible for us in the materialistic world in which we live today.
As rational human beings, we look for something that is beyond us. Our capacity to imagine helps us to transcend physical and spatial constraints. That is why we can think about heaven, eternity, hell and such other things. Even though none of the human beings had the possibility to see these things and record their memories as real, yet we believe because of our reasoning as well as spiritual yearning towards God.
1. Every call presupposes challenges
The liturgical readings of this Sunday encourage us to look at the heavenly realities in a little closer way. The question of a young man to Jesus "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mk 10:17) is a result of the very notion that there is something beyond the earthly life. Interestingly, everyone recognizes this fact including the rich young man that only a good man or woman will enter eternity and will see God face to face.
We live in a web of social relationships. What the life of a person is if he or she does not have any relationship with others? Human life without contact with others is impossible on earth. So long as we are born out of the love of our parents, we cannot run away from the relationships. The feasts of St Vincent de Paul, Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, St Jerome and St Therese of the Child Jesus whose feasts we celebrated this week tell us that each one of them cherished a loving relationship with God. The constant presence and companionship they experienced is a sign for us that God continues to love us. This is what the liturgical readings of today are trying to tell us.
1. Companionship of the other is the companionship of the Lord
The early chapters of the book of Genesis are full of God's mercy and compassion. The creation narratives of the book of Genesis are filled with the warmth and affection of God. God sees the life Adam, now a single person boring and uninteresting and puts him into the company of a woman, Eve in order to enrich each other's life. Understanding this fact itself is a mystical experience. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). God knows the needs of his people, of his creation. In order to make that creation happy and joyful, God does not leave humanity all alone instead God accompanies it. The companionship of God is open and all-embracing. God saw the need of Adam. In the company of Eve Adam felt at home. In other words, God's very creative act in itself says that God wanted to share His companionship with humanity in a very unique way.
The world is suffering and humanity is struggling. Often the wars are not fought on the battlefields but in one's heart and in one's consciousness. The more one goes into conquering that does not belong to him or her, the more jealousy or envy begins to enter into one's heart. The disease of fragmentation causes humanity to be fragmented more and more. All of us are in some way or the other part of this illness. We live in disunity within ourselves because of our ills, failures and inadequacies. Envy and jealousy seem to be deep-rooted in us in spite of our ever readiness to enter into a spiritual realm of prayer, liturgy, meditation and even contemplation. The Bible is full of stories of envy and jealousy. For example, Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers, David and Saul and so on. The list is endless. World literature narrates to us major tragedies caused due to jealousy and envy.
1. Jealousy is not the answer for our climbing!
The liturgical readings for this Sunday point exactly to this fragmentation which the world suffers from. In other words, humanity is struggling with. In the book of Numbers (11:25–29) we read a young man's soul was disturbed when he saw the two stray men, one named Eldad and the other Medad began prophesying but did not belong to the camp of Moses. In the Old Testament, there were many prophets at a time. Sometimes, in groups people prophesized. The answer of Moses is startling. Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, "Moses, my lord, stop them." But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake?" (Nm 11:25-29). Jealousy seems to have ripped apart the camp of Moses. But Moses looks at the will of God and says: "Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!" (Nm 11:25-29). Moses is so generous and gentle towards others. He wants the Spirit of the Lord to come down upon everyone. Thus they may prophesy. Others too have a place in Lord's vineyard. If Moses had listened to his people he would have denied the rightful place of Eldad and Medad as God's creation. In fact, they were saved from jealousy of Joshua.
Liturgically this week has been a very rich one. We celebrated the feasts of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and then Our Lady of Sorrows and not to mention the feasts of the saints like John Chrysostom, Pope Cornelius, Bishop Cyprian, Bishop Robert Bellarmine and Hildegard of Bingen. Many religious congregations both male and female bear the name of Holy Cross or Our Lady. The utter devotion to the Holy Cross says it us all. Without the Cross, there is no salvation, and without Our Lady, we don't see the way to that salvation. Because in Mary, God becomes human.
In a world of too many ideologies, gurus and philosophies, it is quite difficult to find the right one that suits us. This arduous task can be fulfilled only when we have experienced something eternal and lasting in that ideology or philosophy or guru. Even though choosing the right thing that satisfies our interest, way of being and going about is a challenge yet we can follow a path that has fullness, holiness and eternity. However, it is a lifetime’s task to come to understand these truths about our identities, and to live them out daily and to the end. The liturgical readings of this Sunday invite us to respond to God’s saving grace that we can renounce the limitations of our old self, our former identity, and be transformed into a new creation.
1. Recognition confirms the ground reality
In today's Gospel, Mark 8:27-35 Jesus is posing a very important but personal question to his disciples: “'But you', Jesus asked ‘who do you say I am?'” (Mark 8:35). The answers are varied. Even though only the response of Peter is recorded here, one thing is certain in the life of the disciples. They all have one voice regarding Peter's confession. They acknowledge who Jesus is. Almost as a spokesperson of the group of disciples, Peter makes Jesus happy with the right answer.
The liturgical readings for this Sunday are aptly summarized in the responsorial psalm that we read today: "The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord" (Psalm 15:2–5). Moses, St James the Apostle and Jesus call each one of us to understand the purpose of our life that is "to live in the presence of the Lord." A person will not be able to live in the presence of the Lord if he or she is not ready to live according to the precepts or commandments of the Lord. We live in a world by following certain values and norms, morals and ethics, precepts and etiquettes. Being rational, intelligent, social and spiritual beings we follow a certain discipline and a pattern of lifestyle. This is what makes us different from the animal world. We shall reflect on these aspects in the following.
1. Hearing the Word of God
Quoting Prophet Isaiah, Jesus says: "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Mark 7:6, Isaiah 29:13). While being at the service of people, Jesus found evil in the hearts and minds of those who benefited from his healing, preaching and teaching ministry. People lost themselves especially the Pharisees and scribes in the externals, outward rituals, and those things which matter very little to live in the presence of God. They turned the law inside out, making it a matter of simply performing certain external actions. By being oneself overwhelmed or engrossed with the ritual and external practices, the people could neither hear the Word of God nor act on it. They are lost in the things and ways of this world.
