An Unlikely Witness (Mk 6:17-29)

 

The testimony of a witness is often an important phenomenon in our society.  A witness is one who can provide information about what he or she has seen and heard.  A convincing witness always speaks with confidence.  The testimony of a witness, therefore, always depends on personal experience and confidence, along with a commitment to the truth and to reality. 

A witness can give several kinds of testimony, including firsthand knowledge, specialized knowledge, or knowledge about the character of someone.  Sometimes, one is considered an unlikely witness, even though that person might provide convincing testimony if given the chance.  John the Baptist was thought of in this way, considered by many as an unlikely witness to Christ.

John came into the world as a prophet, sent by God to testify to the light and prepare the way of the Lord.  John is an unlikely witness for Christ, however.  He is not a religious leader, nor even part of the religious establishment.  He lives on the margins of society, alone in the desert, with no visible means of support.  No one saw John as God’s chief witness.  Yet, that is what he is, proclaiming to others what he has seen and heard about the coming of the Lord Jesus.  Ultimately, his dedicated witness to Christ led to his cruel death at the hands of Herod.

John is not the only unlikely witness, nor is he the first.  The first is Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus.  She is a young, unmarried woman with no official role in the temple or synagogue worship.  As a woman, she is not even allowed to give testimony in a court of law.  Yet, God chose her as the first witness to proclaim the coming of the Lord to her cousin Elizabeth.  She is also the first to bring Christ to others—both at his birth and at Cana where she inaugurates his mission.

There are other unlikely witnesses—the lowly shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus.  The Samaritan woman at the well is an enemy of the Jews, and yet, her testimony inspires many to follow Jesus.  The women at the tomb are the first witnesses who provide crucial testimony about the resurrection of Jesus.  Perhaps the most famous unlikely witness to Jesus is Paul himself.  His persecution of Christians prior to his own conversion is legendary, while the powerful influence of his witness to the risen Jesus is unparalleled. 

As unlikely as these witnesses are, they all share three characteristics that serve as a model and inspiration for us, who are likewise called as witnesses to Christ.  The first characteristic is that they speak from personal experience.  Because a witness can only testify to what he or she has seen and heard, testimony always depends on personal experience and a commitment to what is real.  This explains why the Apostle John claims in his letter that, “we have seen for ourselves, and we attest that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world” (1 Jn 4:14). 

The second characteristic is that witnesses speak the truth with confidence.  The only reference point for confident, truthful testimony is reality itself, because reality and truth are one in the same—what is real is true, and what is true is real.  Because Christ describes himself as the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6), he reveals himself to be reality itself.  Therefore, to be a witness to Christ is to be a witness to the truth.  The truth that Jesus proclaims is that God loves us and longs for our love in return.  He wants to share his eternal joy with us.  This truth inspires the confident testimony of all witnesses to Christ.

The third characteristic shared by witnesses to Christ is that they speak to inspire faith in Jesus.  The gospel writer John, for example, says he writes his account so that we may come to believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief we may have life in his name (Jn 20:31).  This is his sole purpose—to awaken faith in Jesus—and the sole purpose of any testimony about Christ.  For this reason, Christian witness is not simply repeating someone else's take on the matter at hand, or reporting events as a detached observer.  A witness to Christ speaks to awaken faith in Christ.  Their testimony, through word and deed, brings the saving presence of Christ to others.

            Like the many unlikely witnesses to Christ, we too can draw on our personal experience and speak the truth with confidence to inspire faith in Jesus.  Like the early witnesses and those throughout the ages, our words and deeds done in faith are the testimony that brings Christ to others.  Our courage to be a faithful witness derives from the promise made by Jesus when he said: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father” (Mt 10:32).  We pray for the Holy Spirit to help us make good on our calling and role as an unlikely witness to Christ.

Mary, Queen and Mother (Mt 22:34-40)

 

With his 1954 encyclical, To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII established the feast celebrating the Queenship of Mary.  In that encyclical, Pius states that, “From early times Christians have believed with good reason…that Mary received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God…and when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection between mother and son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God” (Ad Caeili Reginam, 8).

Pius was convinced that Mary deserves the title Queen primarily because of the way she lived out the commandments to love God and one another as we love ourselves.  Her life demonstrates that she understood this directive as a call to live in the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Christ.  She embraced the idea that Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Mt 5:17). 

Jesus offers proof with the two great commandments of love that summarize the Mosaic Law the prophets.  With this summary, Jesus means that love itself—both of God and of neighbor—is at the root and the heart of the entire Mosaic Law and the motivation behind all that the prophets uttered.  This proof inspires St. Paul to claim in his letter to the Romans that we should “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rm 13:8).

This commandment to love is more than a rule to obey.  When Jesus says to his disciples to “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34; 15:12), he means that love is the only measure of a morally good life.  This interpretation is more in keeping with the way the ancient Hebrews understood the word commandment.  For them, a commandment was a wise directive rather than an obligation.  In that sense, following the commandments of God reflected a wise choice to go on the right road in life.

We know we are on the right road, therefore, when we allow the principle of love to direct our lives, our thoughts, our goals, our actions.  To be guided by love is the only way we can live in the Spirit of Christ according to the Law of Christ.  Like Mary, our lives then become holy because our way of living reflects our acceptance of God’s invitation to be holy as he is holy (Lv 11:44; 1 Pt 1:16). 

For this reason, Mary does not leave us alone in our response to this invitation from the one true God.  Mary is the Queen of Heaven, who stands ready and willing to help us stay on the right road of love.  The Holy Spirit is likewise our eager guide and helper who yearns to transform our lives with the principle of love.  In a special way, the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us in our hearts, in our reflections, through our prayers, and through the wisdom of others to deepen and enrich our journey with Jesus.  How this encounter happens is different for each of us.  There are many gifts, but one Spirit. 

Send forth your Spirit, Oh Lord, and each of us shall be created, each of us made new, each of us transformed into persons who can lead better lives, even in the most complicated circumstances.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to love others and touch their lives as Christ loves and touches each of us.  This is the simple message of Jesus—to live in his Spirit, rooted in the commandment to love God and one another as we love ourselves.  This is the road that honors the Queenship of Mary. 

A Fork in the Road (C 20 Sun 25; Lk 12:49-53)

 

We have all come to a fork in the road in our lives, and we took it.  Whether we took the right fork is not always clear, but we made a choice.  Jesus presents his disciples with a fork in the road that reveals the decisive character of his mission.  On the one hand, he says to the disciples, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51).  Yet, at the last supper, he says to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:27).  So, which is it?  Does Jesus bring peace or does he bring division? 

As contradictory as it sounds, he brings both.  The purpose of his mission in one sense is to expose the illusions and false values of the world.  Jesus uses fire to symbolize the emotional urgency he feels in accomplishing this goal, even at the cost of his own life.  Jesus shares this yearning with his disciples when he says that he came to set the earth on fire and longs for the day when that will be a reality.  His sense of urgency indicates the powerful transformation his message will have through the Spirit.

Jesus’ coming into the world is therefore a spiritually decisive moment.  Jesus comes with a message that will divide those who choose to follow him from those who don’t.  One either accepts his message or one rejects it.  There is no in between.  As he puts it, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Mt 12:30).  Even in our own day, we cannot stand on the sidelines, waiting for the right moment.  Withholding a decision to follow Jesus is in effect a decision not to follow him.  So much for the division brought about by his coming into the world.

Jesus also comes as the Prince of Peace with a message that seeks peace and unity guided by the eyes of love (Is 9:5).  This is why Jesus often uses the greeting “Peace be with you” throughout his earthly mission.  His greeting shows that bringing peace is his primary intention, but a different kind of peace than the peace offered by the world.  Jesus brings peace of heart.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, he says.  But, how does that happen?  What brings about unity and peace of heart?  How do we realize the peace that Jesus guarantees (see Jn 14:27)?

In a word, trust—trust in God and following his Word rather than our own devices.  Placing our trust in God underscores our vulnerability, for sure, but trust in God is the only road to unity and peace of heart.  St. Paul relies on this premise in his letter to the Philippians when he says, “Only the peace of God can guard our hearts and sustain us in times of trouble” (Phil 4:7; Col 3:15).

Although achieving peace today can be a difficult challenge, many of St. Paul’s letters offer sound advice in that regard.  In his letter to the Ephesians, for example, Paul urges us to live in a manner worthy of the calling that we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Eph 4:1-6).  This advice suggests that peace and unity are fundamentally a matter of choice.  We can choose to live in unity and peace with our neighbor, or not.

To realize that goal, Paul urges us not to grieve the Spirit of God.  He makes it plain that we can do this by removing all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and all malice from our thinking about things and in our manner of relating to others.  In place of these, Paul advises us to be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven us (Eph 4:30-32).  This is the heart of Christian living that comes from a choice to be friends with God and with each other. 

True friendship born of love for God and neighbor promotes peace of heart and unity on a spiritual level.  On this level, Jesus offers his friends peace and unity.  Living out this friendship with integrity yields the lasting peace of heart that Jesus longs to share with us.  Sounds simple, but trust in God who works all things for our good is the sure road that leads to peace of heart and unity among us (Rm 8:28).  The choice to follow that road or not is ours. 

Jesus calls attention to the reality of choice in his Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).  For most of us, bringing peace to countries at war is beyond our reach.  Choosing peace over conflict and discord in ordinary living, however, is not.  We do it all the time in our families, our friendships, our jobs, and our communities.  We choose to live in peace with our families, our friends, our colleagues, our neighbors. 

We have come to understand that there is no need to return insult for insult.  We know how to resist evil by not seeking revenge or harming others (1Pt 3:9).  In the words of Isaiah, we often must heal the wounds that destroy and relieve the hurt that divides (Is 1:16-17).  When we allow peace to rule our hearts in this way, we serve the God of Peace.

Living in peace with others is our call as human beings and children of God (Col 3:15).  We carry out this call by living in a manner consistent with the values of Christ.  This is the essence of a good moral life, to live with integrity as Christ lived in the world.  To live with the heart and mind of Christ is a decision to live by his principles, to work for peace, to show mercy, to seek justice, and to do good to and for others.  This is the path of love that we follow in imitation of Jesus.  On the path of love, we can be sure that the peace and unity offered by God will be ours for the asking (Heb 12:14).

Her Rightful Place (Lk 1:39-56)

 

Although the Assumption was not declared a dogma until 1950, the feast of the Assumption is really an ancient celebration of the life and destiny of our Blessed Mother.  From the early 6^th century on, this feast in essence commemorates the way Mary lived her entire life in union with Christ.  The possibility of their union begins with her own immaculate conception, free from sin, while it becomes a reality at the Annunciation with her consent to be the mother of Jesus.  Mary’s reply was more than passive acceptance of what the angel Gabriel said to her.  Her consent expressed her profound belief that the Holy Spirit would accomplish all that was revealed to her (Lk 1:30-35). 

Mary’s response in essence was to place her trust in God and devote herself to Christ even before she understood the full effects of that commitment.  She acknowledges and gives voice to her trusting surrender to God in her great Magnificat at the Visitation.  On that occasion, Mary says to Elizabeth, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.  From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.” (Lk 1:46-49). 

With these words, Mary becomes the first evangelizer, bearing in her womb the Word made flesh, bringing that Word to Elizabeth and the baby John.  On this occasion, Mary also becomes the first “tabernacle” wherein the Son of God remains invisible to human eyes, all the while radiating his divine light through the eyes and voice of his mother.  In this way, Mary’s life was a living Eucharist and her assumption the rightful culmination of the way she lived—in humble, joyful, and complete surrender to God. 

Mary’s trust in God is a fitting model for how we too can live in union with Christ.  As St. Paul reminds the Corinthians, our bodies are living tabernacles with Christ hidden in our hearts, eagerly waiting for the opportunity to express his love through us toward others (1 Cor 6:15-17).  This feast is therefore a reminder of our own destiny as well.   

Mary shows us how to live out our destiny most clearly at Cana when she said to the wine steward, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).  In the same way, we demonstrate our own trust in Jesus when we do whatever he tells us.  Like Mary, we do so without understanding the full ramifications of what that means for our lives.  That is the nature of authentic trust.  We do not need a complete picture of how it all turns out before we commit ourselves to the journey of trust in God.  This is how Mary lived with Jesus throughout her life. 

From the beginning, Mary also understood that Jesus came for others, especially the stranger, the foreigner, the oddly dressed, the downtrodden, the sinner.  She knows that we encounter Jesus more often in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.  Perhaps for this reason she and Joseph lived very ordinary lives with Jesus in virtual obscurity for the first 30 years of his life.  At the same time, Mary understood that being in communion with Jesus meant sharing Her Son with others. 

Mary’s trust in the way of God does not mean her life was easy any more than it means that for our lives.  We know that Mary often endured deep pain and sorrow during her life, especially at the death of her beloved Jesus, just as we suffer for our loved ones.  Despite the pain and difficulties she endured, Mary remained faithful to her son.  She knew that Jesus is our ever-present, devoted companion who sheds light on our own way of life and helps us shed that light for others.  It is no wonder that the union between Mary and her Son would culminate in her assumption, body and soul, at the end of her earthly life. 

This is the spiritual legacy that we have inherited from our Blessed Mother.  Her trust in God and humble devotion to Christ is the model for our own way of life.  Mary embraced the two great commandments of love with her whole heart and soul in union with Christ.  By following Mary’s example, we can expect that same union to continue into eternity at the end our own earthly life.  May we always hold Jesus in our hearts like Mary and share his love with others as she did, especially with those who need him most.

Faith or Sight, Save or Lose (Mt 16:24-28; 10:39; Lk 9:24)

 

Jesus presents an interesting challenge for us today when he compares saving one’s life as a matter of self-interest with losing one’s life for his sake.  The point seems to be that, if I conduct my life along the lines that God expects of me like Jesus did in his life, then I can expect that whatever happens will be to my benefit.  In other words, losing my life for Jesus means imitating him by trusting God to bring about good no matter how bleak things may appear at the time.  St. Paul relies on this same idea in his letter to the Romans when he says, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called to his purpose” (Rm 8:28).

Here’s the challenge.  Putting that kind of trust in God goes against the modern focus on autonomy and self-reliance.  From an early age, we learn that God helps those who help themselves.  Accepting responsibility for our lives is a good thing, but in the process, we tend to forget about trusting God to show us the way.  We take the helm and hope that God catches up.  We pray to God for help in carrying out our will, not his.  Our faith reflects our desire to save our lives.  We just hope that God concurs.

Losing life for Jesus, on the other hand, calls for a different starting point that Proverbs describes in this way: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov 3:5-6).  Trust in any sense is a choice.  In this case, we can choose to be guided either by belief and trust in Jesus, or by our own interests.  As St. Paul would say, we can live either by sight or by faith (2 Cor 5:7).  When we live by faith, our lives take on a different focus.

With many parables, Jesus indicates that living by faith is a power to act a certain way, something that we do.  We act with faith.  This is why he says to his followers, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father...” (Mt 7:21; Mk 3:35).  Faith is not only believing in God; it also means doing the will of our heavenly Father.  We must be doers of the Word; not just hearers (Jm 1:22).  We can trust Jesus to show us the way.

Faith on these terms is an active way of living that centers on imitating God’s love for his children and his creation.  St. Paul describes faith as putting on the mind and heart of Christ and trying to do what God wants.  For Paul, whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2Cor 5:17).  As a new creation, our faith compels us to imitate the love of Jesus in the ordinary circumstances of our lives—however we understand our situation.  This is how St. Dominic, whose feast we celebrate today, lived his life.

Today, we celebrate the way Dominic relied on faith to discover and achieve the purpose of his life.  Dominic proves that having faith and trust in God does not mean surrendering who we are or what we want.  Quite the opposite.  To live in faith means being true to ourselves as God has fashioned us to be.  The expectation is that we do this in imitation of Jesus.  His love for God motivated his love and care for others, all of whom he viewed as the beloved children of God.  Jesus calls us to do the same with our whole hearts and minds.  Imitating Jesus is faith in action, trusting God and doing our best in the circumstances at hand.

To Hear or Not to Hear (Mt 13:54-58; Mk 6:1-6)

 

The official name of the Redemptorists is the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.  They are a missionary order founded in Italy by St. Alphonsus Liguori whose feast we celebrate today.  The Redemptorists are dedicated to serving the poor and to preaching the Word.  St. Alphonsus was popular in his day due in large part to his simple preaching style. He prided himself on his sermons being effective because they were easy to understand. 

His sermons were also effective because of his devotion to proclaiming the truth.  As a result, the truth of what he proclaimed often brought about conversions to the faith, as well as the return of many who had left.  It seems appropriate, therefore, that today’s gospel is about hearing and accepting the truth, especially when it comes from unexpected sources.

After Jesus spent time in the desert, the Holy Spirit strengthened Jesus to begin his public ministry in his native town of Nazareth.  Jesus enters the synagogue there on the Sabbath and reads the now familiar passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.”  Jesus then says to his listeners, “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).

The people of Nazareth do not accept what Jesus says, however, because they are hard of heart. They take offense at what he says, for they are sure that a mere carpenter’s son cannot teach them anything, let alone teach with authority.  Their haughty attitude leads them to reject his teaching and force Jesus out of town.  Saddened by their lack of faith, Jesus claims that no prophet is accepted in his native place.

            Saddened but not deterred, however, Jesus next goes to the city of Capernaum where he has a very different experience.  In Capernaum, Jesus also teaches in the synagogue, but unlike the people of Nazareth, the people of Capernaum listen carefully to what Jesus says.  They accept his authoritative interpretation of scripture and the truth of what he proclaims.   They are open to the teaching of Jesus because their hearts are open to the Holy Spirit.

            The contrast between Capernaum and Nazareth has meaning for us today.  On the one hand, we often act like the people of Nazareth.  We box people in and do not let the truth of what they say reach our hearts.  We do not hear the truth because they do not fit our idea of what a genuine teacher of truth looks and acts like.  It is even easier to reject such persons when we know negative things about them.  Then, we too are sure that a mere “carpenter’s son” cannot teach with any authority.  We miss out on the truth.

            There are other times, however, when we are like the people in Capernaum.  We trust the Holy Spirit to guard our hearts and minds.  This enables us to listen with an open mind to what others have to say.  We then can accept the truth of what we hear, no matter who proclaims that truth.  When we place our hope and trust in the Holy Spirit, we open ourselves to the presence of Jesus in others.  The Holy Spirit in turn enables us to set aside our bias and preconceived ideas.  Only then can we recognize and accept the truth being proclaimed.