Looking for Partners (Mk 4:26-34)

 

All of the parables about the kingdom of God—the mustard seed, the seed falling on different kinds of ground, the treasure hidden in the field, the leaven in the dough—all show that we are in this together.  Fully developed, one seed does not make for a harvest.  It takes the whole field of grain.  One measure of yeast does not make for a whole loaf of bread.  Even the one who finds the hidden treasure must collaborate with others to raise the purchase price—the owner of the field and buyers for his own goods. 

In this light, bringing about the kingdom of God takes the combined effort of all of us.  No one does it alone.  Jesus himself sets the example of the need for collaboration.  First, he calls his Apostles, and then he calls Peter to lead his church, the collective body of Christ.  The need for collaborators remains today because the kingdom of God planted by the Word of Jesus has not yet reached fruition.  It is still in the growing season because God wants a bountiful harvest. 

Until the harvest arrives, the garden stands in need of constant care and cultivation.  Without proper care, the newly planted garden will fail to flourish and will deteriorate.  As followers of Christ, therefore, our calling is to care for the garden.  Each of us pulling together will bring about the kingdom of God.  As St. Paul reminds us, there are many gifts but one spirit to equip us for the work of building up the body of Christ (Eph 4:12).

As good stewards, we use our gifts in service to one another (1 Pt 4:10).  Good works that stem from our faith and love is how we realize the kingdom.  Our good works are like the leavening agent that causes the dough to rise.  Through good works, we become the farmer tending the growing seed.  We tend the kingdom of God by keeping his commandments to love one another as Jesus loved us. 

Jesus does not provide specific instructions in this respect, and yet, he calls us to a different way of life, a different way of seeing things.  He wants to form a partnership with us and will strengthen us for the task at hand (Phil 4:13).  Jesus wants coworkers, who will be salt and light for the world, to bring about his bounty—his peace, justice, love, reconciliation, and respect for the dignity of all, especially for those in our daily lives. 

This is the underlying message of all the parables on the kingdom of God.  As followers of Christ, we are chosen for a life of good works born of faith and love to bring about a new reality, a new world—the kingdom of God.

 

Pick Some Grain (Mk 2:23-28)

 

For the Pharisees, picking grain from the field on the Sabbath was not a trivial matter.  They viewed it as a serious violation of their covenant with God as defined in his commandments.  The violation was serious because it severed their connection with God.  For the ancient Hebrews, the commandments of God expressed his holiness.  As a result, because they were made in the image and likeness of God, they believed that the fundamental way to honor their covenant with God was to imitate his holiness.

Since God rested from his labors on the sixth day of creation, his rest was an expression of his holiness and thus a command that humans do likewise.  Therefore, mandatory rest on the Sabbath fulfilled their obligation to imitate the holiness of God by prohibiting work of any kind, including the picking of grain (Ex 31:17, 23:12).  For this reason, the Pharisees took offense at what Jesus and his disciples did on the Sabbath.    

Ironically, the Pharisees should have felt blessed to have Jesus, the Son of God, in their presence, and yet, they were offended by his deeds.  In the matter at hand, Jesus clearly understood the historical and religious significance of the Sabbath, and he faithfully followed the commandments of God.  Because he disagrees with the Pharisees on their interpretation of the commandment, he takes exception to their offense. 

Jesus responds to the Pharisees’ stubborn adherence to ritualistic behavior with an authentic interpretation of the commandment.  He says to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  With all authority, Jesus declares that the Sabbath is for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing (Mk 3:4).  Good deeds born of love for God and neighbor is an authentic way to imitate the holiness of God.

For this reason, Jesus will say to the Pharisees more than once, “You are more interested in doing religion than in doing justice.  You are more interested in miracles than in caring for the poor, the vulnerable, the outcast, the marginalized.  You are more interested in religious ritual and celebration than in loving others.  You substitute following rules for doing God’s will.  No wonder the message of Jesus offended the Pharisees of his day.

The message of Jesus remains valid to this day, however.  He calls us to be loving, kind, patient, understanding, merciful, and just towards others, especially the poor and vulnerable members of society.  This is what Jesus aims at when he says to his disciples, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Mt 11:6).  The good deeds of Jesus serve as an invitation to follow him and do likewise, not a reason to take offense.

Following Jesus is a blessing that leads to eternal life.  We are blessed that God so loved us that he became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ.  We are blessed that Jesus is our model because he is like us in every way.  Jesus shows us who the Father is and how we can imitate the holiness of God.  This is the good news that Jesus preached so long ago.  And, we are truly blessed to hear his message once again.

Follow the Signs (Jn 2:1-11)

 

Signs are important to us.  GPS alone is proof positive of just how important.  We look for signs to guide us on our journey or help us find what we want.  All signs both good and bad point to something beyond, while good signs always point to the truth and therefore inspire confidence or belief.  This is why the evangelist John begins his gospel with a series of seven signs that point to God’s plan of salvation.  These signs are the seven wondrous deeds, or miracles of Jesus.  With these signs, John aims to inspire belief in Jesus.

The first sign is the transformation of water into wine at Cana (Jn 2:1-11).  Running out of wine may not reflect a profound spiritual crisis, but it is a social crisis.  For the ancient Hebrews, wine was not only a common part of their meal.  Wine was also significant in their worship as a sign of life and blessing from God.  The liturgical use of wine and its meaning will take on even greater significance at the Last Supper.

In this light, running out of wine for his wedding guests in the very least created an embarrassing breach of hospitality for the host.  When Mary observes this situation, she immediately goes to Jesus and simply says, they have no wine.  Her statement is an observation rather than a request, but Jesus gets the message.  Mary expects him to do something about it, although what she expects is never revealed.

His first response is to protest with a question about why he should become involved, for his hour has not yet arrived.  Jesus wants to know what this problem means for him and for Mary as well.  This response calls to mind the response he gave to her when left behind at age 12, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49).  Both responses reflect the priority Jesus consistently gives to doing the Father’s will.  This also indicates that the full revelation of who he is and what he is about must come later.

In spite of Jesus’ protest, Mary turns to the servers and instructs them to do whatever he tells them.  Mary’s instruction to the servers mirrors her own response to the Angel Gabriel, “I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).  Mary’s attitude of serenity and acceptance points to Jesus as the one we can follow with trust and abandon (CCC 2674).  In fact, Pope Paul VI described Mary as worthy of imitation because she was the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus[1].

The transformation of water into wine symbolizes the entire creative and transforming work that Jesus carried out and continues to carry out among us.  This transformation is not only what Jesus did.  It also begins to reveal who Jesus is.  By focusing on the “who” behind the “what” of each sign, John aims to inspire belief in Jesus, the promised Messiah and gateway to eternal life, who longs to transform the lives of those who follow his way (Jn 20:31).

Throughout his earthly mission, Jesus makes it clear that our own transformation best comes about by imitating the “who” behind the “what” he did (Eph 5:1-2).  Although we cannot change water into wine, we can transform the ordinary into the sacred by caring for others in the ordinary circumstances of their lives.  The other six signs provide additional bearing for our journey of transformation.  We may not be able to cure the sick at a distance merely by our word as Jesus did for the royal official's son, but we can bring comfort and relief to the sick and the homebound.  We may not be able to cure hardships and misfortune as Jesus did for the paralytic at the pool, but we can help others carry their burdens.  We may not be able to multiply loaves of bread, but we can feed the hungry and clothe the naked.  We may not be able to walk on water, but we can guide others to a better path in life.  We may not be able to cure the blind, but we can help others to see the light of truth.  We may not be able to raise people from the dead, but we can help heal broken spirits and bring hope to those in desperate circumstances.  We can be the wine, bringing life and blessing to others.

These are the signs of what Jesus did that show us who Jesus is.  These signs also show us what we can do and who we can be through the transformative power of our relationship with Jesus.  These powerful signs motivate Paul to write in his letter to the Corinthians, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.  To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” (1 Cor 12:4-7).  By using our gifts in imitation of Jesus, we become a sign and instrument of God’s love in the world.  We become more like Jesus who in turn transforms us into who he is—compassionate, loving, nonjudgmental help for others.  We just need to follow the signs and do what Jesus tells us.

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[1] “Mary, the First Disciple”, by Lawrence S. Cunningham, St. Anthony Messenger (May 2020).

Connect to Act (Mk 2:1-12)

 

Healing stories in the New Testament often focus on one person who places hope and trust in Jesus in asking for a cure.  The story of the paralytic, however, takes a different turn.  Notice that he never asks anything of Jesus.  Nor do the four members of his faith community who help him.  Rather, with unspoken hope and trust, they simply take bold action for their neighbor.  They force their way through the crowd and rooftop into the presence of Jesus.  As soon as they arrive, Jesus acknowledges their combined show of faith and immediately heals the man in a complete sense—first from his sins and then from his paralysis.

This story reveals two aspects of faith that we often overlook:  one, faith connects us to each other, and two, faith transforms us into actors.  As to how faith connects us, this story shows that we can do more together in faith than we can do alone.  Obviously, the paralytic had his own faith in the healing power Jesus.  Otherwise, he would not have sought help from Jesus.  He could not act alone, however.  He needed others to help him realize the full expression of his faith.  Therefore, those from his faith community who provided the needed assistance also shared the paralytic’s faith in the healing power of Jesus.  Otherwise, they would not have brought him to Jesus for healing.  Thus, their faith connected them. 

This combined effort of faith demonstrates that faith is more than a solo, private experience of God.  This is true because “Christ is not simply the one in whom we believe…Christ is the one with whom we are united precisely in order to believe” (Lumen Fidei, 18, 22).  By this definition, faith does not function in isolation.  Faith by its nature is meant to be lived in and through a community of believers.  Faith connects us to each other. 

The second aspect of this story is that faith transforms us into actors.  Faith is not a passive experience born of rational analysis and mere assent of mind and heart.  Rather, faith finds expression in words and deeds based on the love of Christ.  Because Christ lives in complete and constant union with the Father, Christ is the supreme manifestation of God’s love, and the one who makes God known to us (cf. Jn 1:18).  As a result, when we live in union with Jesus, faith allows us to see things as Christ sees them, through the eyes of love, because this is how God sees things (1 Jn 4:7-9; LF 18). 

From this perspective, faith working through love motivates us to imitate the deeds of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus declares that those who believe in him will do the works that he does and even grater ones (Jn 14:12).  This is why Paul declares that, “In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:6).    

In short, the story about the paralytic reveals the difference that faith makes in our lives.  When we open our hearts to the faith and love offered by Jesus, faith connects us to each other in a way that transforms our hearts into an expression of his love.  Faith and love working together then enlarge and expand our lives in ways that we could never achieve on our own (LF 21).  Paul describes the ultimate consequences of faith on these terms when he says "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Gal 2:20).  In this same spirit, may our faith in Jesus Christ always keep us connected to each other and inspire us to action grounded in his love (Eph 3:17).

A Show of Faith (Lk 5:12-16)

The story about healing the leper is a focus on the nature of faith as a matter of hope and trust in the love of God.  Today, we tend to think of faith as the belief that God exists, while the content of faith is about the nature of God.  This modern understanding of faith does not do justice to how the ancient Hebrews understood faith. 

For them, faith was a two-way street.  God wanted and sought out a relationship with his people because he loves them.  In turn, they entered that relationship by placing their hope and trust in the love of God.  As a result, their faith shaped and influenced the way they lived their daily lives, both individually and as a community.  This is the background for the leper’s appeal to Jesus that also reveals a downside to this communal approach to life.

Notice that the leper does not ask Jesus for a cure.  By law and by ritual, the faith community viewed leprosy as God’s punishment for sin.  They also feared the moral impurity of the disease was as contagious as the physical aspects.  For that reason, they banished lepers to a life of isolation. No one was allowed to touch or even support a leper.  The only way a leper could rejoin the faith community was to be declared clean by competent religious authority.  This declaration was a formal sign that the leper’s sin had been forgiven, and a necessary first step in the process of reintegration into the community.

A desire for such reintegration is what motivates the man’s request of Jesus—If you wish, you can make me clean.  His desperate need to be among the living once again compels him to seek help from Jesus with hope and trust.  In essence, the leper’s request is a bold expression of his faith that acknowledges the divine authority of Jesus both to forgive sin and to heal physical ailments. 

Jesus affirms the validity of the leper’s faith by ignoring all religious and social taboo concerning lepers.  Instead, Jesus stretches out his hand, touches the man, and says, “I do will it.  Be made clean."  The compassion of Jesus demonstrates his unconditional love in a way that literally heals the man from his ailment. 

This story shows that Jesus loves us and yearns for us to seek him with all boldness and without fear.  Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest.  Jesus does not restrict who may seek him.  Jesus does not say to the leper:  Go get holy, and then knock on the door.  Rather, Jesus says:  Knock and I will open it; I will show you how to be holy. 

Jesus meets us where we are, regardless of our circumstances.  He looks for a show of faith, however much or little each of us can muster.  He is eager to respond to our faith with compassion.  This is how faith works.  That is also how love works.  The love that Jesus has for each of us is reason enough to place our hope and trust in him.