3rd Sunday Lent (B) 15 March 2009

四旬期第三主日(聖若望福音　2:13-25)

It is good to keep reminding ourselves that during this season of Lent we are getting ready for Easter and the time when we will make our profession of faith. It is a time when we state once again that we believe in God. Of course, it is more than simply uttering words that state what we believe. The important thing is that our belief puts us in a relationship with God, and this relationship shapes our lives and the way we live. To express our Lenten project in simple words we can say that we are moving to a deeper friendship with Jesus. To know him and to listen to his words are at the core of our faith. On each Sunday of Lent our readings help us to know Jesus better and to deepen that friendship. So let’s consider today’s gospel story.

The story of the cleansing of the Temple is a familiar one, but as we continue to wrestle with its meaning we should look out for clues as to what helps belief in Jesus and what hinders it. I would like to comment on two points. The first is at the beginning of the story when Jesus drives out those selling cattle, sheep and pigeons. I think we need to be clear about what is going on here. This sort of commerce was normal for the Temple. After all, the Temple was a place where sacrifice was offered, so people needed to acquire these animals in order to join in the Temple ritual. So the issue is not that there were stalls set up where people sold animals for sacrifice. Jesus can hardly object to this. Rather, he objects to the way this commerce is carried out. It is as though it is taking place with no thought for God and God’s commands. Instead, the laws of the market place and other forms of commerce have taken over. What is happening here is that people are simply going through certain ritual actions, but with no thought about what they mean. When Jesus tosses them out he is telling people that they need to pay attention to God, and they need to get their own lives in order. Another way of putting this is to say that there is a right way to sell these Temple animals, and it requires that it be linked to fidelity to God and relationship with God.

The second point I want to make about this gospel concerns the dialogue, in the second half, about the destruction of the Temple. Jesus is being asked for a sign to verify the authenticity of what he has done in casting out the sellers and moneychangers. In responding he points to a deeper meaning of what he has done in the Temple. He shifts the focus from the Temple made of stones to the Temple that is his own body. The destruction of the Temple now becomes a sign of what will happen to him. It points to his resurrection. At this point Jesus’ interrogators are shown up to be very different to his disciples. The interrogators don’t believe him; they can’t listen to his word. The disciples, we are told, believe what he says. We shouldn’t think that they understood what it all meant. Remember last week’s Gospel of the Transfiguration? At the end we are told that the three disciples discussed among themselves what rising from the dead might mean. In today’s gospel the disciples are the ones who listen to Jesus and believe in him. They believe not because they understand what will happen in the future, but because they recognise Jesus as the one who speaks the word of God. Of course, they will eventually come to recognise that he is truly the Word of God.

So what does all this mean for us? In the second half of this story we are confronted with a choice between belief and unbelief. This is an important reflection for us at this stage of Lent. Are we people of belief or unbelief? I presume that we will all want to say that we are people of belief; and I am sure we are. However, the gospel pushes this a bit further in Lent. The clue is in the first half of the story, where belief is about the connection we make between our words, actions, and relationships – in other words, the way we live – and our relationship with God. Let me take a concrete example, which is not unlike the gospel scene. During Lent we are encouraged to give something to the poor. Project Compassion is a good example of how we can do this. But Jesus is saying today that it is not simply about giving to the poor – even though this is important. Anyone of any religion or none can give to the poor. For us, particularly at this time of Lent, giving to the poor is an integral part of our belief in God. The point is that we need to avoid any dividing up of our lives into the faith parts and the other parts. All that we do should emerge from that deep source of our relationship with God.

The key to living this way is in our friendship with Jesus, because ever-deepening friendship with Jesus helps us to know him, to listen to him, and – to use the words of today’s gospel – to believe the words he says. I believe that this is particularly important for young people to ponder. A characteristic of that period of life we call youth is that relationships are being worked out, and these relationships help form an identity. A vibrant relationship with Jesus at this time of life is also important in shaping our identity, and giving us a source from which all our other actions can flow. As that relationship develops we truly become, like him, Temples of the living God.

Fr. Gerard Kelly

6th SUNDAY (B) 15 February 2009

常年期第六主日

Mk 1:40-45

We have just heard in today’s gospel the story of the cure of a leper. Did you notice as we were listening to it that the account of the cure was itself really quite brief, and that the conversation with Jesus after it was the main focus of the gospel. This makes us wonder whether the point of this story was to tell us about a leper, or to tell us something about Jesus. After all, the story comes in the opening chapter of the gospel. It creates a picture of who Jesus is, and what he is about, and we will see this picture developed as we listen to Mark’s gospel throughout this year.

So let’s look at what this gospel is telling us. At one level the leper is the centre of attention, probably because he is bold enough to break through the boundary that isolates him from the community and to approach Jesus. We need to remember that those who suffered from these types of skin disease, as we heard in our first reading, we required to stay apart from the community. This was not only for their own protection, but also to help prevent further infections in the community. After all, there weren’t the medicines and hospitals that we are used to that would treat these types of diseases. The consequence was that a leper was totally isolated from others. Just think what impact this must have had on them. I imagine that this leper was probably a young man, say in his 20s, who normally would have had his whole life ahead of him, full of possibility. Suddenly he is struck with this disease, and all that potential dissolves. What could have been a flourishing human life soon begins to wither. So we are dealing here with more than a physical disease. We are also dealing with human isolation and exclusion. We are seeing the alienation and diminishment of the human spirit. Even contact with God, and therefore with the source of spiritual nourishment and flourishing, is no longer possible. What’s more, there is no sense that this young man has done anything wrong to deserve this.

His words to Jesus seem a bit strange. He says, ‘if you want to, you can cure me’. You can imagine Jesus getting a bit angry at this sort of approach. So he re-affirms that he does truly want to heal. We see here the great desire of Jesus for human flourishing. We see Jesus demonstrate that human flourishing involves being re-connected with God and with the community. This is why he tells him to go to the priests so that his cure can be authenticated. In order that people fully comprehend his attitude Jesus not only speaks to the leper, but he touches him. Think of what this means! Jesus himself has crossed a boundary; he has touched a leper; he has exposed himself to the disease of the leper. Here we see in startling fashion Jesus’ solidarity with human beings and their predicament.

This is an important revelation about God. If we want to better know God then we need to ponder what we have just heard in this gospel. The crowds wonder at the power of God, but God’s power and authority have been manifest very differently to how they would have expected. God seems to embrace the vulnerability of the human condition in order to stand in solidarity with human beings. God’s power doesn’t work like magic, simply making it all better. The healing of human beings is more complex than that. We also need to take account of what happens to Jesus. In a somewhat suggestive way we are told that he can no longer move about and preach in the towns and villages. I suppose we can wonder if this is because he too has become ritually unclean. We will see this theme develop throughout Mark’s gospel as we listen to it during this year. The ultimate exclusion and alienation of Jesus will be seen as he dies outside the city on a cross. Already, at the beginning of the gospel, we can see that it will happen. Jesus warns the leper not to speak about the cure because he knows that it will be hard for people to face this image of God – the God who suffers and dies because he stands in solidarity with human alienation.

I wonder what this gospel, with its picture of the leper and of Jesus, might say to us today. I would like to direct my reflections on this particularly to young people, but I am sure that we will all be able to make the connection with our own lives, whatever our age. Youth is a time of great hope and yearning. It is when people begin to put in place those things that will help them realise their dreams and shape a life where they can flourish. Precisely because of this it is also a time of exploration and questioning, when lots of options are considered. It is a time when people sort out their own identity. This means that it can also be a time of vulnerability, and sometimes even alienation and fear. I believe that the gospel message today invites you to have the courage of the leper and to approach Jesus. What will Jesus offer? I hope we all know that life is far too complex for us to expect Jesus to offer some ready-made answer, as though he is going to relieve us of our freedom and responsibility for our own lives. However, in drawing close to him, and watching him closely you can be invited to reflect on his experience of isolation and alienation, and on his trust of God his Father through all of this. Ultimately, you are called to have the same sort of faith that the leper had. It is a faith that trusts God, a faith that is patient with God, confident that God will look favourably on you.

Fr. Gerard Kelly