4th Sunday B

 

4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

 

Readings:Deuteronomy18:15-20                                                                 

1 Corinthians 7:32-35     Mark 1:21-28

 

“What does this mean?  A completely new teaching in a spirit of authority!  He gives orders to unclean spirits and they obey him!”  This reaction to Jesus’ first miracle in Mark presents us with the mystery, authority and power of the kingdom of God as it is manifest in Jesus.  In our cynical age, distrustful of political and even religious authorities, we strive to be open to the authoritative power of Jesus’ healing word.  Let us be attentive to the words of today’s responsorial psalm: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95).

The Deuteronomy reading expresses Israel’s hopes for the continued presence of God’s authoritative word in the person of a prophetic successor to Moses.  According to the account of the Lord’s appearance and giving of the covenant on Mount Horeb in Deuteronomy 5, the Israelites were frightened that they might die because they had heard the direct voice of the Lord and seen his glory in the great fire on the mountain (see Deut 5:1-5,22-27).   In response to their reverential fear, the Lord establishes Moses as the mediator of his covenant demands (Deut 5:28-31).  In our reading, Moses announces that his office will be continued after his death by a prophet who will speak God’s words to succeeding generations.  In later Judaism this prophetic figure came to be understood as the Lord’s final, eschatological messenger who would arise on the great day of the Lord to initiate the process of purifying Israel (see Mal 3:1-5,22-24).  In Mark’s Gospel John the Baptist begins to fulfill this role (Mark 1:2-8), and Jesus’ powerful ministry of teaching and healing brings it to completion.

In the seconding reading from First Corinthians, Paul continues his eschatological exhortations to both unmarried and married men and women.  His advice is very even handed. Paul wants both groups “to be free of anxieties” by trusting completely in God and the risen Christ.  The unmarried should not be “anxious about the things of the Lord” and how they “may please the Lord” or “be holy in body and spirit.” Likewise, the married should not be “anxious about the things of world” and how they “may please” their wives or husbands.  Both groups must learn to serve “the Lord without distraction.”

In the Gospel Mark, after recounting Jesus initial proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the call of the first disciples at the Sea of Galilee, has him immediately take his mission into the physical and temporal center of the established religious order and assert his authority over the demonic forces that have entered there.  Jesus and his disciples come to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he enters the synagogue and teaches.  The people are astonished at the authority of his teaching because it is “not like the scribes,” the traditional authorities in the synagogue.  Then, in the midst of the synagogue, Jesus encounters the demonic powers of an unclean spirit which had possessed a man.  In Mark’s Gospel Jesus’ ministry is presented as a titanic battle against the evil forces of Satan.  It began with his struggle with Satan in the desert (Mark 1:12-12), and now in his first public teaching in the synagogue he again encounters Satan’s forces.  With calm, authoritative power, Jesus rebukes the demons in the possessed man by simply commanding: “Quiet!  Come out of him!”

An important theme throughout Mark is the mystery of Jesus’ identity.  In today’s Gospel the supernatural demonic forces immediately recognize Jesus as their mortal enemy; they shriek: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”  In contrast, the crowds who witness Jesus’ exorcism are amazed, but are not able to fully comprehend his significance.  “All were amazed and asked one another, ‘What is this?  A new teaching with authority.  He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.’” We, as Mark’s readers, are challenged to go beyond the crowds by accepting and following the authoritative Jesus, “the Holy One of God,” who attacks and defeats the demonic powers of evil, even in the bastions of religious and political privilege.

3rd Sunday B

 

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

 Jonah 3:1-5,10  1 

Corinthians7:29-31                              

Mark 1:14-20                         

“This is the time of fulfillment.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel!”  Jesus’ first spoken words in Mark both proclaim the long-awaited arrival of God’s Kingdom and challenge all to repent and believe in this joyous good news.  As we struggle to discern God’s demanding call, each of us can pray in the words of the responsorial psalm: “Teach me your ways, O Lord” (Ps 25).

To understand the startling message of the first reading from Jonah, we must know something about this peculiar Biblical book.  It is a didactic short story (only four chapters), written as a challenge to the stereotypes of the Israelite prophetic tradition on the basis of God’s merciful action even to the hated foreign enemy.  Usually a prophet, however reluctantly, responds to his call, but invariably the chosen peoples of Israel and Judah refuse to listen to the prophet’s message.  But in the story of Jonah this situation is reversed.  When called to preach against the wicked and hated Assyrian city of Nineveh, Jonah flees by ship in the opposite direction.  Only after being cast into the sea and spending three days in the belly of a great fish, does he reluctantly perform his task.  In contrast to the reluctant prophet, the pagan Ninevites surprisingly respond to Jonah’s preaching with belief and immediate repentance, something both Israel and Judah repeatedly fail to do.  Although it took three days to go through Nineveh, after a single day of Jonah’s preaching the whole city repents in sack-cloth and ashes, and God relents in the punishment he threatened against it.

In the section following our reading, Jonah is angry with the Lord for showing mercy to the hated enemy city.  He leaves Nineveh and waits to see what will happen to it.  God challenges his blind hatred through the lesson of a gourd plant which he gives as shade to Jonah for only a single day.  When the plant dies, Jonah is angry and asks for death himself.  But God reminds him: “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished.  And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention many cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11)                                                          

Upon first hearing, the second reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians seems out of step with a Christian commitment to responsible living in this world.  Filled with expectation of Jesus’ triumphant return, Paul seems to advocate ignoring our normal human obligations.  Although Paul’s rhetoric may jar our more practical sensibilities, he is emphasizing the radical demands of Christian living which must never completely identify worldly projects with God’s Kingdom.  Paul lived with an apocalyptic sense of urgency.  Jesus, the Messiah, had come and triumphed over sin and death through his cross and resurrection.  God’s renewal of the world has begun, and then Christ will return in triumph to complete the new creation.  Christians, living in the interim before Christ’s triumphant return, should live for the renewed kingdom of God, rather than this passing sinful world. “From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.”

The Gospel selection from Mark contrasts the momentous arrival of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ initial preaching with the rather humble beginnings of that kingdom in the call of four Galilean fishermen.  Mark has prepared us for this critical moment by his previous narrative.  John’s appearance in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy announcing the coming of God’s messenger (Mark 1:2-5).  John then foretold the coming of a “mightier one,” and Jesus came to be baptized.  At Jesus’ baptism the heavens were rent and God’s Spirit descended upon him, as a heavenly voice spoke to him: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (1:6-11).  The Spirit then drove Jesus into the wilderness to battle Satan with prayer and fasting for forty days and nights (1:12-13).  Now, as Jesus begins his mission, he proclaims God’s good news: “This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  We might well expect that the world is about to end.  Instead, Mark follows this announcement with Jesus’ calling ordinary fishermen to accompany him on his mission of gathering people for the kingdom, like fisherman catching fish (see Jeremiah 16:16).

This simple, straightforward story, however, presents the radical character of Christian discipleship. First of all, Jesus reverses the practices of discipleship in his day.  Ordinarily, the would-be scholar, interested in studying the Law, chose a rabbi as his teacher.  In contrast, Jesus takes the initiative in choosing his own followers by authoritatively commanding these ordinary workmen: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Secondly, Jesus’ call demands a break from “business as usual” so that Simon and Andrew “immediately abandon their nets” and become Jesus’ followers.  James and John also leave their father Zebedee and go off in Jesus’ company.  The arrival of God’s Kingdom in Jesus turns the world upside down and calls for a radical re-ordering of his followers’ lives.

2nd Sunday B

 

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

 

Readings: 1 Samuel 3:3-10,19  1 Corinthians 6:13-15  John 1:35-42

 

As the Church begins a short period of Ordinary Time between the end of the Christmas season and Lent, the Lectionary presents us with the mystery of God’s call, often mediated by others, but always leading to a personal encounter with the living God, who invites us in the words of Jesus: “Come and see.”  Our response should be the refrain for today’s responsorial psalm: “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will” (Ps 40).

In the first reading Samuel’s call occurs in a time of darkness for Israel but results in the restoration of the light of God’s revelation.  At the end of the period of judges, the tribes of Israel had fallen into religious, moral and political-social chaos (see Judges 17-21).  Even the priestly family of Eli, which had charge of the ark at the Shiloh sanctuary, was corrupted by greed for sacrificial offerings and sexual immorality (see 1 Samuel 1-2).  In the opening lines of 1 Samuel 3 Eli’s physical blindness and sleep accentuate Israel’s deepening darkness.  Yet the lamp of God is not fully extinguished, as the young Samuel has been brought by Hannah, his pious mother, to serve in the temple of the Lord. “During the time young Samuel was minister to the Lord under Eli, a revelation of the Lord was uncommon and a vision infrequent. One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.” No wonder neither Samuel nor Eli initially understand that the Lord is calling the young boy.  Once Eli realizes that the Lord is beginning to speak again through Samuel, he instructs the youth to make himself open to the revelation with the words: “Speak, for you servant is listening.”  This generous response leads to the restoration of God’s word to Israel.  The reading concludes: “Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.”

During this early section of Ordinary Time in all three cycles of the Lectionary, the Church reads from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.  In chapters 5-6 Paul is answering ethical problems that have divided the Corinthian community.   Many stem from irresponsible misinterpretations of Paul’s earlier preaching.  Some members were evidently justifying their behavior by saying, “All things are lawful to me . . .” (6:12).  This slogan may have been based on Paul’s own preaching that Christian faith had superseded the Mosaic law and its demands.  But Paul responds by insisting that “not all things are helpful” and that the Christian is not be a slave to a sinful life of immorality (6:12-13).                                                                                   

            The Gospel reading is John’s version of the disciples’ call.  In John’s theology, God’s call is often mediated by the testimony of another.  In this case, Andrew becomes Jesus’ disciple on the basis of John the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus is “the lamb of God.”  He in turn joyfully proclaims to his brother, Simon Peter: “we have found the Messiah!”  Human testimony is to lead would-be-believers to Jesus, who then addresses them personally and invites them to eternal life through full belief in him.  When Andrew begins to follow Jesus, the master turns and says, “What are you looking for,” Andrew already understands that Jesus is a teacher and therefore says, “Rabbi, where do you stay?”  In John’s Gospel the verb menein, “stay, live, abide,” is also used in various Christological passages to speak of the Son’s abiding in the Father (see the farewell discourse chs. 13-17).  When Jesus answers Andrew’s question with the words, “Come and see, he is inviting him into the loving relationship shared by the Father, Son, and Spirit (see 15:1-17).

            Jesus’ dialogue with Simon Peter gives him the special title “Cephas,” “Peter” (Rock).  At the end of the Gospel, the resurrected Jesus will commission Peter, the rock and shepherd, to feed his flock (21:15-17).  Peter will then learn that following Jesus, the one who will lay down his life for the life of the world, will also lead where he “does not want to go”: to his own heroic martyrdom , in imitation of his master:“Amen, amen I say to you, when your were younger, you used to dress yourself as you wanted; but when you have grown old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” (21:18-19)

Baptism of the Lord B

 

Baptism of the Lord B

 

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7  Acts 10:34-38  Mark 1:7-11

 

The Baptism of the Lord marks a transition between the Christmas season, celebrating the mystery of the incarnation, and the beginning of Ordinary Time, commemorating Jesus’ public actions and teachings as recorded in the various gospels.  Today’s feast presents Jesus as God’s unique Son and servant who has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to bring the saving “good news of peace” to the children of Israel and the nations of the world.  In the words of the responsorial psalm, we pray: “The Lord will bless his people with peace” (Ps 29).

In the reading from Isaiah, Israel’s vocation as the Lord’s humble “servant” is to bring forth justice to the nations.  In contrast to the grandiose political expectations of earlier prophets, Second Isaiah, living in exile in Babylon, sees Israel fulfilling its task through a gentle mission. “Here is my servant whom I uphold,/ my chosen one with whom I am pleased,/ upon whom I have put my spirit;/ he shall bring forth justice to the nations,/ not crying out, not shouting/ not making his voice heard in the street./ a bruised reed he shall not break,/ and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,/ until he establishes justice on the earth;/ the coastlands wait for his teaching.”  No longer can the exiles consider their destiny in narrow nationalistic terms.  They must now understand themselves “as a covenant of the people,/ a light for the nations.”  We Christians believe Jesus, the crucified Messiah, is the ultimate fulfillment of this gentle servant figure, “a light for the nations.”

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter’s sermon at Cornelius’ baptism also highlights the universalism implicit in Jesus’ ministry from its beginning in John’s baptism when he was anointed with “the Holy Spirit and power.”  Cornelius is the first Gentile convert to Christianity in Acts; he was a devout Roman centurion who was already praying to the God of the Jews and giving alms to them (Acts 10:1-8).  As always in Luke-Acts, the initiative for this important new step in the spread of the gospel comes from God.  In a vision an angel tells Cornelius: “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send some men to Joppa and summon one Simon who is called Peter” (Acts 10:4).  In the meantime Peter also learns through a vision that God has overridden the Jewish dietary laws by declaring all foods clean, so that he goes with Cornelius’ emissaries when they invite him (Acts 10:17-29).  When Peter hears of Cornelius’ vision, he affirms all that God has done by beginning his sermon with the words: “I begin to see how true it is that God shows no partiality.  Rather, the man of any nation who fears God and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34).

Although Mark’s baptism scene is very brief, it is filled with theological significance.  John’s preaching prepares us for a powerful figure who will bring the very Spirit of God. “One more powerful that I is to come after me.  I am not fit to stoop and untie his sandal straps.  I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  This announcement will be fulfilled in the numerous and powerful healing miracles and exorcisms Jesus works in the gospel’s opening chapters.  But in Mark there is also an element of secrecy and mystery about Jesus which the human characters in the gospel are not able to fully grasp.  Mark sets up his theme of secrecy by making the baptism a moment of private revelation to Jesus.  He alone sees the special signs and hears the heavenly voice.  The renting of the heavens and the descent of the Spirit like a dove indicate that this is the beginning of God’s long awaited sending of his re-creative Spirit into the world.  God’s voice speaks in the second person to Jesus alone: “You are my beloved Son.  On you my favor rests.”  The significance of these words will be unveiled in the course of the liturgical year as we follow Mark’s story of Jesus, the Christ and Son of God, through Galilee, to Jerusalem, the cross and beyond.