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Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time B
September 30, 2012
Reading I: Numbers 11:25-29
Responsorial Psalm: 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14
Reading II: James 5:1-6
Gospel: Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Reading 1 (in part):
This is a collection of sayings of Jesus that are not connected by anything in their content. Rather in the original Greek they are connected simply by one word leading to another as a reminder for memorising. It is therefore not very useful to look for a common theme, or even to comment on each of them.
At one level the messages are basic, common sense ethics.
At another level, the evangelists have introduced a theme that goes beyond the ethical, touching on the mystery of Jesus the Christ. Look at these phrases: "in my name"; "because you belong to Christ"; "who believe in me". At first they might seem to focus the moral injunction on followers of Jesus to the implied exclusion of non believers. This of course doesn't wash. As we see it today, there is every reason to respect and acknowledge the good being done in the name of the Buddha or Krishna or The Prophet, or even simply in the name of humanity. The ethical injunction is universal.
Why then does the gospel include these qualifying references to Christ as if they would limit the scope of the injunction? Perhaps they are not limiting but opening out to more, much more.
As often happens, it was while wondering about these phrases that an insight came from something I was reading. It was Eugene Stockton's "The Deep Within", p. 36:
Is this not the key to those phrases in the present gospel passage? Moral injunctions are not the primary purpose of the gospel; these are presupposed and taken as already given. The gospel is underlining the "deeper order of reality" of being "in Christ". If this is so, then on the one hand it is possible to be "in Christ" without being "one of us" - so, the man doing great things in the name of Jesus, and on the other hand there is another level of harm if anyone should cause one of these "little ones who believe in me" to stumble. Finally being "in Christ" can make demands that life of itself does not make, calling for the cutting off of what might hold one back.
This other level of harm has been experienced by those who have been abused by men and women consecrated to God as the ultimate betrayal. In the end it is seen as the most shocking desecration of all that is holy both in the assembly of the church and in oneself. I suspect that only if such an abused person can approach the one who is accursed on the cross might they find healing, for Christ made himself accursed to this end, as Paul intimates in more than one place.
Let's wind up with Moses' wish:
I have a friend who suffered an abusive childhood. In her twenties she came to the priests looking for help to sort things out, but we didn't have a clue and our pious formulas didn't touch her problems. She tried the psychologists who gave her electric shock treatment that made things worse (this was back in the 60's). Then someone took her to a session of an evangelical healing ministry where they prayed over her with faith, and prayed for the healing of her memories, and in time she was cured. It took years, of course, to consolidate that cure, and so on, but her faith in Jesus as Lord has never wavered since that time. She is fully engaged in helping people who need help, in praying for those who need prayer, in sharing her absolute and vibrant faith in The Lord. When I was going into hospital last month for open heart surgery she sent an email around her network and suddenly I had the support of a host of people who really believe in the power of prayer and who call upon the name of The Lord Jesus with confidence. While I am not inclined to adopt this culture for myself, I have nothing but admiration for those who do such great works in Jesus' name.
It is our purpose in these commentaries on the Sunday readings that all the people might be prophets, sharing their insights from wherever they arise, for the building up of the community and for mutual encouragement.
Reading 1 (in part):
So, when a young man quickly told Moses,
"Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, "
Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said,
"Moses, my lord, stop them."
But Moses answered him,
"Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!
Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!"
Gospel:
At that time, John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"
This is a collection of sayings of Jesus that are not connected by anything in their content. Rather in the original Greek they are connected simply by one word leading to another as a reminder for memorising. It is therefore not very useful to look for a common theme, or even to comment on each of them.
At one level the messages are basic, common sense ethics.
At another level, the evangelists have introduced a theme that goes beyond the ethical, touching on the mystery of Jesus the Christ. Look at these phrases: "in my name"; "because you belong to Christ"; "who believe in me". At first they might seem to focus the moral injunction on followers of Jesus to the implied exclusion of non believers. This of course doesn't wash. As we see it today, there is every reason to respect and acknowledge the good being done in the name of the Buddha or Krishna or The Prophet, or even simply in the name of humanity. The ethical injunction is universal.
Why then does the gospel include these qualifying references to Christ as if they would limit the scope of the injunction? Perhaps they are not limiting but opening out to more, much more.
As often happens, it was while wondering about these phrases that an insight came from something I was reading. It was Eugene Stockton's "The Deep Within", p. 36:
'Elsewhere I have described this habitual awareness of depth, and its accompanying enhanced sense of celebration, on the part of Aborigines, as "living within the myth" (1995:89-92). This is not living in a fiction but in another deeper order of reality. It was pointed out that a comparable Christian experience is expressed in the biblical "the just man lives by faith". In the Church the faithful share a common mind, an awareness, that is now spread around the world and stretches back in time as an unbroken tradition. This is an awareness of the pervading presence of Christ. So Paul often speaks of living/being "in Christ". A Christian can truly address Christ: "You are my life" if Christ is truly a world in which he lives (as the habitat of water for the fish, or of air for land animals) an atmosphere wrapping around and sustaining life...'
Is this not the key to those phrases in the present gospel passage? Moral injunctions are not the primary purpose of the gospel; these are presupposed and taken as already given. The gospel is underlining the "deeper order of reality" of being "in Christ". If this is so, then on the one hand it is possible to be "in Christ" without being "one of us" - so, the man doing great things in the name of Jesus, and on the other hand there is another level of harm if anyone should cause one of these "little ones who believe in me" to stumble. Finally being "in Christ" can make demands that life of itself does not make, calling for the cutting off of what might hold one back.
This other level of harm has been experienced by those who have been abused by men and women consecrated to God as the ultimate betrayal. In the end it is seen as the most shocking desecration of all that is holy both in the assembly of the church and in oneself. I suspect that only if such an abused person can approach the one who is accursed on the cross might they find healing, for Christ made himself accursed to this end, as Paul intimates in more than one place.
*****
Let's wind up with Moses' wish:
Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!I wonder do we recognise the Spirit active all around us, or are we so locked into the institution that we can't feel our communities vibrant with life.
Would that the Lord might bestow his spirit on them all!
I have a friend who suffered an abusive childhood. In her twenties she came to the priests looking for help to sort things out, but we didn't have a clue and our pious formulas didn't touch her problems. She tried the psychologists who gave her electric shock treatment that made things worse (this was back in the 60's). Then someone took her to a session of an evangelical healing ministry where they prayed over her with faith, and prayed for the healing of her memories, and in time she was cured. It took years, of course, to consolidate that cure, and so on, but her faith in Jesus as Lord has never wavered since that time. She is fully engaged in helping people who need help, in praying for those who need prayer, in sharing her absolute and vibrant faith in The Lord. When I was going into hospital last month for open heart surgery she sent an email around her network and suddenly I had the support of a host of people who really believe in the power of prayer and who call upon the name of The Lord Jesus with confidence. While I am not inclined to adopt this culture for myself, I have nothing but admiration for those who do such great works in Jesus' name.
It is our purpose in these commentaries on the Sunday readings that all the people might be prophets, sharing their insights from wherever they arise, for the building up of the community and for mutual encouragement.