To hear the Audio Reflections of Friday, March 1, 2019 click HERE
Thursday, 28 February 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019 - Am I faithful to the commitment that I have made in my state of life?
To read the texts click on the texts: Sir 6:5-17; Mk 10:1-12
The school
of Hillel school of Shammai
In Deut 24:1-4 the institution of divorce is taken for granted, and concerns only the procedure to be followed and that after the woman has
married a second time, the first husband cannot remarry her. The Law of divorce
was a concession not a commandment.
The question of the Pharisees is asked by them in order to test
Jesus. This attitude becomes clear when in their response to Jesus’ question
about what the law says on divorce, they seem to know it quite clearly. In his
response to them, Jesus quotes Gen 1:27 and 2:24 as arguments for a permanent
state of unity created by marriage. Jesus goes beyond the Law to
Creation. Divorce according to the law of creation would be like trying to
divide one person into two. Mark’s formula is a near total prohibition of
divorce. Mt 19:9 contains the exception contained in 5:32 – unchastity
(Porneia, Hebrew-Zenût = prostitution) understood in the sense of an incestuous
union due to marriage in their forbidden degrees of kinship (Lev 18:6-18). Such
a union would not be true marriage at all and would not require a divorce but
annulment.
Many
families today are breaking up and there are various reasons why this is
happening. However, it seems that one of the important reasons why marriages
and families break up is because of selfishness. Due to this there is
unwillingness on the part of the members to adjust with each other or the
inability to understand. Each wants to go his/her own way and do his/her own
thing. Concern for the others needs and feelings seem to be on the wane.
Psychologists today are quite convinced that a healthy family background is an
absolute requirement for the healthy growth of a child and a happy child is the
result of a happy family.
Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Thursday, February 28, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Thursday, February 28, 2019 click HERE
Thursday, February, 28, 2019 - Am I a part time Christian? Am I a fair weather Christian?
To read the texts click on the texts: Sir 5:1-8; Mk 9:41-50
This pericope contains a series of sayings against those who
cause scandal and other to sin. Anyone who scandalises or causes someone else
to stumble is a danger to those who believe. Jesus’ language here seems harsh,
but he is not asking individuals to maim parts of their body. Rather he is
using these striking metaphors to drive home powerfully the point he wants to
make, namely: that no one and nothing must be allowed to compromise the
kingdom. The metaphors reflect how important striving for the kingdom is. A disciple
of Jesus must be prepared to forego anything for the sake of the kingdom.
Our
behaviour in public sometimes results in leading others away from God and
Jesus. Those who see our behaviour and know that we are disciples of Jesus are
not inspired to follow him. Christ today is made visible and tangible through
the words and actions of those of us who believe in him and so we have an
enormous responsibility to make him known and draw others to him. People must
be able to see him in us.
Thursday, February 28, 2019 - Sir 5:1-8; Mk 9:41-50
Thursday, February 28, 2019 - Sir 5:1-8; Mk 9:41-50
Tuesday, 26 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Wednesday, February 27, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Wednesday, February 27, 2019 click HERE
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - Sir 4:11-19; Mk 9:38-40
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - Sir 4:11-19; Mk 9:38-40
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - Do I feel threatened by people whom I think are more talented than I am? Will I rest secure in my selfhood? Will I glory in my selfhood?
To read the texts click on the texts: Sir 4:11-19; Mk 9:38-40
John comes to Jesus hoping to be commended for stopping an
exorcist who was using the name of Jesus to exorcise. In his response Jesus
advocates openness and allows anyone who wants to exorcise in his name to be
free to do so. Since the man is using Jesus name, it is clear that he is not
against Jesus and so will not speak ill of Jesus. Since he is not against, he
is for Jesus.
One of the many qualities of Jesus that stood out in his life
and mission was the quality of openness. He was willing to accommodate and
believe even in those whom others had given up on. This is shown in his call of
Levi/Matthew the tax collector, and his reaching out to sinners and outcasts.
In our understanding of Jesus we sometimes do him a disservice when we become too parochial and narrow-minded and imagine that he is the exclusive property of those of us who are baptised. We communicate this attitude to others when we reject their symbols of God and worse treat them as idol worshippers. We are being called through the attitude of Jesus in the text of today to make him available to all with our openness and acceptance of others and of their way of relating to God.
In our understanding of Jesus we sometimes do him a disservice when we become too parochial and narrow-minded and imagine that he is the exclusive property of those of us who are baptised. We communicate this attitude to others when we reject their symbols of God and worse treat them as idol worshippers. We are being called through the attitude of Jesus in the text of today to make him available to all with our openness and acceptance of others and of their way of relating to God.
Monday, 25 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Tuesday, February 26, 2019
If you want to hear the Audio Reflections of Tuesday, February 26, 2019 click HERE
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - The world seems to be saying, “If you are not No. 1, you are NO ONE. Jesus, however, is clear in what he says: If you want to be No. 1, be NO ONE.
To read the texts click on the texts: Sir 2:1-11; Mk 9:30-37
The text of today contains the second Passion, death and
resurrection prediction that Jesus makes on the way to Jerusalem and Jesus’
explanation of his way of life to his disciples after they misunderstand what
his kingdom is all about.
In this second passion and resurrection prediction,
there is a change in the verb from the first where the verb was the passive “be
killed” (8:31) to the active “they will kill him” (9:31)
If after the first passion and resurrection prediction it is
Peter who misunderstands, here, it is the disciples as a whole who misunderstand because "on the way" they are discussing who the
greatest among them is, when Jesus is speaking about service and being the
least.
Before his teaching on what discipleship means, Jesus sits down thereby
assuming the formal position of a teacher. He speaks first of a reversal of
positions and status in the kingdom, and then places before them the example of
a child. In the oriental world of Jesus' time, the child was a non-person, and
so by this example, Jesus drives home the point that they will have to lose
their identity, become non-persons if they want to gain entry into the kingdom.
Authority
as understood in Christianity can never be for domination but is always for
service. Management experts today are advocating more and more the advantages
of using authority for service and leading by example. In this manner the
leader can get more out of the ones he lead than if he/she tries to dominate.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - Sir 2:1-11; Mk 9:30-37
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - Sir 2:1-11; Mk 9:30-37
Sunday, 24 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Monday, February 25, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Monday, February 25, 2019 click HERE
Monday, February 25, 2019 - Is there something that you have been struggling to achieve but have not? Will you pray about it today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Sir 1:1-10; Mk 9:14-29
The text of today deals with an exorcism after Jesus has come
down from the mountain of transfiguration. It is the only exorcism story in the
second half of Mark’s Gospel.
The disciples are engaged in attempting to cast
out a demon, but are unable to cure the boy and the father of the boy pleads
with Jesus for the cure. However, the father's request expresses doubt and lack
of faith. Jesus responds to the father's request by first chiding him for his
lack of faith. The father responds in what may be words that each of us can
connect with, "I believe, help my unbelief." The father of the boy
includes himself in the unbelieving generation whom Jesus has chided, but
insists that even in his unbelief, he believes. Even this inadequate faith is
enough for Jesus to work the miracle. The cure takes place in two stages. After
the command to leave the boy and never enter him again, the demon does come out
but leaves the boy “like a corpse” (9,26). Jesus then takes the boy by the hand
and lifts him up, which seems to be an indirect allusion to the resurrection.
When asked by his disciples why they were not able to cure the
boy, Jesus points out to prayer as the instrument that must be used when we
need something from God. Prayer is to acknowledge one’s dependence on God.
We
sometimes think that we are acting independently and all that we have accomplished
is the result of our own efforts, forgetting that God is always in the
background guiding our way and lighting our path. If we ask for God’s
assistance before we start a task or even become aware of his presence in the
midst of our “doing”, what we do will become more efficacious and even
effective.
Monday, February 25, 2019 - Sir 1:1-10; Mk 9:14-29
Monday, February 25, 2019 - Sir 1:1-10; Mk 9:14-29
Saturday, 23 February 2019
Sunday, February 24, 2019 - Forgive because you have been forgiven.
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Sam 26:2,7-9,12-13,22-23;1 Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38
The readings of today place before us two ways of
proceeding. The one which calls for achieving what one wants through violence,
and the other which calls for a peaceful way of getting what one is entitled
to.
These ways are narrated in the first reading of
today and in the persons of Abishai and David. Abishai knows no other way but
the way of violence to achieve his goal. Though David is aware of this way, he
prefers to choose instead the way of peace and concord. Abishai’s way would
have polarized David’s kingdom. It would have resulted in destroying the very
thing that David hoped to gain. Aware of this David chooses the other way
namely the way which seeks to acquire through peace, friendship and
forgiveness.
This is also the way that Jesus proposes in the
Gospel text of today, when he invites those who are willing to listen to him to
love their enemies and to respond to violence with non violence. As a matter of
fact, Jesus goes even further when he challenges his listeners to bless and
pray for the very ones who are violent towards them.
This challenge is what Paul too places before the
Corinthian community and us in the Second reading of today, when he makes a
comparison between the first Adam and the new Adam. If the first Adam was
limited, the new Adam Jesus Christ is beyond limit. If the first Adam was of
the earth, Jesus Christ is from heaven and if the first Adam was physical and
made from dust, Jesus is spiritual and from above. The challenge then is to be
imitators of the new Adam Jesus Christ.
All too often non violence is seen as cowardice and
weakness, and aggression and violence as courage and strength. However, this is
far from the truth. It is in reality the aggressive and violent who are weak. To
seize by force or violence the objects or goals we desire is often to destroy
the very thing we expect to gain. This is true on the macro canvas of
international disputes and also on the micro canvas of family dynamics. It is
sad, however, that on both these levels the way of Abishai has prevailed and
the majority seems to go that way. One does not need to look further than the
nearest newspaper or Television channel relaying news to see how true this is.
So many try to force their way through various degrees of physical, political,
and emotional violence. We find it difficult to resist the temptation to force
our will on others, to retaliate and even the score. However, as the readings
today point out, there is an alternative way. This is the way of restraint that
David practices. It is the way of forgiveness and non violence advocated by
Jesus.
However, this alternative requires imaginative
discernment of God at work in the midst of our own actions. Qualities of
compassion, righteousness, faithfulness, and trust will appear only when we
give up our own attempts to force the future and instead choose partnership
with God, who constantly gives us our future as a gift and bids us receive it
rather than grasp it.
In our own modern experience, the tendency is to
separate human and divine agency in dealing with the issues of violence and
power. There are those of us, on the one hand, who expect God to make moral
decisions for us or to take the crucial moral actions. We pray for
righteousness, peace, and justice but do nothing to enable it. We treat the
Bible as a prescriptive rule book through which we hope God will direct us. On
the other hand, there are those of us who imagine that human resources and
social action alone are adequate to build the future. We trust only those
possibilities that emerge out of empirical data or rational analysis. We do not
trust that God is also at work.
Thus the challenge before us is to take to heart the
way of peace that David took rather than the way of violence advocated by
Abishai. It is to take the way advocated by Jesus who has shown in and through
the Cross that the way of non-violence and forgiveness is indeed not only the
higher way, but the more practical way. In doing so, we will follow the new
Adam who even in the face of seeming defeat and death has the ability to give
victory and life.
Friday, 22 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Saturday, February 23, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Saturday, February 23, 2019 click HERE
Saturday, February 23, 2019 - If you were on the mountain with Jesus, what would your response to the Transfiguration be? Why?
To read the texts click on the texts: Heb 11:1-7; Mk 9:2-13
The transfiguration is an event, which appears in all the
Synoptic Gospels, but each narrates it differently. In Mark, it follows after
the instructions that Jesus gives to the disciples at Caesarea Philippi and
after six days. The event is a confirmation by God of the fact that Jesus is
indeed Messiah, beloved Son. Most think that the reason for the choice of
Elijah and Moses is that the Jews considered them as being alive in the
presence of God. Jesus is superior even to these figures.
In Mk the order is Elijah and Moses. In Matthew, the order is
Moses and Elijah (so Luke) to emphasize the two personalities of the OT who
received revelation on Mount Sinai (Ex 19:33-34; 1 Kgs 19:9-13) and personify
the Law and the prophets. While in Mt Jesus is the New Moses and Luke
emphasizes the approaching passion, Mark sees in the transfiguration the glorious
manifestation of the hidden Messiah. Briefly the disciples experience the
heavenly quality of Jesus. Jesus is no less Messiah when his Messianic glory is
hidden in the passion, than he is at the Transfiguration.
Elijah was regarded as the prophet who would come before the
Lord (Malachi 3:24-25; 4:5) as his messenger. Jesus’ reply in John suggests
that Elijah has indeed come in John the Baptist is an indication that he is the
Lord.
There are times in our lives when everything goes according to
plan and at those times it is easy to see that God is on our side. However,
when we are faced with trials and when things do not work out, as we want them
to, then the transfiguration is a reminder to us that even when carrying our
cross we are still beloved by God.
Saturday, February 23, 2019 - Heb 11:1-7; Mk 9:2-13
Saturday, February 23, 2019 - Heb 11:1-7; Mk 9:2-13
Thursday, 21 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Friday, February 22, 2019 The Chair of St. Peter
To hear the Audio Reflections of Friday, February 22, 2019 The Chair of St. Peter click HERE
Friday, February 22, 2019 - The Chair of St. Peter - If Jesus were to ask you the question he asked the disciples, what would your response be?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Pet 5:1-4; Mt 16:13-19
The Chair of St. Peter is a feast which celebrates
the Lord’s choice of Peter to be the servant-leader of the Church. The choice
of Peter is indicative of what the Church is. On the one hand Peter was over
zealous, brash, impulsive, spontaneous and ready to die for the Lord, while on
the other he would deny the Lord and run away when trouble arose. The Church as
a whole has been like Peter. Yet, this is whom the Lord chooses and continues
to choose, broken men and women called to heal a broken world.
The Gospel text chosen for the feast is popularly
known as “Peter’s Confession”. The question of Jesus concerning his identity is
not because he wanted to be informed about people’s opinion of him, but to draw
a contrast between people’s answers and the answer of the disciples. Matthew is
the only evangelist who adds Jeremiah to the answers of the people. Some think
that Matthew has done so because of Jeremiah’s association with the fall of
Jerusalem. Others think that Jeremiah is mentioned because of his prophecy of
the new covenant.
After hearing through the disciples what the
people have to say about his identity, Jesus asks the disciples the same
question. The “you” is plural and therefore addressed to all disciples. It is
also emphatic. Simon Peter answers on behalf of the group. Matthew adds “the
Son of the living God” to Mark’s “Christ”. Only in Matthew does Jesus respond
directly to Peter. Peter is not blessed because of a personal achievement, but
because of the gift he received from God. Jesus names Peter as rock, the one
who holds the keys and the one who binds and looses. Rock here stands for
foundation, and though Peter is the foundation, Jesus is the builder. The
holder of keys was one who had authority to teach and the one who binds and
looses is the one who had authority to interpret authoritatively. The reason
for ordering them to tell no one is to reinforce the idea that the community
founded by Jesus is distinct from Israel who rejected Jesus.
The feast of today invites us to reflect on two
aspects in the Church. The first of these is that authority in the Church does
not mean domination but always service. The model of this service is Jesus and
it is him that we must imitate. The second is that even as we are broken
ourselves and sinners, we are called to heal the world. This is because like in
Peter’s case so in ours, it was not his merit that made him the leader of the
Church, it was the grace of God which worked in him despite his sin.
Friday, February 22, 2019 - 1 Pet 5:1-4; Mt 16:13-19
Friday, February 22, 2019 - 1 Pet 5:1-4; Mt 16:13-19
Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Thursday, February 21, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Thursday, February 21, 2019 click HERE
Thursday, February 21, 2019 - When troubles come your way, do you ask God to remove them or do you pray for the strength to face them squarely?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 9:1-13; Mk 8:27-33
The story that forms part of our text for today (8:27-30)
is titled by many as “Peter’s Confession”. The place where Jesus asks his
disciples questions about his identity is termed by Mark as “the villages of
Caesarea Philippi” which Matthew corrects to “the region of Caesarea Philippi”
(Mt 16:13).
The first question of Jesus concerns the opinion of people or the
common opinion. The views expressed are already in 6:14-16, namely: John the
Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets. This obviously is an inadequate
description of who Jesus really is, and this is why the disciples as a group
are asked about Jesus’ identity.
Peter replies on behalf of the group that
Jesus is the Messiah or Christ.
In Mark, we come across yet again the command
to silence after this confession, and concerns not making known that Jesus is
the Messiah. The reason for this seems to be that since the confession is made
before the passion, it will not have taken into account that aspect of the life
of Jesus. This is why immediately after the command to silence Mark has the
first of three passion and resurrection predictions (8:31). For the first time
Mark informs us that Jesus “said all this quite openly” (8:32). On hearing
Jesus speak about his suffering, death and resurrection, Peter who had earlier
confessed that Jesus was Messiah begins to rebuke Jesus. The meaning is that
Peter thinks that Jesus is insane and needs to be exorcised of the demon that
has possessed him. Jesus in turn calls Peter, Satan. This is because in his
confession, Peter had not included the suffering and death of the
Messiah. Jesus will remain obedient to God even if it means laying down
his life in total surrender and no one can come in the way of that obedience.
It is not easy for us to accept that suffering is a part
of life itself and that there will be times when we are tested and tried.
However, as Christians we must also note that suffering can never be the end
and that since God wants only what is good for us we are loved unconditionally
even in our suffering.
Thursday, February 21, 2019 - Gen 9:1-13; Mk 8:27-33
Thursday, February 21, 2019 - Gen 9:1-13; Mk 8:27-33
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Wednesday, February 20, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Wednesday, February 20, 2019 click HERE
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - Have you seen and met the Risen Lord? If no, what is preventing you from doing so?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 8:6-13, 20-22; Mk 8:22-26
The miracle story that is our text for today is the second
of the two miracle stories in Mark in which Jesus uses external methods. The
first was in 7:31-37 in which Jesus cures a deaf man with an impediment in his
speech.
By placing this miracle immediately after Jesus poignant question to
his disciples about their lack of understanding (8:21) and just before Peter’s
Confession of Jesus as the Christ (8:27-30), Mark probably intends to hint to
the reader that the disciples too wall understand. Their blindness will also be
healed. The healing takes place in two stages to probably correspond with the
two answers to the questions of Jesus (8:27-30) about his identity. The first
is the response of the people who say that Jesus is John the Baptist or Elijah
or one of the prophets (8:28) and this seems to correspond to the first stage
in which the blind man can see people but who like trees walking (8:24). The
second is the response of Peter on behalf of the disciples that Jesus is the
Christ (8:30) which seems to correspond to the stage where the blind man can
see everything clearly (8:25). At the end of this episode, Mark leaves his
readers with the question of whether the disciples like the blind man will also
be able see.
Some of us have a tendency to pigeon hole God and put him
in a compartment. This leads to seeing him merely as one who fixes things for
us or one to whom we go only in need. We might fail to see that he is always
there and is much bigger than anything we can ever imagine.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - Gen 8:6-13, 20-22; Mk 8:22-26
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - Gen 8:6-13, 20-22; Mk 8:22-26
Monday, 18 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Tuesday, February 19, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Tuesday, February 19, 2019 click HERE
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - What is the leaven (influence) that is affecting your vision of who Jesus really is? Will you cleanse your heart to see rightly today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5,10; Mk 8:14-21
The text of today contains a dialogue between Jesus and his
disciples and ends the long sequence, which began with Jesus teaching the
crowds from a boat (Mark 4:1-8). This is the third of the three incidents at
sea in which the disciples seem to be at sea in their attempt to discover who
Jesus really. The first was in Mark 4:35-41 when Jesus calms the storm so that
the disciples have to ask, “Who then is this?” the second in Mark 6:45-51 when
Jesus comes walking on the water and Mark comments that “the disciples were
utterly astounded for they had not understood about the loaves for they did not
understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51-52) and
here in the third incident in this section they also fail to understand. (Mark
8:21).
The disciples think that Jesus is rebuking them because they had
forgotten to carry food, when in fact he is rebuking them for their hardness of
heart. When Jesus questions the disciples about the feeding miracles, the focus
of his questions are not on the number of people who were fed (this would be
asked to indicate the magnanimity and abundance of the miracle) neither are
they on the smallness of their resources (which would indicate the stupendous
power of Jesus) but on the breaking and gathering. The disciples know the
answers, but are not able to perceive that Jesus is able to provide anything
his disciples’ need. They are taken up with his power, but do not really understand.
Like
the disciples we tend sometimes to focus on things that are not really
necessary and so lose sight of the bigger picture. We can get caught up in
details and so not see the whole. We might have a narrow view of the world and
so lose sight of the fact that we can find God in all things and all things in
him.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5,10; Mk 8:14-21
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5,10; Mk 8:14-21
Sunday, 17 February 2019
Audio Reflections of Monday, January 18, 2019
To hear the Audio Reflections of Monday, January 18, 2019 click HERE
Monday, February 18, 2019 - What sign are you seeking from the Lord? Will you continue to believe even without this sign?
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 4:1-15, 25; Mk 8:11-13
The text of today appears immediately after the second feeding
miracle in the Gospel of Mark, in which Jesus has fed 4000 people with seven
loaves and a few fish. The Pharisees demand a sign. The sign they demand is
some form of divine authentication. Jesus’ response is to sigh deeply in his
spirit, which could be akin to throwing one’s hands up in despair. He refuses
to perform a sign. This refusal on the part of Jesus could be interpreted as a
sign of Jesus’ rejection of “this generation”. Mark portrays Jesus here as a
prophet announcing God’s judgement against this generation.
There
are times in our lives when everything seems to go awry. Nothing seems to be
going right. At times like these we might keep asking God to give us some sign
that he is on our side and cares for us and we might not receive it. It is
possible that this might lead us to lose faith and to stop believing. We need
to have the courage to believe even without any signs. This is what true faith
means.
Monday, February 18, 2019 - Gen 4:1-15, 25; Mk 8:11-13
Monday, February 18, 2019 - Gen 4:1-15, 25; Mk 8:11-13
Saturday, 16 February 2019
Sunday, February 17, 2019 - Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord!
To read the texts click on the texts: Jer 17:5-8; 1 Cor 15:12,16-20; Lk6:17, 20-26
Is
it logically possible to regard the poor as Blessed? Will common sense allow us
to do so? Is our experience not rather that it is the poor who are despised and
the rich who are blessed? How can we make sense of the beatitudes that Jesus
spoke 2000 years ago, today? Were they true at the time of Jesus? Are they true
today? Will we try to sidestep the issue by interpreting “poor” and “poverty”
spiritually? These are some of the questions that come to mind when we read the
beatitudes of Jesus as narrated by the Gospel of Luke.
The
first and foremost point that must be noted even as we begin to read the
beatitudes is that they make no ethical demands. They do not give exhortation.
They simply and emphatically pronounce a blessing. This is what the beatitudes
really are: A blessing on those to whom they are pronounced. Luke speaks in the
second person and not the third person like Matthew does in his beatitudes. This
has the effect of making the pronouncements more direct, more personal.
The
first beatitude is addressed to the poor (not “the poor in spirit” Mt 5:3).
This is indeed a scandalous statement because it overturns all conventional
expectations and pronounces a blessing on those who are marginalized. They are
promised the kingdom of God by being released from their marginalisation and
oppression. It brings to light that God is making an option for the poor. The
poor are blessed not because they are holier than others, nor even because they
are better than others, but simply because they are poor. The presence of so
many poor in a world in which only a few are rich does not fit in with God’s
plan for creation. It is against the nature of God and against all that God
envisions for the world. The pronouncement of this beatitude is an unambiguous
narration of how God wants things to be. The next two beatitudes concern hunger
and mourning and could be addressed to the same group. The poor because they
are poor are also hungry and weep. They are promised an end of their hunger in
the promise that they will be filled and an end to their weeping and mourning
in the promise that they will laugh. This end is not merely eschatological or
to be hoped for in the next life alone. It is something that is being done here
and now. The fourth and final beatitude in Luke speaks about the disciple who
will be hated, excluded, reviled and defamed. This will be because that
disciple will stand for the truth, justice and integrity. They will be unafraid
of the consequences. They will be hated because they will tell the world how
things must really be and challenge the rich to change. They will be excluded
because it is better not to hear what they have to say and maintain the status
quo. They will be reviled and defamed in the hope that their words will not be
taken seriously. Their credibility will be maligned in the hope that when they
speak the word of truth, their words will not have an effect and sound hollow
to those who hear them. These are called to rejoice in their being reviled and
promised a reward in heaven. They are also given as consolation the example of
those who went through similar trails before them.
The
heaven that is promised to them is not a pie in the sky when they die; rather
it is a situation in which God will ensure that the word spoken will take
effect in the here and now. The best proof of the fact that Jesus’ words were
true and are still relevant today is the person of Jesus. His birth in unusual
and poor circumstances, his life lived without a place to lay his head, his ministry
directed for the most part to the poor and marginalised, his death at the hands
of those who regarded him as threat and so maligned his name and his
resurrection from the dead are proof if proof is indeed required. The challenge
is to believe them and continue to speak those words.
This
is indeed the proof that Paul speaks about in the second reading of today when
he challenges the community at Corinth to believe these words. Christ not only
preached them but lived them out in every detail in his life. He dared his
contemporaries to live such a life even if it meant that it was not always
possible to see the results immediately and in the manner in which one would
have liked to. Thus even when he hung on the Cross and it seemed that truth,
justice and selflessness were defeated they were in fact victorious.
A
vibrant Christian community which proclaims the same message and uses the same
challenging idiom, witness to the truth of the beatitudes. Even as it does
this, it does not forget that contrasting each of the four beatitudes, there
are four woes. The first woe is addressed to the rich who have received their
consolation already and so can expect nothing more. Those who have had their
fill now are told that they will go hungry and those who laugh now will weep.
Those of whom people speak well are compared to the false prophets. These are
people who because they are satisfied with the superficial and temporary will
be like the tree that
Jeremiah speaks about in the first reading of today. They are like a piece of
dry shrub in the desert which bears no fruit. They do not have any source of
nourishment or depth and soon dry up. The shallow life of materialism that they
lead and their desire to accumulate binds them to such a degree that they keep
looking for happiness and the kingdom and it always eludes them. One cannot be
this kind of person and continue to be a disciple of Jesus. Rather, a disciple
of Jesus is like the tree planted beside a stream. It sinks its roots deeply
and becomes richly fertile and productive. It has depth and so is unafraid of
the assaults of the elements. It is always fresh, even in the most difficult
and trying times and lives without fear and anxiety.
Thus the readings
of today issue a call to each of us not only to hear the words but to live them
out as courageously and with the same trust and confidence that Jesus did.
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