“Mary the Mother of God,” or Theotokos

On October 11th, 2012, then Pope Benedict XVI, declared that Church would celebrate a Year of Faith (Porta Fidei 4). Why did he choose this date?

October 11th celebrates two great anniversaries. Fifty years prior to this, October 11th, 1962 was the date of the opening of Second Vatican Council by Blessed Pope John XXIII. This same date October 11th, was chosen by St. John Paul II in 1992, to promulgate the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Celebrating two great anniversaries is important but one might still be curious why Blessed John XXIII and the Fathers of the Council chose the date October 11th in the first place? One of the reforms of Second Vatican Council was to make changes to the Universal Calendar of the Saints. The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God was originally celebrated on Oct 11th in the old Calendar which was in effect in 1962, at the opening of the Council. Clearly the Fathers of the Council wanted to place the work of the council under the patronage of Our Lady. This is certainly the short answer to my question.

The title of “Mary the Mother of God,” or Theotokos, was defined at the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. This council was called by the Emperor Theodosius II to settle a disagreement which had arisen regarding the teachings of Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, and the certain other bishops in Church regarding the appropriateness of the title Mary, Mother of God. Modern historians dispute the extent to which Nestorius actually believed false notions or whether he simply misspoke in the heat of debate. Clearly he was thought to have believed that there are two persons in the incarnate Jesus Christ. According to Nestorius, Mary can only be thought of as the Mother of the human person Christ or the Christotokos and not of the person of God or the Theotokos. The Church ultimately recognized that the proper understanding of the union of God and man in Jesus Christ was that of two natures in one person. Since Mary gave birth to a person she is rightly called the Mother of God. As the Catechism reminds us;

Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord". In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). (CCC 495).

Though the Council of Ephesus was filled with contention and ambitious plots by many characters, Nestorius was legitimately deposed by some 200 bishops and failed to recant. He had previously been condemned and ordered to recant by Pope Celestine and a Roman Synod. Perhaps Nestorius’ biggest fault was his lack of humility. Ultimately his failure to recant made him a heretic. The council was subjected to even more political intrigue when the principal council fathers, Cyril of Alexandria and Bishop Memnon of Ephesus were held under house arrest in Ephesus by the Emperor. Eventually late in October in 431, the Emperor sided with Cyril and declared the council at an end and its judgments valid. It seems that the date of October 11th celebrates the release of St. Cyril of Alexander from arrest and the close of this Ecumenical Council which declared Mary to be the Mother of God.

Nestorius’ preaching involved sophisticated and nuanced arguments about the meanings of certain words found in Sacred Scripture. The local populace in both Constantinople and Ephesus held to Marian piety with great devotion and rejected Nestorius’ anti-Marian interpretations. St. Cyril tells us that during the first session of the council in the city of Ephesus,

The entire populace of the city remained from dawn until evening awaiting the judgment of the holy council. As they heard that the wretched man was deposed everyone with one voice began to praise the holy council and to glorify God because the enemy of the faith had fallen. But as we came out of the church, they preceded us with torches as far as the inn, for the evening was near; and there was much joy and lighting of lights in the city, so that even women carrying censers led the way for us. (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Letter 24)

This popular celebration of Marian piety was reenacted at the opening of Second Vatican Council, when on the eve of October 11 St. Peter’s Square was filled with a torch light procession. Commenting in September of 1962 on plans for the October 11th opening of Vatican II Rome correspondent Desmond Fisher reported;

That night [October 11th] the faithful of Rome plan to hold a torchlight procession to honour the Council Fathers and the Pope and to express their joy at having the Council in their city. The demonstration recalls the Council of Ephesus in 431 when the faithful of the city demonstrated in a similar manner.” (Catholic Herald, 28th September, 1962)

The torch light procession was orchestrated by Catholic Action and ended in St. Peter’s square. Blessed Pope John XXIII was greatly moved by the event and gave his famous impromptu speech (Discorso della Luna) in which he said said: Tornando a casa, troverete i bambini. Date una carezza ai vostri bambini e dite: questa è la carezza del Papa. It means, "When you go home, you’ll find your children. Give them a kiss, and tell them that this kiss comes from the pope." 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

The Visitation

Today’s Gospel highlights one of the great mysteries of Christ’s life, which we call the Visitation. Most of us are familiar with this story because of the rosary. This event celebrates Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45), but the catechism reminds us,​“Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth . . . ​​became a visit from God to his people” (CCC 717).​

Why is this so? Our text says, “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy” The Catechism notes that “John was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” [Lk 1:15, 41] by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit​ (CCC 717).

​Luke tells us he has based his Gospel on eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:2). Furthermore, according to our text the Holy Spirit inspired the words spoken. Luke writes, “Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice.” Finally, the very nature of discipleship implies that Jesus passed on his teaching to his inner circle of followers who would succeed him in leadership and in turn pass on his teachings to their disciples. Catholics have never believed in "the Bible alone," because the Bible can only be understood, in the light of the discipleship of Jesus’ successors. In fact, the Church existed before the Bible and created the Bible.

As Paul said to his disciple Timothy, “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:2).

​Over​ ​time​,​ and after much reflection​,​ the Church has handed down, ​​four great truths about Mary

1. The ​Perpetual Virginity of Mary
2. Mary the ​Mother of God
3. The ​Immaculate Conception
4. Mary’s Assumption into Heaven

These are not four opinion​al beliefs for Catholics. We cannot order these truths like lattes in tall, grande or venti cups, with your choice of milk. The church has defined these four doctrines at the highest level of truth.

​Regarding Mary’s perpetual virginity, we believe that she was a virgin, before, during and after the birth of Jesus, or perpetually. ​We do not have time to unpack all the details of this here. [More here and here] Earlier in this chapter, Mary responds to the Angel Gabriel who announces her pregnancy, saying,​​ ​“How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” (Lk 1:34). At a bare minimum, this affirms Mary’s virginity, but the unusual Greek may imply she intends to stay a virgin. This is of course a point that Protestant scholars are quick to deny.

Mary was pondering what sort of meaning the Angel Gabriel’s words might have (1:29). Earlier in verse 28, Mary learns that she is full of grace, yet to unpack this we need to understand that the Greek means the one already having been transformed by grace in the past.

God has already prepared her through his grace and made her holy, so that she can become the Mother of our Lord. The formal doctrine of the Immaculate Conception teaches that God preserved Mary from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. This teaching is really just an elaboration on the meaning of this verse​ (Luke 1:28)​ and it explains why there might be something more to Mary’s virginity.

The conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb will occur when the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High overshadows Mary (1:35). The same word overshadow (episkiasei) was used to refer to the Shekinah cloud, manifesting God’s presence, that rested on the tabernacle in Exodus and numbers. (Exodus 40:34–35; Numbers 9:18; 10:34). The tabernacle was the holiest place, and the place where God would literally dwell among his people.

Turning to our reading today, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit calls Mary, “the mother of my Lord.”

Mary will be the mother of Jesus who we understand to be the Christ and the Son of God. One seemingly clever bishop in the fifth century named Nestorius, suggested Mary is the Mother of the human person Christ, but not of the person of God. He thought we should call Mary the mother of Christ and not the Mother of God. Eventually the Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius. As it turns out, you cannot give birth to a nature but only to a person. Since Christ has two natures in one person, it is appropriate to call Mary the Mother of God. [More on the title of “Mary the Mother of God,” or Theotokos]​​

​​It is very likely that Elizabeth is recognizing that Mary is the mother of the Messiah or king. Elizabeth’s greeting is, therefore,​ giving Mary the title of Queen mother. Again, as I pointed out already, Elizabeth is ​speaking by the Holy Spirit. The idea of a queen mother is not very familiar to most of us.

In ancient Israel, it was not the king’s wife, but the king’s mother who reigned as queen. Most kings in this period had large harems of wives. King Solomon, perhaps the most egregious example, had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3).

It would have been impossible to bestow the title ‘queen’ on 1,000 women! On the other hand, since each king had only one mother. The king's mother was considered the ‘queen’ or ‘queen mother’.

Elizabeth’s greeting acknowledges this. “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:42–43).

Since Mary is the grace-filled all holy, ever virgin, Mother of God, and Queen mother, whom God has prepared his vessel, how could she remain on this earth? We​ believe that at the end of her life she was assumed bodily into heaven.

What can our hearts learn from this? First Mary is the model disciple. Mary pondered these things in her heart. ​She says, “May it be done unto me according to your word!​”and "​Do whatever he tells you!​"​

We have an exquisite example of faith and trust in God. ​Further, after his death, Jesus has entrusted Mary to each one of us, “Behold you Mother!” (John 19:27).

In today’s Gospel, a barren old woman and a young virgin are both with child. The Angel Gabriel says concerning Elizabeth’s pregnancy. “For with God nothing will be impossible. (Lk 1:37). Elizabeth says of Mary, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Lk 1:45).

Following the example of Mary, God desires humility and docility to his will from each one of us. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38).

 ​

 

 

Rejoice!

Today we celebrate ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ The name means ‘Rejoice’ and it is taken from the original Latin introit or entrance antiphon for this Mass, which sang the words of our second reading from Philippians 4, -- Gaudete in Domino semper: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

Similarly, in our OT reading the Israelites were told, “Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!”(Zep 3:14). Why did they experience this joy? Because the prophet Zechariah tells them, “The LORD has removed the judgment against you” (Zep 3:15). The Lord invites his people to experience the joy of forgiveness, the joy of the Gospel.

There is more here! This forgiveness is not just a contractual matter. Like paying off a car loan. The people of God are the daughter of Zion, or the daughter of the King. Sacred Scripture can often have many layers of meaning both literal and spiritual.

In the New Testament, we all become adopted sons and daughters of God through communion with Christ and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:20). Forgiveness invites us into a relationship with him.

In what is probably his most famous sound bite, Pope Francis reminds us, “God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.” (EG 3)

The overall theme of Advent is a time of waiting, of hope and of preparation for the Lord’s coming. The person and preaching of John the Baptist invite us to prepare by repenting and renewing our commitment to the coming King.

In today’s Gospel, the crowds who listen to John the Baptist pose the same question three times: “What shall we do?” (Lk 3:10, 12, 14). Three different groups of people ask this question. The crowd in general; tax collectors; and, finally some soldiers. John the Baptist gives a slightly different response to each group. Share what you have too much of, collect what is just, and be content and do not abuse your power.

What we cannot miss, however, is that this question and John the Baptist’s answers, are in response to John’s call to first renew their faith as God’s children and then to respond by a baptism of repentance. If we separate morality from relationship and a conversion of the heart, we end up with mere joyless rule following. We reduce the faith to duty and legalism. Those who fail to follow the rules out of duty turn away in discouragement, and those who appear to succeed wrongly fill themselves with pride and see themselves as ‘better rule followers’ in comparison to others.

Many Catholics focus on following the rules without considering their relationship with the King. Have you ever heard someone say, “Rules, rules, rules, the Church is just trying to guilt me into doing something”? Perhaps someone else approaches the moral life like driving the speed limit when travelling on the freeway. They go as fast as they think they can get away with, without getting caught, or punished. Have you ever heard some might say, “Ahh, It’s only a venial sin, it’s no big deal!”

Notice as well that John the Baptist says, one greater than he is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Catechism reminds us that there is a New Covenant with God’s people and this requires a New Law. “The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity.” (CCC 1983) This New Law or “The Law of the Gospel fulfills and surpasses the Old Law and brings it to perfection.” (CCC 1984).

In case some Type A perfectionists are getting nervous, we are not tossing out the Ten Commandments, we are instead bringing them to perfection in a new way. The new framework is personal relationship with God and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. God calls us not to mere duty but to the joyful pursuit of happiness in relationship with him and in the power of the Spirit.

Our second reading highlights the fruit of living a joyful life in pursuit of God’s happiness. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Philippians 4:4).

St. Paul continues, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7).

“Have no anxiety at all.” Seriously Paul? We live in a world filled with stress and anxiety. Is it possible to live a joyful life in communion with God, without any anxiety at all?

Jesus said something very similar to this in John’s Gospel. Jesus talks about bearing much fruit by remaining in his love. Jesus says, “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). This does not mean he will protect us from suffering in this life. Jesus continues, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20).

What if we took the question posed by the crowds to John the Baptist, and instead asked St. Paul, “What shall we do?” St. Paul’s answer to anxiety is “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” Modern psychology has identified two things that help us to cope with stressful situations. The first is to reframe our thinking and the second is to become aware of and embrace our emotions.

Does St. Paul offer spiritual disciplines in these verses that touch on these needs? Reframing our thinking involves changing how we see our reality. Abraham Lincoln famously quipped, “Do we complain that roses have thorns or do we marvel that a thorn bush has roses?” Can prayer change how we see the world? St. Paul mentions bringing our prayers and petitions to the Lord and thanksgiving in this passage.

Many saints have told us about the power of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that, “Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”

Likewise our namesake, St. Thérèse notes, "It is the spirit of gratitude which draws down upon us the overflow of God's grace, for no sooner have we thanked Him for one blessing than He hastens to send us ten additional favors in return.”

We must begin with the realization that God loves us, and we are his children. He desires our happiness. He will not necessarily protect us from suffering, but will ultimately bring us joy. “What shall we do?” Perhaps concerning suffering, only those who have accompanied Jesus in the mystery of suffering can rightly bear witness to this joy.

“What shall we do?” We learn to trust in little steps. Perhaps we can begin by truthfully asking ourselves. Am I happy? Have I found joy in this life? Have I tried to find joy and peace in my prayer with Jesus? I would invite you today to take a small step on this journey. Jesus promises to give us joy! Try to prove him wrong, if your heart is not yet ready to trust in him …but take the first step!
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The Immaculate Conception of Mary

In the year 1854, after consulting with all the bishops of the world, Pope Pius XI declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He proclaimed;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Christians of all traditions believe that Jesus Christ was without sin. A problem occurs, however, as each one of us is born with the stain of original sin as result of our connection to our first parents, Adam and Eve. Since we believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man, and born of a woman, our blessed Mother Mary, how did Jesus remain sinless even concerning original sin.

In many Protestant traditions, the answer to this question is quite fuzzy. Maybe God created a 'Holy Spirit bubble' to protect Jesus from acquiring the stain of original sin?

The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception seeks to explain how Jesus was free from original sin. Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception. Although this is a distinctively Catholic solution to the problem of how Jesus could be born without original sin, we all need an answer to this puzzle.

One might ask, is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception scriptural? Obviously, the phrase “Immaculate Conception,” is not found in Scripture, but the same could easily be said for the word ‘Trinity’ or for that matter the word “Bible.” In fact, today’s Gospel reading gives us some strong hints, which Catholic tradition has developed.

To understand fully, we need to examine carefully the words of the Annunciation in Luke’s Gospel. Unfortunately, many modern translations obscure the true meaning of this passage. According to the RSVCE, the Angel Gabriel says; "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). This is also how our lectionary translates the passage. If you look this up in the Catholic NABRE Bible, it says, “Hail, favored one!” instead of “full of grace.” This is confusing. I believe the lectionary translation is more correct, but let us look at the entire passage.

The Angel Gabriel’s greeting begins with the Greek word chaire or “rejoice.” In Latin, this would be “Ave” which we traditionally translated “Hail.” This greeting is filled with Old Testament connotations. In many Old Testament passages, Zion is invited to rejoice in the coming messianic joy of the Kingdom (Joel 2:21-23; Zeph 3:14; Zech 9:9). There is a clear echo in Gabriel’s greeting of Zephaniah 3:14-15.

The Jerusalem Bible preserves the poetry of Zephaniah;

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion;

Israel shout aloud!

Rejoice, exalt with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem!
Yahweh has repealed your sentence;
he has driven your enemies away.
Yahweh, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you shall have no more evil to fear.

The words “the Lord, the king of Israel is in your midst” draws a connection with the incarnation of our King, in Mary’s womb. The Angel Gabriel continues, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28, RSVCE).

The Greek word behind the translation “full of grace” is kecharitōmenē. This is a mouth full! In Greek, the simple root of the word charitoō meaning “grace,” is adapted by adding grammatical information both before and after the root word. This word in effect becomes a sort of forty-dollar word packed with information. Furthermore, this word is extremely rare in the Bible, only found in two places, here in Luke, and in Ephesians.

In an exhaustive study of this word, one Catholic scholar, Fr. Ignace de la Potterie, has shown that the verb used here is from a special class of verbs, which, when used in a religious context express the transforming of the person, by the action of the verb. With this verb in particular, the effect that grace has on someone. The various parts added to this verb in Luke 1:28 make the verb a perfect passive participle.

Each aspect of the action of this verb carries further nuance. The normal sense of the passive voice means that Mary is being “acted upon” by grace from an external source. The basic meaning of the perfect tense has to do with time. This action took place at some point in the past. Greek participles are verbs, which are often translated into English, by adding ‘ing” to the verb. For example in the word, “transforming.”

Adding up all this grammatical information, an awkward but extremely accurate translation would be, "Rejoice in the transforming grace you have received, for the Lord is with you!” A much more succinct translation would be “Hail, full of grace” or adding 'Mary' as the subject of our prayer, "Hail Mary, full of grace."

When translating Greek participles one can emphasize either the verbal aspect as I have in the awkward translation I just shared, or one can turn the action into a title. This could then be translated, “The-one-having-been-transformed-by-the-grace-you-have-received.” This explains the NAB translation, which renders the verse, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

Yet following the NABRE it is difficult to communicate the full impact of the Greek verb in the title “favored one.” Mary is the “favored one” because God has chosen to transform her at some point in the past with his grace to prepare her for the incarnation.

The Church has supplied the exact moment that Mary received this transforming grace as ‘the moment of conception’, and Luke 1:28 clearly points us back to this moment without being that specific.

The perfect tense of the verb above indicates that at some point prior to Mary receiving the angel’s greeting, she had already been transformed by grace in preparation for the incarnation. The formal definition of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, simply clarifies the details of the Gospel regarding the nature and timing of this grace;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Luke 1:28 is clearly a strong scriptural support for this doctrine.

Holy Mary, Our hope, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

Notes:

De La Potterie, Ignace. "Κεχαριτωμένη En Lc 1,28 Étude Philologique." Biblica 68, no. 3 (1987):         357-82. Accessed July 14, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42707340.

De La Potterie, Ignace. "Κεχαριτωμένη En Lc 1,28 Étude Exégétique Et Théologique." Biblica 68,         no. 4 (1987): 480-508. Accessed July 14, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42707367.  

Prepare the Way of the Lord

On this Second Sunday of Advent, our readings draw our attention to St. John the Baptist and his role as one who prepares the way of the Lord.

After carefully setting the stage historically, St. Luke tells us, “the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert” (Luke 3:2). Luke uses a term for ‘word’ (rhēma) which likely means the reception of a particular word.

Luke has already told us earlier in the story that John the Baptist was “filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb” (1:15) and that even as a child John lived in the desert and “became strong in spirit” (1:80). This new reception of the “word” (rhēma) parallels the calling of other prophets (Jeremiah 1:1-4), as does the mention of his father Zechariah. When introducing a prophet’s ministry, it was customary in the Old Testament to mention the name of the prophet’s father (Hosea 1:1; Joel 1:1; Zechariah 1:1). As Zechariah had prophesied earlier, John the Baptist will be called “prophet of the Most High” (Luke 1:76).

Yet as the Catechism reminds us “John the Baptist is ‘more than a prophet.’ In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by Elijah” (CCC 719).

Luke tells us, “John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 1:3). John the Baptist began travelling about the in the northern region of the Jordan River, preaching a message of repentance to the Jewish people and baptizing them in the Jordan river. Preaching a message of repentance would have been very similar to the classical prophets of the Old Testament.

What is clearly new and unique was the fact that John was baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. This is unusual because in contemporary Judaism there was no talk of baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Some groups practiced repeated ritual purifications, and around this time period, the practice of baptizing new converts to Judaism also emerged. But the text seems to imply that John was giving a one-time baptism of repentance to his fellow Jews.

Later Christian Baptism will also speak of being baptized “for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In fact, this exact phrase in Greek is found in the Creed, “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” though it will continue “. . . and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” John the Baptist testifies, however, that his baptism is inferior Jesus’ baptism. John the Baptist notes that Jesus will baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).

So, what are we to make of John’s “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 1:3)? First, we might want to correct a common misunderstanding that Jewish people were saved by meticulous fulfillment of the 613 precepts of the law. This number is actually from later Jewish tradition. Under these conditions, it would be extremely difficult to be saved because if you couldn’t fulfill the law perfectly you would be lost.

This negative caricature has been shown to be false by a number of modern scholars who have studied Second Temple Judaism. Although there is some debate about the finer details, there is a broad consensus that at the time of Jesus, the Jewish people generally believed that someone was ‘saved’ because of the loving covenant that God has established between himself and his people generally through their being member of the Jewish people by birth.

If your mother was Jewish, you are born into the covenant by divine election. Jewish children were not considered unsaved until they managed to fulfill the law perfectly and earn their salvation by works.

The purpose of the law was to be like a fence which helped keep you in the covenant. The law was not a means to enter into relationship with God, it was a means to stay in the relationship you already have by grace. If you ‘jumped the fence’ of the law by sinning, you needed to be restored into this covenant relationship. Clearly you had an obligation to stay within the fence.

The baptism of John the Baptist clearly lacked the later sacramental character that Christian Baptism provided because Christian Baptism applies the finished work of Jesus’ sacrifice which is able to release fullness of the gift of forgiveness (Acts 2:38, 22:16; John 3:5; Titus 3:5). Christian Baptism is also linked to the reception of the Holy Spirit.

Later in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke tells us that St. Paul encountered some disciples who had only received the baptism of John. St. Paul tells them, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus” (Acts 19:4).

John’s baptism was a prophetic act, but one which is an anticipation of future cleansing and forgiveness through Jesus (CCC 720). John’s baptism should not be limited to a symbol of repentance, however, it is a real anticipation of the messianic gift of forgiveness, and the future outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2, Acts 2).

There are two distinct strands to the Old Testament prophetic tradition about cleansing and forgiveness. One strand emphasized water of baptism as a symbolic expression of repentance (Isaiah 1:16-17, Jeremiah 4:14), while the other strand focused on the divine answer to repentance (Isaiah 4:2-6, Ezekiel 36-37, Jeremiah 31:31-34). The second strand is pointing ahead to a future time when God would cleanse and transform his people’s hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah Luke tells us that John the Baptist was preparing His people to receive the salvation that would be poured out on all flesh (Acts 2:17). John is the voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, . . . and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:4-6).

In many ways, John the Baptist’s ministry of preparation can continue to be a reminder of our own need to prepare our hearts for Jesus in this season of Advent.

Second Sunday of Advent, Year C  

Marana tha (“Come, Lord Jesus!”)

Jesus speaks of future “signs” “in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth.” These signs are metaphorical descriptions of a future judgment that will come upon the earth, at the end of time. Jesus warns us that these signs will dismay, perplex and frighten many people.

Throughout history people have tried to turn these ‘signs’ into a kind of ‘code’ that can be deciphered and that will predict when Jesus will return. Predicting the end has been particularly popular in some Protestant circles such as Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth, and Tim LaHaye’s, Left Behind series which was made into a movie in 2014.

Catholics have not been immune to this activity, either under the spell of such authors, or through alleged Catholic apparitions and mystics.

One author has humorously characterized two kinds of people. There are roosters who crow about the imminent end of the world as they calculate the signs, in order to wake up the sleeping community, and the owls who “dislike both noise and light; they want to hush the roosters, insisting that it is still night, that the dawn is far away.” So far, the owls have a much higher score in this competition.

Yet, Jesus words do point to a final time of judgment that will take place, at the end of time. We are told, however, that that we will not know the hour, and that it will take us by surprise.

There have been a succession of failed rosters throughout history. These roosters were sure that the end was upon us, only to see the calendar roll on. Some of these have been recent such as Nostradamus’ prophecies and the Year 2000, or the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012.

So what do we believe?

We believe that Jesus has ascended into heaven and that his kingdom reigns on earth now, in mystery, through the Spirit. The kingdom of God is already present as a mystery, but it will be fully revealed in the future. As Jesus tells us, we “will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

Jesus taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The present time is one of Spirit and witness (CCC 672) but it is also a time of trial, waiting and watching.

We are actually in a type of spiritual battle. The kingdom of God needs our cooperation. It is only through our prayer, witness, and cooperation with the Spirit that it will go forth. This involves a struggle against our own hearts, and against the shiny things in this world, and ultimately against the work of the evil one. Jesus warns us about this struggle here, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catches you by surprise.”

Each one of us needs to ask ourselves the honest question, “Am I ready to meet the Lord?” Jesus warns, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy.” So we might ask ourselves, is my heart in the right place with God?

Not many of us, I would suppose, believe that the world is going to end tonight, but do we know the number of our days? Standing before the King is imminent for each of us, even before his return. We will all reach the end of our days, and it may be much sooner than we think.

Jesus calls us to “be vigilant at all times and pray” that we have the strength to endure our trial. What would we think of a soldier on guard duty, who fell asleep or who got drunk and ignored his responsibilities to watch and beware of the enemy.

Yet Jesus does not want us to live in fear. He invites us to understand that our Heavenly Father is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. We are invited into his arms of mercy. Like the prodigal son, our father is waiting for us to return to him. He will run to us and receive us with great joy. Yet, we need to turn and receive his loving embrace.

One of the earliest recorded prayers of the early Christians was the Aramaic expression Marana tha (“Come, Lord!”)—“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” By this prayer we acknowledge that although already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” by the king’s return to earth”

As the catechism reminds us this petition; “Marana tha,” is the cry of the Spirit and the Bride: “Come, Lord Jesus.” It is a longing in the heart, a desire to meet the beloved.

Those whose hearts are prepared to be with the Lord, long to be with him. Come Lord Jesus, fill my heart with your love. Take away my fear. Let me renew my commitment today to follow you with my whole heart, mind and soul. Jesus I trust in you!

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

Do not be Anxious about your Life.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious about your life.” (Matt 6:25, 6:25, 27-28). St. Paul admonishes us, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Likewise St. Peter reminds us, “So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6–7).

If we are honest, this is a lofty goal. We often do feel anxious. It could be about our finances, or about our health, or our safety, or the security of our closet relationships. During the pandemic, all of these concerns have increased.

Jesus says to us, “Peace be with you!” but how can we walk in this peace?

On a purely human level, there are things we can do. First, I would like to recommend the book by George R. Faller, and Heather Wright, Sacred Stress: A Radically Different Approach to Using Life’s Challenges for Positive Change, (2016). This book integrates new understandings from psychology with a Christian perspective.

Research has shown that if we change the way we think about stress, we will find that our bodies react differently. If we reframe our thinking to expand our perspective on potentially stressful events, then our body will feel less stress.

We need to reframe stressful events as a challenge rather than as a threat. I love the following quote by Abraham Lincoln, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

We have a choice. We can complain and enter into negative thinking and as a result feel distress, or we can rejoice and enter joy and peace. The same rose bush can create two entirely different realities.

It is easy to see how we could make this a part of our prayer. When faced with a threatening situation we could take this concern before our Lord in prayer. Prayers of thanksgiving to our Lord for the many blessings we have received can also help us avoid complaining and negative thinking.

A modern stress management model involves knowing, naming, and reframing our stress. First, we need to recognize that we are entering into stress, then name it, then reframe the experience.

The first step is to recognize that we are feeling stressed. The reason this is necessary is that we are often unaware of what is happening. Psychologists call this emotional self-awareness or mindfulness. There are many ways to understand mindfulness, but I would recommend the book by Gregory Bottaro, The Mindful Catholic: Finding God One Moment at a Time (2018). We need to become aware of our emotions in the moment.

The second step is to name our emotions. Very often, our body may be giving us signals that we are experiencing a stressful emotion. It is very healthy to take ownership of these feelings and to try to gain clarity and name the emotion we feel. Naming the emotion helps us to gain control and calm ambiguous emotional reactions.

The third step is to reframe the stress. Research on people in stressful situations has shown that “naming our anxiety and then reframing it as excitement” has a huge impact on our performance under stress. Reframing our stress can also help us to place God into the equation. Only then can we walk in the advice of St. Paul, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

Through deepening our relationship with God in prayer, we can experience his peace in our life. God desires our happiness and calls us to experience his joy.

A Heart for God

The late nineteenth century author, Lewis Carol, (author of Alice in Wonderland) begins his famous poem, Jabberwocky, with these famous words,

 

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

      And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

      The frumious Bandersnatch!”

 

Lewis’ words are, of course, are sheer playful nonsense.

 

I think there is a chance that someone today might hear Jesus warning, “Beware of the scribes" (Mark 12:38) in a similar manner. After all, have you ever met a living real life Scribe? Certainly, no one uses that title in the Church.

It might be good to note that at the time of Jesus most people were completely uneducated and illiterate. The Scribes were experts in the law, or religious leaders who used their skill at being able to read the Jewish Scriptures to teach others about the faith. Some of them were lay people, often from the Pharisees, but most were part of the Priestly class or the Levites who served in the Temple in Jerusalem.

While we may not have scribes today, we do have religious leaders who help others to learn about their faith. Today lay catechists, deacons, priests and bishops fill this role. Performing this task in the Church is a very important and honorable task, as it was in Jesus day. In last Sunday’s Gospel reading, Jesus compliments a scribe for being “close to the kingdom of God.”

While being a catechist or teacher of the faith is a very good thing, at times the people who fill this role can destroy the good effects of their teaching by lacking what today we might call authenticity. The personal failings of such individuals are denounced by Jesus.

Jesus says that the scribes “like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces” (Mk 12:38). Jesus notes that they also liked “the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts” (Mk 12:39). In other words, they like to show off and to display their wealth to others through their elaborate robes and to have others treat them as better than everyone else.

The most common type of outer garment in Palestine was a “cloak” consisting of a rectangular piece of fabric of varying size that was draped around the body. Wealthy people, on the other hand, would wear a long flowing robe that signified their wealth. In the Old Testament, such long flowing robes might be worn by the high priest or a king, and so by association wealthy people would wear these robes to display their importance.

Ironically, when God established the tribes of Priest and Levites to serve the Jewish people, he did not allow these tribes to have any land of their own. They were to live off donations from others.

At the time of Jesus, scribes were forbidden to receive payment for teaching; they depended on private donations for their living. Subsidizing a scribe was an act of Jewish piety. While scribes should be honored and respected for their office, it is hard to imagine how they would become so wealthy that they could afford expensive robes. Jesus is pointing out that their hearts are in the wrong place.

This behavior is hypocritical, and Jesus says so in Matthew's Gospel. Jesus warns, ““But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Mt 23:13). Hypocrisy damages people's faith and in many cases even causes them to reject the faith.

Does hypocrisy affect religious leaders today? A recent survey of Millennials who don’t go to church reveals their complaint that Christians are judgmental, hypocritical and insensitive to others. While their perceptions may not be entirely accurate, we definitely have some work to do. The number one thing our Millennials and Gen Z youth are searching for is “authenticity.”

Hypocrisy is very bad, but Jesus points out even worse behavior by the scribes. He says they “devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers” (Mk 12:40). Jesus uses the word “devour” metaphorically to denote an unethical appropriation of the property of widows. 

Moses instructed the people; “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge” (Dt 24:17). In the ancient world, widows were among the most vulnerable members of society. Many of the Old Testament prophets repeatedly condemned the exploitation of widows (Isa 10:1–2; Jer 7:6; Ezek 22:7).

“Devouring the houses of widows” could mean fleecing their estates by charging excessive legal fees or sponging off their hospitality. There is extremely unholy irony in this accusation. Like the Priest and Levites, the widow and the orphan were to be protected and cared for by the Jewish people because of their vulnerability.

Finally, in order to cover up for their fraudulent activity, the scribes made an empty show of piety, by reciting lengthy prayers. Empty ritual cannot camouflage a lack of authenticity and hypocrisy.

The final scene of our Gospel reading shows us the counterpoint to this bad behavior. While sitting in the Temple, Jesus observes wealthy people putting large sums of money into the Temple treasury.

Finally, he observes a “poor widow” who contributes “two small coins worth a few cents” (Mk 12:42). The word used for the coins is a lepton. The copper lepton was the smallest Greek coin denomination, so small in fact, that it took two of them to equal a quadrans, or the smallest denomination of Roman coins.

Jesus says, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mk 12:43–44).

Clearly, it is not the amount given that matters, but the heart. This poor widow was able to trust that God would take care of her. She contributed everything she had. She was completely humble and detached from earthly things. Her heart was open to God. Out of her poverty, she was not trusting in ritual, or prestige, or good reputation, but in a profound relationship with her creator. Jesus was pleased with her and recognized the gift of her heart.

Like the scribe in last Sunday’s Gospel, the poor widow understood how to love God with her whole heart. Perhaps each one of us needs to examine our hearts today and to ask him:

What am I doing merely for the sake of appearances?

Am I too attached to things of this world?

Am I truly seeking to love God with my whole heart?

Am I willing to give him everything, and yet to trust that he will take care of me and lead me to happiness?

 

Mark 12:38–44      THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: YEAR B

   

You should be kissed and often!

I am sure most of you will recognize the famous line from the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind.  With eyes locked in a face-to-face embrace, the character Rhett Butler quips to Scarlet, 

“No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.”

Rhett Butler has a good dose of rascal in him, but he demonstrates some deep insights into the human nature.  Modern psychology has demonstrated that each one of us needs to have someone to depend on, a loved one who can offer us reliable emotional connection and comfort. This type of connection is a basic human need for each of us. We are literally hard wired with this need for relationship.

No surprisingly, this need for emotional connection is part of the way that God created us, in the image and likeness of God. The Genesis narrative tells us, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), so God created Eve as a helpmate and equal partner for him. God completes the image of God by the creation of man and woman together in relationship. Mysteriously this man-woman relationship mirrors the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:32).

In today’s Gospel, we have the famous summary of the law in which Jesus notes the two-fold need to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Unfortunately, for many people, the very use of the word law brings to mind rules, discipline and duties. While young boys can learn many virtues from scouting, our faith is not a Boy Scout project. “I will do my best to do my duty to God.” 

Summarizing the law in this way, changes the focus from duty to love and relationship. As someone has wisely said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” The proper way to understand the law is through intimate relationship with God. 

More than this, this relationship takes place in and through an interior communion with God’s love in the Spirit (Jeremiah 31:31-33; CCC 1966, 1972). Unlike the Old Law the New Law of Christ “consists essentially in the precepts of love of God and neighbor” and “is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operating through charity” (CCC 1974, 1983).

Beginning with Adam and Eve, the Bible uses the human love of a married couple or Marriage as the model for revealing the love between God and his people. In Sacred Scripture, the Church is the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2,9-10) and in Heaven and the blessed will attend the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

We call the most intimate connection between God and his people, communion. The reality is, though, there can be no communion without a secure sense of personal intimacy. Just as we can wrongly experience rules without relationship, it is also possible to experience ritual without a sense of personal intimacy. 

Perhaps the scribe in our Gospel reading senses this when he says the summary of the law is “worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus is standing in the Temple when this dialogue takes place. 

While it is always true that the sacraments have a spiritual effect, the benefits received depend on our disposition and cooperation, or more simply put on our relationship with God.

St. Pope John Paul II highlighted this problem more than thirty years ago. He observed that often when children are baptized in infancy, and later end up coming for catechesis in the parish, they do so “without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ” (CT 19). As a result, catechesis often fails. 

There can be no communion without a personal intimacy. 

Children raised on duty alone, or the "rules without relationship” approach, will not likely find meaning in the Church. They are missing the crucial ingredient, relationship with God. As St. John Paul II notes, the proclamation of the Gospel introduces man “into the mystery of the love of God, who invites him to enter into a personal relationship with himself in Christ” (RM 44).

Yet, this problem is not limited to children. Each one of us needs to experience what St. John Paul II calls, “explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ.” Yet, perhaps some people are not able to relate to this bride and bridegroom metaphor found in Sacred Scripture. 

Does God really invite us to have a relationship with him that is a sort of spiritual romance?

How would we respond if we heard our Lord say to us, “You need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how?”  I do not think these words would shock St. Teresa of Ávila, or St. John of the Cross, but how do we hear them?

I suspect our response is tied to our culture. Hispanics, Italians, and the French all regularly greet their friends and family with kisses, but English culture is more reserved.

If you find this metaphor hard to relate to, perhaps we could change the words to “You need love badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be loved and often, and by someone who knows how.”

Another helpful way to understand God’s love is through the metaphor of a parent and child. St. Paul tells us we are sons and daughters of God;

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:14–17).

 As St. Josemaría Escrivá has reminded us,

“…God is a Father -- your Father! -- full of warmth and infinite love. Call him Father frequently and tell him, when you are alone, that you love him, that you love him very much, and that you feel proud and strong because you are his son [or daughter]” The Forge, 331.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the love of God is our first and most important relationship. It requires everything from us. We must love him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all or strength.  We must discover, like St. Augustine, that our heart is restless until it finds rest in God (CCC 1718). So today Lord, open our hearts to receive your loving embrace. Let us be transformed by your love. 

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME --YEAR B

Mark 12:28b–34

“Master, I want to see.” Mark 10:46–52

The healing of blind Bartimaeus raises many questions that we all face in our lives. Does God really love me? Is he listening when I pray to him? 

Mark tells us that Bartimaeus’ healing takes place while leaving the city of Jericho. It would be natural for Galilean Jews to detour around the Samaritan regions on the Jordan’s east side while on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and then to cross over the Jordan at Jericho journeying to Jerusalem. This may seem an incidental detail, but Jericho was the first city conquered in the “promised land” by Joshua. Could Mark be drawing our attention to this detail?

Mark recounts the actual healing of Bartimaeus with great simplicity. “Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way” (10:52).  In Jesus’ previous healings in Mark, Jesus sends away the persons healed and tells them to keep quiet (1:44; 2:11; 5:19, 34; 7:29). While the “crowds” try to silence him, Jesus allows Bartimaeus to call him “Jesus, son of David,” and even allows him to follow him along the way.

The simplicity of the healing and the differences in Jesus’ response, suggest that in addition to being a healing narrative, this story is primarily about the “call” of Bartimaeus. We read that, “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take courage; get up, he is calling you.’” (10:49). The verb “call” (phoneō) is repeated three times. The calling of Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:16) and James and John (1:19) at the beginning of Mark, is very similar.

I would like to suggest that Mark intends this narrative to be a kind of model for the call to discipleship or conversion. What does Bartimaeus' story teach us for our own life?

Mark introduces him as, “Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus” (10:46) deserves some comment. As St. Augustine astutely pointed out, telling us that he is “the son of Timaeus” (10:46) is unusual, and it likely indicates that Bartimaeus was once of high status, but has now been reduced to begging.

We need to recall that in the ancient world, becoming blind would be seen as a sign of losing favor with God. In some Jewish traditions, being blind made the person ritually impure and therefore, prevented Bartimaeus from entering Jerusalem the place of the sacrifice.

Relating these details to the call to discipleship, I would point out that Bartimaeus begins with complete humility. Everything he could boast about in his life is gone. He is in poverty, and he is blind.  Notice the conditions Bartimaeus begins with, humility, detachment, and attention to the fact that Christ is passing by.

 As Jesus has just earlier told his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mk 8:34). Jesus warns them to not seek worldly gain, and not to be ashamed of him (Mk 8:36-38).

In order to reach Jesus, Bartimaeus must resist the crowd who initially tries to silence him. We might see this as a picture of persistence in prayer. We often experience distractions in our prayer. Mark tells us, “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me’ (10:38). Bartimaeus then discovers that Jesus is listening. Jesus calls him and he responds with abandon. Mark tells us, “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus” (10:50)

In our modern world, we often have questions in our hearts. “Is God really listening to my prayers?” “Does he care about me personally?” Many people feel that they will need to first clean up their life, before they believe God will be willing listen to them. They might think, “God does not want to talk to me because I’m not following him as I should.” 

With many saints, I believe that no one who spends time in conversational prayer with God will be disappointed. Our confidence about God’s love, flows from our knowledge of God’s heart for each one of us.

As St. Paul tells us,

God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

God’s own personal love for each one of us began before “before the foundation of the world.”

While responding to the call to discipleship will definitely change our life, Bartimaeus shows us that we can approach God now, just as we are. We can approach him in our brokenness and poverty. We can be vulnerable with God and often this very vulnerability is the key to beginning our journey of healing. Note it is through his personal healing encounter with Jesus that Bartimaeus is healed and transformed.

Jesus asks Bartimaeus what may seem like a strange question, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus replies, “Master, I want to see” (Mk 10: 51). Like Bartimaeus, we each need to take responsibility for our personal spiritual blindness and ask God to give us his light to see the world around us.  

God has no spiritual grandchildren, only sons and daughters. We must each personally ask God for our sight.

Although we thank God for the faith of our fathers, which is a rich treasure for our faith journey, we need our own living faith (LG 41) found in a personal encounter with Jesus (Apostolicam Actuositatem, 4).

The fathers of Second Vatican Council remind us “the success of the lay apostolate depends upon the laity's living union with Christ” (AA 4) and that;

Such a life requires a continual exercise of faith, hope, and charity. Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the word of God can one always and everywhere recognize God in Whom "we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28), [and] seek  His will in every event... (AA 4)

As our own bishops have reminded us, conversion is, “the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his" (National Directory of Catechesis, p. 48), or to put it more simply “Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple” (NDC, p. 48).

Beginning in humility and poverty, Bartimaeus searches for Jesus as we might in our prayer. He cries out, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Bartimaeus is not deterred by his poverty or the difficulties he faces. He persists in his prayer. He makes an act of faith trusting that God wishes to meet him on the way and in this encounter responds to the question, “What do you want me to do for you?” replies, “Master, I want to see.”

Lord, we ask that today you would open the eyes of the hearts of each one of us. Trusting in your love beyond our understanding, let us say, “Master, I want to see.” Then we shall follow him on the way.

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B 

Mark 10:46–52

Obedience is, in relationship, and out of love

As we reflect on the reading from Mark’s Gospel (10:17-30), I would like to ask you to do something different. I want you to imagine yourself in the scene of this Gospel. Try to see Jesus, the young man, and the disciples. Jesus uses a type of rabbinic hyperbole or exaggeration for effect, and in modern terms, this ‘triggers’ the disciples. They go from being amazed (v24) to being exceedingly astonished (v26) to asking, “Then who can be saved?” It is as if they are saying, “We are all doomed!”

How do Jesus’ words make you feel?

Why are the disciples so concerned? Perhaps they think Jesus is saying some like, “Be good or else!” Perhaps they understand the faith as being all about following the rules but unfortunately for an impossible to please God.

I want to ask you to take of the glasses you are currently wearing and put on a new set of lenses. We need the glasses of relationship to understand this passage. Jesus tells the young man “No one is good but God alone.”

In effect Jesus is say not, “Be good or else!” but instead, “Be good for goodness sake.” Since God is the author of life and the Creator, he has made the world ‘good’ and being good leads to our happiness.

St. John Paul II comments on this very idea of good in this passage and says “… no human effort could ever fulfil the law” instead we must receive God’s goodness as a gift from him and then learn to cooperate with this gift (VS 11). We receive this gift through an encounter with God’s love and it further involves a call to follow him.

As we continue to use our imagination to place ourselves in this passage, look now into the eyes of the young man and into the eyes of Jesus. Mark tells us, “Jesus looking upon him, loved him” (v21). For this young man the entire conversation is an encounter with the love of God.

Jesus is not condemning a class of people, the rich, but pointing out a spiritual problem that all of us face. Furthermore, in relationship with him, Jesus promises “God can do all things”

Popular speaker Andy Stanley has a saying that relates to this passage that I would like to share with you. He notes “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion” and I might add, “Rules without relationship also lead to … discouragement.” I think discouragement is the primary emotion felt by the disciples in the passage.

I have talked about encounter, love and relationship. How then does relationship work? The foundation of all relationships is trust and commitment.

We might imagine a young couple who are growing in trust and commitment with each other who eventually decide to get married. A final proof of this commitment they will stand before the altar in the Church with all their friend and relatives and make solemn promises to one another. They will promise to be faithful to one another, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love to honor one another, all the days of their life. So profound is this human example, that Jesus uses it as the model for his own relationship with the church (Ephesians 5:32, Revelation 19:7-10).

The Bible does not use the words the modern words trust and commitment but instead uses faith and obedience for these concepts. Furthermore, just as in marriage there is a final decision to get married, we need decide to follow Jesus. The Bible call this point of decision, conversion. Again, our decision is our cooperation with the gift of goodness we have received from God, and not something we earn.

Unfortunately, the very use of the word obedience will still trigger some people to think again that the faith is all about following the rules. Obedience is always understood in relationship and out of love.

I would like to illustrate this with a story. There was a man named Bill, who was sleeping, and he unfortunately forgot to silence the ringer on his cell phone. In the middle of the night, his phone rang, and he saw that Tom was calling him. Tom was not a close friend but he did know him, so Bill answered the call.

Bill said,

Hey Tom! I wanted to ask you a favor. Would you go to the store right now and buy me pint of my favorite ice cream, and bring it to me at my house?

Cleary the next line in the script is stunned silence. It is not likely Bill agreed to this request. Imagine the difference that it would make if instead of a call from Tom, his pregnant wife awakens Bill and says,

Bill, I can’t sleep, and I am having a craving for ice cream. Would you go to the store and buy me some of my favorite ice cream?

If Bill is smart, he will get up immediately and go to the store a buy the ice cream. Not only will he willing do this, he will even do it cheerfully! This is what it means to say, obedience is in relationship and out of love.

Perhaps the first question is do we believe in the goodness God? Do we trust that he desires our happiness and wants to give us joy?

In the Bible, the symbol of the church is not a cactus, but a vine which bears sweet fruit, fruit which can be changed into the best wine, and which when consecrated becomes Christ himself. In receiving Communion, we enter into the deepest relationship and connection with Christ. Only, however, if we remain in the vine.

Just as a Marriage, ceremony is only the beginning of married life; the decision to follow Jesus as his disciple has a beginning and then continues for the rest of our life.

Being human implies that we have normal desires and affections for the things of this world, and creation offers many physical pleasures. These affections and pleasures are good and part of the way God has made us. I think we are all aware though, that many times our desires and affections become disordered and selfish. We can also pursue pleasures in a way that lead us away from goodness.

In order to stay balanced and continue to pursue goodness, we need to discipline our heart. The reality is that the journey of discipleship is a battle for our heart. Being a disciple is like going up a hill, if we do not put energy and effort into our discipleship through our active cooperation, we will not make progress, and we might even slide backwards.

Following Christ is not an outward imitation but instead becoming conformed to Christ who dwells by faith in the heart of the believer (Eph 3:17). God’s grace in our hearts brings about this perfect love through the active presence of the Holy Spirit in us (VS 21). This is why all things are possible with God.

Yet, if all things are possible, why does the rich young man turn away sorrowfully and not follow Jesus? Although he was actively ‘seeking Jesus,’ he was not yet ready to give himself fully to Jesus out of love. The very nature of love implies our personal freedom. This does not necessarily mean the man was sinful; he was just not ready to be ‘all in’ in his commitment with Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly continuing to struggle forward in my life of discipleship. There is much more to learn about detachment from earthly things. The issue is not with the external things themselves, but the attitude of my heart. As Jesus tells us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21).

Two masters of the interior life, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Ávila tell us that we cannot make progress in the spiritual life without beginning to first discipline our heart’s desires and affections.

Before moving on to some practical suggestions, I wanted to note some important things about the difference we experience because of our vocations and situations in life. For someone in a religious vocation it might very well make sense to sell everything and live in poverty in the monastery or convent.

According to Second Vatican Council, the calling of the layperson is different from this. The laity are called to live holiness in the midst of their daily lives and in the midst of the world. They are to be Christ in the midst of their secular vocations, and even to pursue holiness, and evangelize culture through their secular work. They are to be leaven, and to be in the world but not of the world.

Practically then, how can we learn to discipline our everyday attachments and desires when they become disordered. On a spiritual level, four things would help. First, it would be helpful to have a trusted friend, or an accountability partner, or even a spiritual director who can help us to monitor our progress toward our goals. When we are dealing with our heart's desires, it is very hard to be objective.

Secondly, we need to make an effort to change our thinking. We need to keep our eyes on the things that are above and not to allow our thoughts to turn to vanity (Philippians 4:8). One important area to think about might be our use of screen time. We might say “Hey, Siri how much time have I spent on screen this week?” We can ask ourselves; “Have I viewed things, which are true?, and ”Have I viewed things, which are pure?”

Thirdly, St. Teresa suggests that engaging in mental prayer will have the supernatural effect of changing our hearts from within. She has in mind a type of prayer where we meditate on scripture and talk to God in conversation from our hearts. As we read and meditate we might ask God, “What does this passage mean to me?” and “How can I live this in my life?” We might also spend some time in silence listening to God in our prayer. By regularly engaging is this type of prayer St Teresa say that God will give us supernatural graces and change our hearts desires from within us.

Finally, performing small penances or making small sacrifices can lead us into greater discipline of our wills. I know we normally only think of doing this during Lent, but even little acts of fasting from small things can help us to grow in self-control. While the exact thing we do is completely flexible, we could for example give up eating ketchup, or the things we put in our coffee for a short time. We can even offer up these small sacrifices for others along with our prayers for them.

While each of these four things are important, I think St. Teresa would say that the discipline of regular prayer is the most effective means for changing our heart and this echoes what we have heard in our Gospel today.

Jesus calls each one of us to encounter him and to see the love in his eyes. We need to grow in trust. Finally when we are ready, to then make a conscious decision to follow Jesus completely from our hearts. This is only the beginning. We then to struggle to live that decision in our daily life.

Remember, “All things are possible with God.”