last Sunday's Readings and Reflections

Theme of the Sunday
Faith in God and Faith in ChristSECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
YEAR B
FIRST READING: Isaiah 43:18-19.21-22.24b-25
SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22
GOSPEL: Mark 2:1-12
INTRODUCTIONIt is easy to see why faith is the main theme of the First Reading, though it is more difficult to discover this theme in the Gospel. Abraham needed faith to follow the road God showed him, and so too does the Christian, to follow Christ.
We reach transfiguration by first passing through the way of the Cross and by placing ourselves in God’s hands.
The Second Reading speaks of the foundation of our faith: God’s faithful and unconditional love for us.

FIRST READINGThe first two verses of this reading raise a problem: how can God ask a man to sacrifice his son?
If we want to understand the temptation of Abraham, and the Bible as a whole we must not forget that these events were some four thousand years ago. We must learn how they spoke in those days.
The expression “God spoke to Abraham,” for instance, does not mean that God shouted down from heaven. It was a thought that came into Abraham’s mind, who imagined that God was asking him to sacrifice his son.
But how could any father think of such a thing? In Abraham’s time it was possible, because the practice of offering up one’s son as a burnt offering to a god was quite common. Our God is the God of life, not of death. Idols demanded human sacrifices, not the God of Israel.
The most important teaching of this passage is the faithfulness of Abraham. He had believed God totally, had left his land and his country, had given up the security of his home and the protection that came from his family and tribe (cf. Gn 12:1). He had severed all links with his past because he was sure that God would keep his promise and give him numerous descendants. But why should God ask him to sacrifice Isaac? Abraham must have felt stripped of everything, of his past and his future. He was alone with God. But he kept faith in the love and fidelity of his Lord. Such faith is as worthy of imitation by catechumens at the beginning of Lent. They, too, must give up many things: polygamy, witchcraft, hate, violence, corruption, drunkenness, dishonesty. God promises them, just as he did Abraham: joy, serenity, and interior peace. But then disappointments difficult and painful moments occur and we have the impression that God fails to keep his promises. Let us remember that the God, who demands obedience, is the God who grants blessings without limit.
What happened to Abraham often happens to us too: we see little of the wonders promised by God. How strong is our trust in the Lord then? When things go bad, when disasters happen, do we lose hope or do we keep our faith in God, sure that, in spite of appearances he is always guiding our lives?
The second part of the reading (verses 15-18) proposes once again the promises made to Abraham. God repeats the promises after the test, to give him new courage and yearning to continue his faith-journey.
SECOND READINGHalf way through his letter, Paul, after considering God’s plan for the salvation of all, cries out, If God is for us who can be against us? (Rom 8:31b). He imagines sinners being brought to trial. They are frightened because they know their guilt, but when they reach the place of judgment nobody accuses them and no judges condemn them.
God is the only one who knows how things really stand and he does not accuse them, because he loves them so much. Jesus, on his part, does not condemn either.
Some might say that our sins will testify against us, but this too will be impossible, because Jesus died to destroy the sins of evil people. How then could God accuse and Christ condemn those for whom he died?
This reading shows us how the love of the Father cannot be destroyed by our sins.

GOSPEL

Today we read about the Transfiguration of Jesus. This event comes at an important moment in the life of Jesus. He has taught people and worked miracles for them. The disciples are slowly coming to understand who their master is and Peter has confessed him to be the Messiah. Jesus felt it necessary to warn them that their ideas of who and what the Messiah is may not be accurate. They expected a glorious ruler, but Jesus will suffer, and die and rise again. His followers have to be ready for the same (cf. Mk 8:27-9:1). These are hard words. What was said in words about his dying and rising is now dramatised in the Transfiguration. It is a sign given to us so that we may know that Jesus will be victorious. The disciples need to listen carefully to him and do what he tells them.
The presence of both Moses and Elijah serves to show that with the coming of Jesus all they had taught was fulfilled (Mk 1:15). With Jesus the time of grace, which they foretold, has come: Jesus makes it possible for us to enter a new relationship, a new covenant with God, his Father.
During the season of Lent we could also read something from the writings of such prophets as Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah or Ezekiel in order to be aware of what God is saying to us today. When we welcome these prophesies into our hearts, we will understand how they prepared the way for Jesus. We must listen carefully to God who speaks to us today.
Lent is a time for us to journey with Jesus towards Jerusalem in the company of both the prophets of the Old Testament and those of the present day. They will sometimes challenge our attitudes. Like Peter, James and John on the mountain, we will also feel the temptation to settle down when we experience something of the greatness of God’s love for us through Jesus. But – if we are open to the world around us and to the conscience that God has put in each one of us – a voice will never cease to make itself heard, pushing us to listen to Jesus and to live by his values, whatever the cost.
The Cross was not to be the end of the story!

Theme of the Feast
Jesus and the “Lepers”SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR BFIRST READING: Leviticus 13:1-2.44-46
PSALM 31:1-2.5.11
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
GOSPEL: Mark 1:40-45
INTRODUCTIONJesus came to proclaim the liberation to the poor and the outcasts. One of his first miracles was to cleanse a leper, which brought the leper back into the life of the community. Jesus signals that nobody should be kept out, or excluded from the new family that he had begun. This is the theme of the Gospel.
The First Reading shows us how the Jews regarded lepers.
The Second Reading can be connected to this theme. It tells Christians not to look out only for their own interests, but to seek the good of all.
FIRST READINGLepers were considered impure by ancient people and they were expelled from their communities. Lepers have always been regarded with disgust, to the point that some tribes provided a separate burial place for them. Nobody wanted to be near lepers either in life or in death!
The reading informs us how the people of Israel dealt with leprosy. It was up to the priest to say who had contracted leprosy and to order that one’s separation from the rest of the community (cf. Lv 13:1-2). Anybody showing symptoms of the disease was forbidden to set foot in the village,  was forced to live in caves or woods, was to dress shabbily, and was not to comb their hair so they could be identified as a leper from a distance. If by chance they came across somebody they had to shout, “Unclean, unclean” (cf. Lv 13:44-45). Lepers were considered cursed because of their sins. It was right for people to shun them if even God had punished them.
Israel was convinced that the community should be made up only of people perfect both physically and naturally, so they abandoned the imperfect individuals and alienated them from their society.
The First reading shows us what the Jews thought about leprosy at the time of Jesus. The Gospel describes the healing of a leper.
PSALM: Psalm 31 is one of the seven Penitential Psalms. The poet rejoices because he has confessed his sin and received forgiveness. If leprosy is taken as symbol of sin, then it fits well on the lips of the man cleansed by Jesus in the Gospel.
SECOND READINGThe exclusion of the leper was one way of protecting the community. In 1 Corinthians, Paul offers more positive methods. He has been dealing with the problem of meat sacrificed to idols. The Mosaic Law put great stress on food laws. Paul urges his readers to turn from the latter to the spirit of these laws. Food and drink must not be an end in themselves but a means to God’s glory (Rom 14:17). At the same time, each must be sensitive to the conscience of another. If some could not bring themselves to eat certain foods, they were to be respected. For this reason, Paul declared he would never eat meat (1 Cor 8:13). He does not want his conduct to trip anyone up on their way to salvation. He offered himself as a model of behaviour because he was confident of his role as an apostle, an official representative of Christ (cf. 9:1). Paul, in this reading, also reminds the Corinthians that Christians cannot do all that they have a right to do. Why? Love for others may lead them to renounce some of their rights. If something that is legitimate to do hurts another, it should be avoided.
GOSPELAccording to the law in Leviticus 13, any contagious skin-disease made a person unclean. The unclean person was removed from the community. They had to live apart, wearing distinctive clothes and warn people approaching them that they were unclean. Only after verification by the high priest could they be restored to the community if judged that the disease was no longer contagious.
The leper in the Gospel of today must have experienced this exclusion. Others did not dare to come near him and none dared to touch him. When he comes before Jesus he expresses his deepest desire – to be restored to health. The miracle is possible because the leper has the courage to formulate his desire to Jesus. His desire meets the desire of Jesus for him.
God wants to heal us but he is able to heal us only on condition that his desire for healing becomes our desire. It finds a home and an expression in our own heart. Jesus does not impose healing; he respects our freedom.
Jesus knew that the law forbade a healthy person to touch a leper. He could simply have pronounced one word and he could have cured him, but he did not. Instead he broke the law and touched him as he has touched the mother-in-law of Peter (Mk 1:31). He showed how important physical touch is.
By Jesus’ word and action the man is restored to health. But Jesus wanted the man to be in-integrated into his community. Jesus respects the Jewish law and sends him to the high priest to verify the cure.
Today, in our society, the people who perhaps resemble lepers most are those suffering from AIDS. Often they are abandoned by friends and family. People judge them and condemn them. Our community should imitate Jesus and take care of them, visit them and touch them. By touch we say to one who feels excluded or is actually excluded: “I care for you, you are not dead, you are alive and important to me in spite of your illness.”
Mark says that Jesus heals the leper because he feels a deep compassion for him. This is the first time that we are told that Jesus cured somebody out of pity. These feelings come from the depth of his being and it is the same deep that will lead him to feed the crowds (Mk 6:34; 8:2). Here we see something of Jesus’ human nature. He is not acting as some supernatural being who is unaffected by the physical suffering of others. He takes it in and it works in him at a very deep level. Mark wants his readers to realise that Jesus will have the same pity on sinful and suffering humanity such that he will agree to suffer for us in order to reconcile us with God and each other.
When we deal with people who are suffering, professional efficiency in solving their problems is not enough. When we do not love the person suffering we do not really act as Christians. We may be good professionals but to really help each other emotionally, socially and spiritually, we need to relate to each other with the heart of Jesus. When Jesus is the centre of the healing, we are always moving towards involvement with others helping to bring about harmony and order to those around us.

PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
FRIDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2012
FIRST READING: Malachi 3:1-4
SECOND READING: Hebrews 2:14-18
GOSPEL: Luke 2:22-40
THE TIME OF PURIFICATION HAS COME
Forty days have passed since Christmas and the Church goes back with nostalgia to the great mystery just celebrated. It does so in order to tell us that the Lord, on coming into the world, has brought about our “purification”. We were like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags (Is 64:5). But God did not abandon us.
Impurity, in biblical language, means a state of death. Sin is the most dramatic expression of this impurity, because it contradicts life.
How is God reacting to people’s impurity?
Today’s readings give us the answer: he is not dismayed or angry; he is not disgusted with us nor does he distance himself from us. He comes to us, not to reprimand us, nor to humiliate us nor even to punish us. He becomes one of us and, through his holiness, makes us pure too.
In the First Reading Malachi promises his coming.
The Gospel shows the fulfilment of this promise. The law of Israel states that only the mother must undergo the rite of purification after giving birth, but the Gospel of today speaks of their purification (Lk 2:22). All the Holy Family goes to the temple and even Jesus makes himself impure to accompany us where God will make us pure.
The Second Reading develops this theme. The Son of God has chosen to be one of us and to share our human destiny. This is why he can help us in our trials.

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Theme
Jesus and Suffering HumanityFIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
YEAR B
FIRST READING: Job 7:1-4.6-7
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19.22-23
GOSPEL: Mark 1:29-39
INTRODUCTIONWhen we reflect on the terrible problems some people have, we ask ourselves why it should be like this. In the First Reading Job describes in dramatic terms the situation of humanity on earth.
The Gospel Reading is a reply to the problems of Job. Jesus sees the sad reality of suffering and disease. He takes it on and exhorts his disciples to engage in bringing about the new world that he has just begun.
In the Second Reading we have the example of Paul, a man who did not spare himself in his dedication to his mission, giving up his rights so as not to be an obstacle to the growth of the Kingdom.
FIRST READINGThe book of Job takes up the problem that has always puzzled people: why is there so much suffering in the world? All of us, at some time or another, have asked ourselves why the world is plagued by so many calamities, injustices, wars, diseases. Upright people suffer while wicked people enjoy success, wealth and good health.
According to Job his life is worse than that of a slave or hireling (Jb 7:1b) because these at least can rest at night, while he knows that even night will not bring him relief: upset by pain and sorrow, he will be lying restlessly in his bed awaiting the dawn (cf. Jb 7:4). There seems no hope of change; he is getting old quickly. He concludes I shall not see happiness again (cf. Jb 7:6-8).
Why did God put him in such a desperate position?  Why did he let him be born if he was only going to have pain and misfortune? Job doesn’t suffer in silence; he gives vent to his sorrow before God and asks him to explain to him the reason for his afflictions and calamities. Have we ever found ourselves in a situation like Job’s? When we see the grief of so many victims of calamities, we find it difficult to continue believing.
Christians sometimes attempt to give an explanation: God sends sufferings to those he loves most. The more a person suffers, the more God is pleased with that one. Sorrow purifies, it is a God-sent gift and gains us merits for heaven. It is a punishment for our sins….  Can we go along with any of these answers? Jesus takes up this problem in the Gospel today; he will not come up with theological explanations, he will not bring reasons, but a response.
SECOND READINGThe best service we can do for anybody is bring them the Gospel. The Word of Christ transforms our hearts, gives new meaning to our lives, and imparts joy and peace. Those engaged in pastoral activity are engaged in a very attractive task, but they are not angels, they need to eat. Who should pay for their maintenance?
It is also true, though, that those who benefit from the preaching of the Gospel should help support the evangelisers who, free from material care, should be able to dedicate all their time to their mission. There is a risk, however, that the catechist may become a type of “religious official” only doing his work for his wages, like government officials. They would lose all their credibility. So Jesus tells his apostles, Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give (Mt 10:8).
Paul says that at times the evangeliser must be ready to give up his right to receiving support. Such a stand should be taken when there is the risk that preaching the Word of God may seem to others to be a means to further one’s own material interests.
Paul and Barnabas lived from the work of their hands so as not to be a burden on anyone and donated the rest of their time to the cause of the Kingdom. This reading is an invitation to all people engaged in full time evangelisation to reflect on their lifestyle. They should take care that no one is scandalised by their bad use of money.
What will be the reward for those who, like Paul, give their service to community completely free? Nothing but the joy that comes from giving without receiving! Paul preaches the Gospel not for material gain but from an interior urge. He is so convinced of the greatness of the gift he has received that he feels a great need to share it with others. Would we find ourselves able to be like Paul occasionally?
GOSPELThe Gospel today presents to us a typical day in the life of Jesus. Last Sunday’s Gospel showed us Jesus participating in the liturgical life of the community in the synagogue. Today we see him visiting a home to heal a sick woman and then curing many more people in the town. In the thick of all these activities Jesus withdraws to be alone with God in a quiet place and then moves on to other places to continue the proclamation of the Good News. The two poles of the ministry of Jesus come out in this story: being with people to teach them and to heal them and being with his Father in order to converse with him and get the energy to serve people in the way his Father wants. Action needs prayer and contemplation. Prayer and contemplation leads to action. This is the vocation of all who want to follow Jesus.
By touching Simon’s mother-in-law Jesus breaks one of the social taboos of the time. A man was forbidden to touch a woman in the presence of others. By taking the hand of a woman Jesus shows that the old rules that keep people apart are no longer valid. Wherever God reigns, social and cultural barriers between people are questioned and sometimes even ignored. The mother-in-law of Peter responds to her healing by serving Jesus and his disciples.
When Jesus gives new strength and new life, it is not to be used selfishly but is to be used for the community. Jesus restores people to health physically so that they can also be restored to a fuller relationship with others socially and with God himself religiously. Serving each other joyfully is a way of bearing witness to God’s goodness.
This is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that we are told that Jesus prayed. He will pray again when he blesses the loaves to feed a large crowd (Mk 6:30-46), and after the Last Supper, before his arrest, when he goes off to Gethsemane to pray (Mk 14:32-42). From these three occasions we see that it is especially at very critical moments in his ministry that Jesus takes time to pray. Whenever an important decision has to be taken, Jesus prays in order to know whether he should continue what he is doing or change directions in the way his Father wants. In prayer, Jesus seeks the will of his Father.
In the Gospel today we see Jesus at a moment when he is extremely busy. His popularity is growing. Everybody in town speaks about him. Crowds of people come to seek the healing power of his word and his touch. Jesus is faced with the consequences of a growing popularity… but do all these people come to him with right motives? Do they really want to discover God and respond in faith and love to the Word that he is announcing? Or do they come just because of the healing? Should he stay where he is already known and popular or should he go on to other places to preach the Good News? A time of reflective prayer will help him discover what his Father’s will is. The answer he gives to Simon is the fruit of this time of prayer. Jesus has discerned in prayer that the Father’s will is that he moves on instead of enjoying his popularity.
For those called to the service of God’s kingdom, it is so easy to settle down when people applaud and approve of everything we do. The temptation is strong to continue doing and saying what will win the approval and praise of the people. But a prophet who falls into this trap will no longer have the word that invites people to conversion. Instead of seeking to obey God such a prophet will in the end seek to conform to people’s expectations. Disciples of Jesus must move on and avoid the trap of popular conformity.
Jesus was aware of this. He knows that his mission is not limited to the people of Capernaum but is to the whole world.

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