Lectio Divina (465)
"Lectio divina is an authentic source of Christian spirituality recommended by our Rule. We therefore practice it every day, so that we may develop a deep and genuine love for it, and so that we may grow in the surpassing knowledge of Christ. In this way we shall put into practice the Apostle Paul’s commandment, which is mentioned in our Rule: “Let the sword of the spirit, the Word of God, live abundantly in your mouth and in your hearts; and whatever you must do, do it in the name of the Lord.”
Carmelite Constitutions (No. 82)
1) Opening prayer
God our Father,
through Christ Your Son
the hope of eternal life dawned on our world.
Give to us the light of faith
that we may always acknowledge Him as our Redeemer
and come to the glory of His kingdom,
where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 4:14-22a
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
3) Reflection
• Animated by the Spirit, Jesus returns toward Galilee and begins to announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Being in the community and teaching in the synagogues, He reaches Nazareth where He grew up. He was returning to the community where, since the time He was small, had participated in the celebration - for thirty years. The following Saturday, according to His custom, He went to the synagogue to be with the people and to participate in the celebrations.
• Jesus rises to read. He chooses a text from Isaiah which speaks about the poor, of prisoners, of the blind and the oppressed. The text reflects the situation of the people of Galilee in the time of Jesus. In the name of God, Jesus takes a stand to defend the life of His people, and with the words of Isaiah, He defines His mission: to proclaim the Good News to the poor, to proclaim freedom to prisoners, to restore sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. Going back to the ancient tradition of the prophets, He proclaims “a year of grace of the Lord”. He proclaims a jubilee year. Jesus wants to reconstruct the community, the clan, in such a way that once again it may be the expression of their faith in God! And then, as God is Father of all, we should all be brothers and sisters of one another.
• In ancient Israel, the great family, the clan or community, was the basis of living together. It was the protection of families and of the people, the guarantee of the possession of the land, the principal channel of tradition, and the defense of the people. It was a concrete way of embodying the love of God in the love for neighbor. To defend the clan, the community, was the same as defending the Covenant with God. In Galilee at the time of Jesus, there was a two-fold segregation, that of the politics of Herod Antipas (4 BC to 39 AD) and the segregation of the official religion. This became the system of exploitation and of repression of the politics of Herod Antipas supported by the Roman Empire. Many people were homeless, excluded, and without work (Lk 14:21; Mt 20:3, 5-6). The result was that the clan, the community, was weakened. The families and the people remained without any help, without any defense. The official religion maintained by the religious authorities of the time, instead of strengthening the community in a way in which it could receive and accept the excluded, strengthened this segregation even more. The law of God was used to legitimize the exclusion of many people: women, children, Samaritans, foreigners, lepers, the possessed, publicans, the sick, the mutilated, the handicapped. It was all the opposite of the fraternity which God had dreamt for all! This was the political and economic situation, as well as the religious ideology. Everything conspired to weaken the local community and hinder the manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ program, based on the prophecy of Isaiah, offered an alternative.
• After finishing the reading, Jesus updated the text applying it to the life of the people, saying, “Today, this reading, which you have heard with your own ears, has been fulfilled!” His way of joining the bible to the life of the people produced a two-fold reaction. Some remained surprised and amazed. Others had a negative reaction. Some were scandalized and wanted to have nothing more to do with Him. They said, “Is He not the son of Joseph?” (Lk 4:22). Why were they scandalized? They were because Jesus says to accept and receive the poor, the blind, the oppressed. But they did not accept His proposal. And thus, when He presented His project to accept the excluded, He Himself was excluded!
4) Personal questions
• Jesus joined faith in God with the social situation of His people. How do I live my faith in God?
• Where I live, are there any blind, prisoners, or oppressed? How do I treat them?
• How do I treat immigrants and foreigners? Is it with inclusion and love, or not? Do I also use “the law” to segregate people?
5) Concluding prayer
May His name be blessed for ever,
and endure in the sight of the sun.
In Him shall be blessed every race in the world,
and all nations call Him blessed. (Ps 72:17)
Jesus heals Bartimaeus, the blind man from Jericho
The blind see! Let those who see not be deceived!
Mark 10:46-52
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross, that seemed to be the end of all hope, became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, Son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
This Sunday’s Gospel tells the story of the healing of Bartimaeus, the blind man from Jericho (Mk 10:46-52). This story includes a long instruction from Jesus to His disciples (Mk 8:22 to 10:52). Mark places the healing of the anonymous blind man at the beginning of this instruction (Mk 8:22-26). Then, at the end, he tells us of the healing of the blind man from Jericho. As we shall see, the two healings are symbols of what went on between Jesus and His disciples. They point to the process and purpose of the slow learning by the disciples. They describe a starting point (the anonymous blind man) and an end point (Bartimaeus) of Jesus’ instruction to His disciples and to all of us.
As we read, we shall try to look at the attitudes of Jesus, the blind Bartimaeus and the people of Jericho, and at all that each of them says and does. As you read and meditate on the text, think that you are looking into a mirror. Which image of you is it reflecting: that of Jesus, of the blind Bartimaeus, or of the people?
b) A division of the text as a help to the reading:
Mark 10:46: The description of the context of the episode
Mark 10:47: The cry of the poor
Mark 10:48: The reaction of the people to the cry of the poor
Mark 10:49-50: Jesus’ reaction to the cry of the poor
Mark 10:51-52: The conversation between Jesus and the blind man and his healing
c) Text:
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. 
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What did you like best in this text? Why?
b) What is Jesus’ attitude: what does He say and do?
c) What is the attitude of the people of Jericho: what do they say and do?
d) What is Bartimaeus’ attitude: what does he say and do?
e) What lesson can we learn from the healing of the blind Bartimaeus?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) The context of Jesus’ long instruction to his disciples:
The healing of the anonymous blind man at the beginning of the instruction, takes place in two phases (Mk 8:22-26). In the first phase the blind man begins to perceive things, but barely. He sees people as if they were trees (Mk 8:24). In the second phase, after the second trial, he begins to understand better. The disciples were like the anonymous blind man: they accepted Jesus as Messiah, but they could not accept the cross (Mk 8:31-33). They were people who saw people as trees. Their faith in Jesus was not strong. They continued to be blind! When Jesus insisted on service and the giving of one’s life (Mk 8:31,34; 9:31; 10:33-34), among themselves they insisted on knowing who was the most important (Mk 9:34), and they continued to ask for the first places in the Kingdom, one on the right and the other on the left of the throne (Mk 10:35-37). This shows that the dominant ideology of the time had taken deep root in their mentality. After living with Jesus for a number of years, they had not yet been renewed enough to see things and people. They looked at Jesus with the eyes of the past. They wanted Him to be what they imagined He should be: a glorious Messiah (Mk 8:32). But the aim of Jesus’ instruction was that His disciples might be like the blind Bartimaeus who accepted Jesus as He was, a faith that Peter did not have as yet. Thus Bartimaeus is a model for the disciples of Jesus’ time and for the community of Mark’s time as well as for all of us.
b) A commentary on the text:
Mark 10:46-47: The description of the context of the episode: The cry of the poor
At last, after a long walk, Jesus and His disciples come to Jericho, the last stop before going up to Jerusalem. The blind Bartimaeus is sitting by the side of the road. He cannot take part in the procession that accompanies Jesus. He is blind. He can see nothing. But he shouts, calling for the Lord’s help: “Son of David! Have pity on me!” The expression “Son of David” was the most common title that people ascribed to the Messiah (Mt 21:9; Mk 11:10). But Jesus did not like this title. He criticized and questioned the attitude of the doctors of the law who taught the people that the Messiah would be the Son of David (Mk 12:35-37).
Mark 10:48: The reaction of the people to the cry of the poor
The cry of the poor feels uncomfortable, unpleasant. Those who were following the procession with Jesus try to keep Bartimaeus quiet. But “he shouted all the louder!” Today too the cry of the poor feels uncomfortable. Today there are millions who shout: migrants, prisoners, hungry people, sick people, those marginalized and oppressed, the unemployed, without wages, without a home, without a roof, without land, who never feel loved! Their shouts are silenced, in our homes, in the churches, in world organizations. Only those who open their eyes to what is happening in the world will listen to them. But many are those who have stopped listening. They’ve gotten used to the situation. Others try to silence the cries, as they tried with the blind man from Jericho. But they cannot silence the cry of the poor. God listens to them (Ex 2:23-24; 3:7). God says: “You will not ill-treat widows or orphans; if you ill-treat them in any way and they make an appeal to Me for help, I shall certainly hear their appeal!” (Ex 22:21).
Mark 10:49-50: Jesus’ reaction to the cry of the poor
What does Jesus do? How does God hear this cry? Jesus stops and orders the blind man to be brought to Him. Those who wanted to silence him, to silence the uncomfortable cry of the poor, now, at Jesus’ request, see themselves bound to act in such a way as to bring the poor to Jesus. Bartimaeus leaves everything and goes to Jesus. Not that he possessed much, just a cloak. It is all he has to cover his body (cf. Ex 22:25-26). It is his security, his solid land!
Mark 10:51-52: The conversation between Jesus and the blind man and his healing
Jesus asks: “What do you want Me to do for you?” It is not enough to shout. One must know what one is shouting for! The blind man answers: “My teacher! Let me see again!” Bartimaeus addressed Jesus in a manner not at all common, even as we have seen, with the title “Son of David” that Jesus did not like (Mk 12:35-37). But Bartimaeus has more faith in Jesus than in the ideas and titles concerning Jesus. Not so the others present. They do not see what is necessary, like Peter (Mk 8:32). Bartimaeus knows how to give his life by accepting Jesus without any conditions. Jesus says to him: “Go! Your faith has saved you!” At once his sight was restored. He leaves everything and follows Jesus (Mk 10:52). His healing is the result of his faith in Jesus (Mk 10:46-52). Now healed, Bartimaeus follows Jesus and goes with him up to Jerusalem and to Calvary! He becomes a model disciple for Peter and for all of us: to put our faith more in Jesus than in our ideas about Jesus!
c) Further information:
The context of the journey to Jerusalem
Jesus and His disciples are on the way to Jerusalem (Mk 10:32). Jesus goes before them. He is in a hurry. He knows that they will kill Him. The prophet Isaiah had foretold this (Is 50:4-6; 53:1-10). His death is not something that will come about through blind destiny or an established plan, but as a consequence of an assumed duty, of a mission received from the Father together with those excluded of His time. Jesus warns the disciples three times concerning the torture and death that await Him in Jerusalem (Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:33). The disciple must follow His master, even to suffering with Him (Mk 8:34-35). The disciples are taken aback and go with Him full of fear (Mk 9:32). They do not understand what is happening. Suffering was not part of the idea they had of the Messiah (Mk 8:32-33; Mt 16:22). Not only did some of them not understand, but they kept on cherishing personal ambitions. James and John ask for a place in the glory of His Kingdom, one on the right hand and one on the left of Jesus (Mk 10:35-37). They want to go above Peter! They do not understand Jesus’ plan. They are only concerned with their own interests. This reflects the fights and tensions that existed in the communities of Mark’s time and that exist even now in our communities. Jesus reacts decisively: “You do not know what you are asking!” (Mk 10:38) He asks them if they are capable of drinking the cup that He will drink and receive the baptism that He will receive. The cup is the cup of suffering, and the baptism is the baptism of blood. Jesus wants to know whether rather than taking a place of honor they will be willing to give their lives even to death. They answer, “We can” (Mk 8:39). This seems to be an answer that comes from their lips because a few days later they abandon Jesus and leave Him alone at the hour of suffering (Mk 14:50). They have but a little critical conscience; they do not see His personal reality. In His instruction to the disciples, Jesus stresses the exercise of authority (cf. Mk 9:33-35). In those days, those who held power paid no attention to the people. They acted according to their ideas (cf. Mk 6:17-29). The Roman Empire controlled the world and kept it submissive by force and thus, by means of tributes, taxes and customs, was able to concentrate the wealth of the people in the hands of a few in Rome. Society was characterized by the exercise of repression and the abuse of power. Jesus thinks otherwise. He says: “Among you this is not to happen. No, anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant!” (Mk 10:43). He tells them to avoid privileges and rivalry. He turns the system upside-down and stresses service as a means of overcoming personal ambition. Finally He gives His own life in witness of what He said: “The Son of Man Himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).
Faith is a force that transforms people
The Good News of the Kingdom says that Jesus is like a fertilizer. He makes the seed of life grow in people, a seed hidden like fire under the embers of observance, lifeless. Jesus blows on the embers and the fire glows, the Kingdom is revealed and people rejoice. The condition is always the same: faith in Jesus.
When fear takes hold of a person, faith disappears and hope is extinguished. During His moment of torment, Jesus scolds His disciples for their lack of faith (Mk 4:40). They do not believe, because they are afraid (Mk 4:41). Jesus could not work miracles in Nazareth because people there did not believe (Mk 6:6). They did not believe because Jesus did not measure up to their ideas of how He should be (Mk 6:2-3). It is precisely lack of faith that prevents the disciples from driving out the “dumb spirit” who ill-treats a sick child (Mk 9:17). Jesus criticizes them: “Faithless generation!” (Mk 9:19). Then He tells them how to re-kindle faith: “This is the kind that can only be driven out by prayer” (Mk 9:29).
Jesus urged people to have faith in Him and consequently created trust in others (Mk 5:34,36; 7:25-29; 9:23-29; 10:52; 12:34,41-44). Throughout Mark’s Gospel, faith in Jesus and in His word is like a force that transforms people. It enables people to have their sins forgiven (Mk 2:5), to overcome suffering (Mk 4:40), to have the power to heal and purify themselves (Mk 5:34). Faith obtains the victory over death, as when the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus enkindles in her father faith in Jesus and His words (Mk 5:36). Faith makes Bartimaeus jump for joy: “Your faith has saved you!” (Mk 10:52) If you say to the mountain, “Be pulled up and thrown into the sea,” the mountain will fall into the sea, but one must not doubt in one’s heart (Mk 11:23-24). “Because all things are possible for those who believe!” (Mk 9:23).
“Have faith in God!” (Mk 11:22). Thanks to His words and actions, Jesus arouses in people a dormant force that people are not aware of possessing. This is what happens to Jairus (Mk 5:36), to the woman with the hemorrhage (Mk 5:34), to the father with an epileptic son (Mk 9:23-24), to the blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:52), and to many other people. Because of their faith in Jesus they enabled a new life to grow in them and in others.
The healing of Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) clarifies a very important aspect of Jesus’ long instruction to His disciples. Bartimaeus had called Jesus by His messianic title of “Son of David!” (Mk 10:47). Jesus did not like this title (Mk 12:35-37). But even though he called Jesus by a title that was not quite correct, Bartimaeus had faith and was healed! Not so Peter who no longer believed in the ideas of Jesus. Bartimaeus changed his mind, was converted, left everything behind and followed Jesus on His journey to Calvary! (Mk 10:52).
A full understanding of the following of Jesus is not obtained through theoretical instruction, but through a practical commitment, journeying with Him along the way of service from Galilee to Jerusalem. Anyone who tries to hang on to Peter’s idea, that is, that of the glorious Messiah without the cross, will not understand Jesus and will never be truly a disciple. Anyone who wants to believe in Jesus and is willing “to give his/her life” (Mk 8:35), accept “to be last” (Mk 9:35), “drink the cup and carry the cross” (Mk 10:38), like Bartimaeus, even with ideas that are not entirely correct, will have the power “to follow Jesus along the way” (Mk 10:52). It is in the certainty of being able to walk with Jesus that we find the source of courage and the seed of the victory of the cross.
6. Praying with a Psalm 31 (30)
In you, Yahweh, I have taken refuge!
In You, Yahweh, I have taken refuge,
let me never be put to shame,
in Your saving justice deliver me, rescue me,
turn Your ear to me, make haste.
Be for me a rock-fastness,
a fortified citadel to save me.
You are my rock, my rampart;
true to Your name, lead me and guide me!
Draw me out of the net they have spread for me,
for You are my refuge;
into Your hands I commit my spirit,
by You have I been redeemed. God of truth,
You hate those who serve useless idols;
but my trust is in Yahweh:
I will delight and rejoice in Your faithful love!
You, who have seen my misery,
and witnessed the miseries of my soul,
have not handed me over to the enemy,
but have given me freedom to roam at large.
Take pity on me, Yahweh, for I am in trouble.
Vexation is gnawing away my eyes,
my soul deep within me.
For my life is worn out with sorrow,
and my years with sighs.
My strength gives way under my misery,
and my bones are all wasted away.
The sheer number of my enemies makes me contemptible,
loathsome to my neighbors,
and my friends shrink from me in horror.
When people see me in the street they take to their heels.
I have no more place in their hearts than a corpse,
or something lost.
All I hear is slander -- terror wherever I turn --
as they plot together against me,
scheming to take my life.
But my trust is in You, Yahweh;
I say, 'You are my God,'
every moment of my life is in Your hands,
rescue me from the clutches of my foes who pursue me;
let Your face shine on Your servant,
save me in Your faithful love.
I call on You, Yahweh,
so let disgrace fall not on me,
but on the wicked.
Let them go down to Sheol in silence,
muzzles on their lying mouths,
which speak arrogantly against the upright in pride and contempt.
Yahweh, what quantities of good things You have in store
for those who fear You,
and bestow on those who make You their refuge,
for all humanity to see.
Safe in Your presence You hide them,
far from human plotting, shielding them in Your tent,
far from contentious tongues.
Blessed be Yahweh
who works for me miracles of His faithful love (in a fortified city)!
In a state of terror I cried,
“I have been cut off from Your sight!'
Yet You heard my plea for help when I cried out to You.
Love Yahweh, all His faithful:
Yahweh protects His loyal servants,
but He repays the arrogant with interest.
Be brave, take heart,
all who put your hope in Yahweh.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Leaders must serve
Mark 10:35-45
1. Opening prayer
God of peace and forgiveness, You have given us Christ as an example of total service, even to giving us His very life; grant us to find favor in Your sight that we may share the cup of Your will to its dregs and live in the generous and fruitful service of each other.
2. Reading
a) The context:
This episode comes straight after the third prediction of the Passion (Mk 10:32-34). As on the occasions of the other predictions, the disciples’ reaction is not positive: two of them are worried about who is going to be first in the Kingdom and the others become indignant. This tells us that the disciples had difficulty accepting the painful destiny of their Master and understanding the mystery of the Kingdom. The two who come with a request – James and John – are brothers and are part of the group of friends of Jesus (Mk 1:19-20). Their nickname is boanerges (“sons of thunder” Mk 3:17). They were a little impetuous.
b) The text:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." 
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
3. A moment of silent prayer
to re-read the text with our heart and to recognize in the words and structure, the presence of the mystery of the living God.
4. Some questions
to see the important points in the text and begin to assimilate them.
a) Why were the disciples so anxious to take the first places?
b) Does Jesus’ reply make sense?
c) What does Jesus mean by the cup to drink and the baptism to be baptized?
d) On what does Jesus base service in the community?
5. Some deepening of the reading
”Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your glory”
Even though they were careful in the way they phrased their question, it is clear that they were quite ambitious. According to tradition, they may have been cousins of Jesus, and therefore – according to Eastern law – they had a special right, as members of the family. In any case, it is clear that they have understood nothing about what Jesus was about to do. He was on the way to the ignominy of the cross, and they still had not understood Him. Jesus’ true power did not consist in distributing places of honor, but in asking them to share His tragic destiny: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?”
“The cup that I drink you will drink”
The dialogue concerning the cup and the baptism (vv. 38-39) is obviously parallel. But it is not easy to understand how the two disciples can drink the cup and be baptized, unless one thinks of the martyrdom both of them suffered later. By these two images, Jesus seems to evoke His violent death, which He foretells as an absolute obligation of fidelity to the Father. The reply to their request to sit next to Him is evasive: but we can understand that it means that their way is not the right way to obtain the request.
“The ten began to be indignant”
Clearly they too share the same ambition. However, this verse seems to be an editorial addition to connect two episodes, which originally were not placed together. This changes the subject completely. But the fact that their indignation is recorded is probably based on some other episode where the disciples do not appear in a good light and is therefore authentic.
“Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them… But it shall not be so among you”
Jesus is referring to political leaders of His time, and really this is also the style of political leadership in all times. On the other hand, the community of disciples must be ruled by service. Two terms express this service in a gradual manner. Jesus first speaks of “servant” (diakonos) and then of “slave” (doulos). One cannot choose whom one will serve: one must be a slave of all, thus overturning the worldly order.
“For the Son of man also…”
Here we find the basis of the constitutional law of the community: to follow the Master’s style, by giving, like Him, one’s life in the spirit of service; thus becoming truly “lords” through the gift of one’s life, not by just pretending. It is difficult to interpret “ransom” or redemption, as Fr. X. Léon Dufour says, we can understand this well when we reflect on the words that Jesus speaks at the Last Supper. Then Jesus’ whole life appears in the light of “ransom”, of fidelity to the very end for the freedom of humankind. He deprives Himself of freedom so that He can give freedom, to ransom those who have no freedom.
Thus the statutes of the community of disciples is characterized by service, by a lack of ambition, by a life given and destined for the ransom of others.
6. Psalm 33 (32)
A prayer for justice and peace
Sing to Him a new song,
play skillfully on the strings,
with loud shouts.
For the word of the Lord is upright;
and all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of His mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
He put the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord,
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!
For He spoke, and it came to be;
He commanded, and it stood firm.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of His heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!
The Lord looks down from heaven,
He sees all the sons of men;
from where He sits enthroned
He looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
7. Closing prayer
Lord our God, keep Your Son’s disciples from the easy ways of popularity, of cheap glory, and lead them to the ways of the poor and scourged of the earth, so that they may recognize in their faces the face of the Master and Redeemer. Give them eyes to see possible ways of peace and solidarity; ears to hear the requests for meaning and salvation of so many people who seek; enrich their hearts with generous fidelity and a sensitivity and understanding so that they may walk along the way and be true and sincere witnesses to the glory that shines in the crucified resurrected and victorious One. Who lives and reigns gloriously with You, Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus calls the rich young man
The hundredfold in this life, but with persecutions!
Mark 10:17-30
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures as You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus the cross, that seemed to be the end of all hope, became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in creation and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
• The Gospel of the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time tells the story of a young man who asks Jesus for the way to eternal life. Jesus gives him an answer, but the young man cannot accept it because he is very rich. Wealth gives a kind of security to people and they have difficulty in giving up such security. Because such people are attached to the advantages that their possessions bring, they worry about defending their interests. The poor person does not have such worries and thus is freer. But there are poor people with a rich mentality. They are poor, but not “poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). Not just wealth, but also the desire for wealth, can change people and make them slaves to the goods of this world. Such people would find it difficult to accept Jesus’ invitation: “Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me” (Mk 10:21) Such people will not take the step suggested by Jesus. Am I able to leave everything for the Kingdom?
• In our text, several people seek Jesus to ask Him for advice: the rich young man, the disciples and Peter. In our reading let us look at the preoccupations of each of these persons and at Jesus’ reply to them.
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Mark 10:17: The request of the one who wishes to follow Jesus
Mark 10:18-19: Jesus’ surprising and demanding reply
Mark 10:20-21: The conversation between Jesus and the young man
Mark 10:22: The young man is alarmed and will not follow Jesus
Mark 10:23-27: The conversation between Jesus and His disciples concerning the rich entering the Kingdom
Mark 10:28: Peter’s question
Mark 10:29-30: Jesus’ reply
c) Text:
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 
You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What touched you most in this text? Why?
b) What worried the young man and what deceived him?
c) What does the following mean for us today: “Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor”? Can we take this literally? What do you “own”? With so many poor in society today, how do you decide who to give to?
d) How do we understand the comparison between the needle and the camel?
e) How do we understand the hundredfold in this life, but with persecutions?
f) How do we understand and practice today Jesus’ suggestions to the rich young man?
g) Jesus tells His disciples on His mission to go without gold or silver or much of anything. What of those who claim to be missionaries of Jesus, while enjoying their large estates, fancy cars, and the fame from their positions?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) The context of yesterday and of today.
* This Sunday’s Gospel describes the on-going conversion that, according to Jesus’ invitation, must take place in our relationship with material goods. So as to understand fully the importance of Jesus’ instructions, it is good to remember the wider context in which Mark places these texts. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, where He will be crucified (cf. Mk 8:27; 9:30,33; 10:1,17,32). He is about to give His life. He knows that He soon will be killed, but does not recoil. He says, ‘The Son of Man Himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many!’ (Mk 10:45) This attitude of fidelity and dedication to the mission received from the Father makes it possible for Jesus to see what really matters in life.
* Jesus’ suggestions are valid for all times, both for Jesus’ times and Mark’s times as well as for today in the 21st century. They are like mirrors that mirror back what is really important in life, yesterday and today: to start again, from the beginning, the building of the Kingdom, renewing human relationships on all levels, among ourselves and with God, as well as with material goods.
b) A commentary on the text:
Mark 10:17-19: The commandments and eternal life
Someone comes and asks, “Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Matthew’s Gospel says that it was a young man (Mt 19:20,22). Jesus replies rather harshly, “Why do you call Me good. No one is good but God alone!” Jesus deflects attention from Himself to God, since He wishes to do the Father’s will, so as to reveal the Father’s plan. Then Jesus says, “You know the commandments: you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false witness, honor your father and mother”. The young man had asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. He wanted to live close to God! But Jesus only reminds him of the commandments that concern life close to the neighbor! He does not mention the first three commandments that talk of the relationship with God! For Jesus, we can only be in good stead with God if we are in good stead with the neighbor. We must not deceive ourselves. The gate that leads to God is our neighbor. There is no other!
Mark 10:20: What is the use of keeping the commandments?
The young man answers that he already had long observed the commandments. What follows is strange. The young man wanted to know the way to eternal life. Now, the way to eternal life was and still is to do God’s will as expressed in the commandments. This means that the young man observed the commandments without knowing why! He did not know that his practice of observing the commandments since his youth was the way to God, to eternal life. Many Catholics today do not know why they are Catholic. ”I was born in Italy, I was born in Ireland, so I am Catholic!” Just a habit!
Mark 10:21-22: Sharing goods with the poor
Jesus looked steadily at him and He was filled with love for him and He said, “You need to do one thing more. Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me!” Jesus does not judge the young man, does not criticize him, but seeks to help him take one more step in life. The conversion that Jesus asks for is an on-going one. The observance of the commandments is but the first step on a ladder that goes further and higher. Jesus asks for more! The observance of the commandments prepares us to be able to give ourselves completely to our neighbor. The Ten Commandments are the way to the perfect practice of the two commandments of love of God and of neighbor (Mk 12:29-31; Mt 7:12). Jesus asks a lot, but He asks it with much love. The young man does not accept Jesus’ invitation and goes away because “he was a man of great wealth”.
Mark 10:23-27: The camel and the eye of a needle
When the young man goes away, Jesus comments on his decision: How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! The disciples are astonished. Jesus repeats what He said and adds a proverb that was used then to say that something was humanly impossible. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God! Each nation has its expressions and proverbs that cannot be taken literally. For instance, in Brazil, to say that someone must not bother other people they say: “Go and take a bath!” If one takes this expression literally then one is deceived and is not aware of the message! The same may be said about the camel that has to go through the eye of a needle. Impossible!
The disciples are astonished by what Jesus says! This means that they had not understood Jesus’ answer to the rich young man: “Go and sell all you own, give the money to the poor, and come, follow Me!” The young man had observed the commandments without understanding why. Something similar was happening to the disciples. To follow Jesus, they had left everything (Mk 1:18.20), without understanding why they had left everything! If they had understood the why, they would not have been so astonished by Jesus’ demands. When wealth or the desire for wealth takes over the human heart and vision, then it becomes difficult to understand the meaning of life and of the Gospel. Only God can help such a person! “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God, because for God everything is possible.”
When Jesus says that it is almost impossible for “a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”, He is not referring in the first instance to entering heaven after death, but to entering the community around him. To this day, it is very difficult for a rich person to leave everything and enter into a small basic ecclesial community side by side with the poor, together with them, and so to follow Jesus.
Mark 10:28-30: The conversation between Jesus and Peter
Peter had understood that “to enter the kingdom of God” was the same thing as following Jesus in poverty. So he asks, “We have left everything and followed You. What then shall we get in return?” In spite of leaving everything, Peter still had the old mentality. He had not yet understood the meaning of service and gratuity. He and his companions left everything so as to have something in return: “What then shall we get in return?” Jesus’ reply is symbolic. He hints that they must not expect any return, any security, any promotion. They will receive a hundredfold, yes! But not without persecutions in this life! In the world to come they will have the eternal life of which the young man spoke. “In truth I tell you, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or land for My sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land – and persecutions, too – now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life
c) Further information:
Jesus and the option for the poor
A double slavery marked the state of people in Galilee at the time of Jesus: (i) The political slavery of Herod, supported by the Roman Empire, that imposed a general organized system of exploitation and repression; (ii) The slavery of the official religion, upheld by the religious authorities of the time. Because of this, the family, the community, the clan were disintegrating and most people lived excluded, marginalized, with no fixed place, without a religion and without a society. To fight this disintegration of the community and the family, there were several movements, which, like Jesus, tried a new way of life and of living together in community. Such were the Essenes, the Pharisees and, later, the Zealots, all of whom lived in community. In Jesus’ community, however, there was something new and different from the other two groups. This was the attitude towards the poor and the excluded.
The community of Pharisees lived apart. The word “Pharisee” means “separate”. They lived apart from the impure people. Many Pharisees looked upon the people as ignorant and cursed (Jn 7:49), full of sin (Jn 9:34). They learned nothing from the people (Jn 9:34). On the other hand, Jesus and His community lived among the excluded, who were considered impure: publicans, sinners, prostitutes and lepers (Mk 2:16; 1:41; Lk 7:37). Jesus sees the richness and value they possess (Mt 11:25-26; Lk 21:1-4). He proclaimed the poor happy because the Kingdom belongs to them (Lk 6:20; Mt 5:3). He defines His own mission as “proclaiming the Good News to the poor” (Lk 4: 18). He lives like the poor. He owns nothing, not even a stone to lay His head upon (Lk 9:58). To those who wished to follow him he offered a choice: God or mammon! (Mt 6:24). He tells them to make choices in favor of the poor! (Mk 10:21) The poverty that characterizes Jesus’ life and that of His disciples, characterized also His mission. Contrary to other missionaries (Mt 23:15), Jesus’ disciples could not carry anything with them, no gold, no silver, no two tunics, no purse and no sandals (Mt 10:9-10). They had to trust in the hospitality of others (Lk 9:4; 10:5-6). And if they were made welcome by the people, they had to work like everyone else and live on what they earned (Lk 10:7-8). They had to look after the sick and needy (Lk 10:9; Mt 10:8). Then they could say to people, “The Kingdom of God is very near to you” (Lk 10:9).
On the other hand, when it is a matter of administering goods, what strikes us in Jesus’ parables is the seriousness that He demands in the use of these goods (Mt 25:21,26; Lk 19: 22-23). Jesus wants money to be at the service of life (Lk 16:9-13). For Jesus, poverty was not synonymous with laziness and negligence. This different witness in favor of the poor was what was missing in the popular movements of the times of the Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots. In the Bible, every time a movement arises to renew the Covenant, it begins by establishing once again the rights of the poor and excluded. Without this, the Covenant is impossible. Thus did the prophets and thus does Jesus. He denounces the old system that, in the name of God, excluded the poor. Jesus proclaims a new beginning that, in the name of God, gathers the excluded. This is the meaning and reason for the insertion of the mission of the Jesus’ community in the midst of the poor. He dips into the roots and inaugurates the New Covenant.
6. Praying with Psalm 15 (14)
God’s guest!
Yahweh, who can find a home in Your tent,
who can dwell on Your holy mountain?
Whoever lives blamelessly,
who acts uprightly,
who speaks the truth from the heart,
who keeps the tongue under control,
who does not wrong a comrade,
who casts no discredit on a neighbor,
who looks with scorn on the vile,
but honors those who fear Yahweh,
who stands by an oath at any cost,
who asks no interest on loans,
who takes no bribe to harm the innocent.
No one who so acts can ever be shaken.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Concerning divorce and children
Equality of wife and husband
Mark 10:2-16
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus the cross, that seemed to be the end of all hope, became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in creation and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
In the text of today’s liturgy, Jesus gives advice concerning the relationship between wife and husband and between mothers and children. In those days, many people were excluded and marginalized. For instance, in the relationship between husband and wife, male domination prevailed. The wife did not have equal rights with the husband. In their relationship with the children, the “little” ones, there might be a “scandal” that could cause the children to lose their faith (Mark 9:42). In the relationship between husband and wife, Jesus commanded the greatest equality. In the relationship between mothers and children, He commanded the greatest warmth and tenderness.
b) A division of the text as an aid to reading:
Mark 10:2: The Pharisees’ question concerning divorce;
Mark 10:3-9: Discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning divorce;
Mark 10:10-12: Conversation between Jesus and the disciples concerning divorce;
Mark 10:13-16: Jesus commands warmth and tenderness between adults and children.
c) The Text:
The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. 
Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What was the point that you liked best and which most drew your attention?
b) How does the wife’s position appear in the text?
c) How did Jesus wish the relationship between husband and wife to be?
d) What concerned the people who brought their children to Jesus?
e) What was Jesus’ reaction?
f) What practical teaching can we draw from the children?
5. A key to the reading
for those who wish to go deeper into the theme.
a) Comment
Mark 10:2: The Pharisees’ question concerning divorce
The Pharisees are crafty. They put Jesus to the test: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” This shows that Jesus held a different opinion from that of the Pharisees, of whom this question was never asked. They do not ask whether it is lawful for the wife to divorce her husband. This never crossed their minds. This is a clear sign of strong male domination and of marginalization of the wife in the social life of the times.
Mark 10:3-9: Jesus’ reply: a man cannot divorce his wife
Instead of replying, Jesus asks, “What did Moses command you?” The Law allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send the wife away (Deut 24:1). This law illustrates the domination of the male. The husband could divorce his wife, but the wife did not have the same right. Jesus explains that Moses acted thus because of the hardness of heart of the people. However, God’s intention was different when He created human beings. Jesus goes back to the Creator’s intention (Gen 1:27; 2:24). He denies the husband the right to divorce his wife. He establishes on earth the obligation of the husband towards his wife and orders the greatest equality.
Mark 10:10-12: Equality between husband and wife
When they go home, the disciples question Jesus again concerning this matter of divorce. Jesus draws conclusions and reaffirms equality of rights and duties between husband and wife. Matthew’s Gospel (cf. Mt 19:10-12) gives an explanation of a question put by the disciples concerning this theme. They say, “If this is how things are between husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Perhaps they prefer not to get married rather than get married without the privilege of dominating the wife. Jesus goes deeper into the matter. He presents three cases when a person may not get married: (1) impotence, (2) castration and (3) for the sake of the Kingdom. However, for a man not to get married because he does not wish to share equality with the wife is inadmissible in the new law of love! Both marriage and celibacy have to be at the service of the Kingdom and not at the service of selfish interests. Neither can be a reason for keeping male domination of husband over wife. Jesus presents a new type of relation between the two. It is not lawful in marriage for a man to dominate the wife or vice versa.
Mark 10:13: The disciples prevent people from drawing near with their children.
Some people brought their children so that Jesus might caress them. The disciples tried to prevent this. Why would they want to prevent this? The text does not tell us. One possibility might be due to Jewish law. Chapter 15 of Leviticus is the basis for the purity laws of the time during niddatah, which is a Hebrew word for “separation” and a term used for menstruation. This rendered a woman of childbearing age impure for 7 days each month, as well as those in physical contact with her, which became an issue in families with children. Abnormal bleeding as well as childbirth were included in this. Touching a woman in this state, or what she sat or had laid on, caused ritual impurity until sunset. Even in recent times there was a saying that “children should be seen and not heard.” They were seen as the least important and influential in society.
Mark 10:14-16: Jesus reprehends the disciples and welcomes the children
Jesus’ reaction teaches the opposite: “Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them!” He embraces the children, welcomes them and blesses them. When it a question of welcoming someone and promoting fraternity, Jesus is not worried about the laws of purity; He is not afraid of transgressing the law. His gesture teaches us that “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it!” What does this sentence mean? 1) A child receives everything from his father. He does not merit what he receives; he lives in this gratuitous love. 2) Fathers receive children as gifts from God and treat them with care. Fathers are not to be concerned with holding dominion over their children, but with loving them and educating them.
b) Added information for a better understanding of the text
• Jesus welcomes and defends the life of the little ones
On several occasions, Jesus insists on the welcome due to little ones, to children. “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in My name, welcomes Me” (Mark 9:37). “If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). He asked that no one despise the little ones (Matthew 18:10). At the last judgment the just will be welcomed for having given food “to one of the least of these brothers of Mine” (Matthew 25:40).
In the Gospels the expression “little ones” (in Greek elachistoi, mikroi or nepioi). Sometimes this means “children”, sometimes those excluded from society. It is not easy to differentiate. Sometimes that which is “little” is the “child” and no one else. The child belongs to a category of “little”, of the excluded. Having said this, it is not easy to distinguish what originates from the time of Jesus and what originates from the communities when the Gospels were written. Taking this into consideration, we can arrive at the context of exclusion that flourished at that time and the picture that existed of Jesus in the first communities: Jesus takes the side of the little ones, of the excluded, and takes on their defense. It is impressive when we look at all that Jesus did in defense of the life of children, of the little ones.
To welcome and not to scandalize. This is one of Jesus’ hardest words against those who give scandal to little ones, that is, those who are the reason for their disbelief in God. For these, it would be better if a millstone were hung around their necks and that they throw themselves to the bottom of the sea (Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2; Matthew 18:6).
To welcome and to touch. The mothers with their children in their arms drew near to Jesus to ask for a blessing. The apostles told them to go elsewhere. Jesus is not troubled as they are. He corrects the disciples and welcomes the mothers and their children. He touches them and embraces them. “Let the little children alone and let them come to Me; do not stop them!” (Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 19:13-15).
To identify oneself with the little ones. Jesus identifies with the children. Whoever welcomes a child, “welcomes Me” (Mark 9:37). “In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).
To become a child once more. Jesus asks that the disciples become children again and accept the kingdom like a child. Failing that, it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:15; Matthew 18:3; Luke 9:46-48). Let the child be the teacher of the adult. This was not the norm. We are used to the opposite.
To defend the right of those who cry. When Jesus entered the temple and upset the tables of the money changers, it was the children who cried. “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:15). Jesus was criticized by the chief priests and the scribes, but He defended the children and in their defense He quotes Scripture (Mt 21:16).
To be thankful for the Kingdom present in children. Great is Jesus’ joy when He hears that children, the little ones, have understood the things of the Kingdom proclaimed to the peoples. “I thank You Father!” (Mt 11:25-26) Jesus recognizes that the little ones understand the things of the Kingdom better than the doctors.
To welcome and to care for. Many are the children He welcomes, cares for or resurrects: the twelve year old daughter of Jairus (Mk 5:41-42), the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mk 7:29-30), the son of the widow of Naim (Lk 7:14-15) the young epileptic (Mk 9:25-26), the son of the Centurion (Lk 7:9-10), the son of the public administrator (Jn 4:50), the young lad with five loaves and two fishes (Jn 6:9).
• The context of our text in Mark’s Gospel
Our text (Mk 10:2-16) is part of a long instruction given by Jesus to His disciples (Mk 8:27 to 10:45). At the beginning of this instruction, Mark places the healing of the anonymous blind man of Bethsaida in Galilee (Mk 8:22-26); at the end, the healing of the blind Bartimaeus of Jericho in Judea (Mk 10:46-52). The two healings are symbolic of what will take place between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples too were blind since “they had eyes that do not see” (Mk 8:18). They had to regain their sight; they had to let go of ideology that prevented them from seeing clearly; they had to accept Jesus as He was and not as they wanted Him to be. This long instruction aims at curing the blindness of the disciples. It is like a brief guide, a kind of catechism, using Jesus’ own words. The following sequence shows the scheme of the instruction:
The healing of a blind man 8:22-26
1st proclamation 8:27-38
Teaching the disciplesabout the Servant Messiah 9:1-29
2nd proclamation 9:30-37
Teaching the disciplesabout conversion 9:38 to 10:31
3rd proclamation 10:32-45
Healing of Bartimaeus the blind man 10:46-52
As we can see, the teaching consists of three proclamations of the Passion Mk 8:27-38; 9:30-37; 10:32-45. Between the first and second proclamation we have a series of teachings to help us understand that Jesus is the Servant Messiah (Mk 9:1-29). Between the second and third proclamations we have a series of teachings that clarify the kind of conversions required at various levels of life in order to accept Jesus as the Servant Messiah (Mk 9:38 to 10:31). The background of the teachings is the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. From the beginning to the end of this long instruction, Mark says that Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem (Mk 8:27; 9:30,33; 10:1,17,32), where He will meet the cross.
Each of the three proclamations concerning the Passion is accompanied by gestures and words of incomprehension on the part of the disciples (Mk 8:32; 9:32-34; 10:32-37), and by directives from Jesus, which comment on the lack of comprehension of the disciples and teaches them how they must behave (Mk 8:34-38; 9:35-37; 10:35-45). A full understanding of Jesus’ teaching is not achieved only through theoretical instruction, without any practical commitment, but by walking with Him on the journey of service, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Those who wish to uphold Peter’s idea, that of a glorious Messiah without the cross (Mk 8:32-33), will understand nothing, nor will they have the authentic attitude of willing disciples. They will go on being blind, seeing people as trees (Mk 8:24). Without the cross it is not possible to understand who Jesus is and what it means to follow Jesus. The journey of the teaching is a journey of surrender, of abandonment, of service, of availability and acceptance of the conflict, knowing that there will be a resurrection. The cross is not a casual incident, up to a certain point on the journey. Only love and service can be crucified! Whoever gives his life in service for others suffers because he inconveniences those who snatch privileges.
6. Psalm 23 (23)
The Lord is my Shepherd, climbing Calvary
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the Word that has enabled us to understand the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to, but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus heals two women
To conquer the power of death and
open a new way to God
Mark 5:21-43
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, and above all, in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
In this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church asks us to meditate on two of Jesus’ miracles worked for two women. The first miracle is worked for a woman considered impure because she suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. The second is worked for a twelve-year-old girl who has just died. According to the thinking of the time, any person who touched blood or a dead body was considered impure. Blood and death were factors that excluded people. These two women were marginalized, excluded from taking part in the community. Today we also have categories of people who are excluded, or who feel excluded, from taking part in the Christian community. What are some factors today that cause people to be excluded, both from the Church and from society?
Mark describes the two miracles quite vividly. The text is long. As you read, think as if you are among the crowd around Jesus on the way to Jairus’ house. As you walk in silence, try to pay attention to the many attitudes of the people involved in the miracles: Jairus, the girl’s father, the crowd, the woman suffering from the hemorrhage, the disciples and the girl. Ask yourself what your attitude would be.
b) A division of the text as a help to the reading:
Mark 5:21-24: The point of departure: Jairus loses his daughter. Jesus goes with him and the crowd follows
Mark 5:25-26: The situation of the woman suffering from an irregular hemorrhage
Mark 5:27-28: The woman’s reasoning in the presence of Jesus
Mark 5:29: The woman succeeds in what she wants and is healed
Mark 5:30-32: The reaction of Jesus and of the disciples
Mark 5:33-34: The conversation between Jesus and the woman healed because of her faith
Mark 5:35-36: The conversation between Jesus and Jairus
Mark 5:37-40: The arrival at Jairus’ house and the reaction of the crowd
Mark 5:41-43: The raising of the girl back to life
c) The text:
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. 
She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to Jesus, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What pleased you or touched you most in this text? Why?
b) What is the thinking of the woman who touched Jesus? What gives her the strength to touch Him?
c) Why were the disciples unable to understand what was going on between Jesus and the crowd?
d) Who was Jairus? What is Jesus’ attitude towards Jairus, his wife, and his daughter?
e) A woman is healed and integrated into the life of the community. A girl is raised from her deathbed. What do these actions of Jesus teach us today for our life within the family and in community?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) The context of yesterday and of today:
i) Throughout his Gospel, Mark goes on giving information concerning the person of Jesus. He shows how the mystery of the Kingdom is mirrored in the power that Jesus exercises on behalf of His disciples, of the crowd and above all, on behalf of those excluded and marginalized. However, the more this power is manifested, the less the disciples comprehend, and it is clear that they must change their ideas concerning the Messiah. Otherwise, their incomprehension will keep getting worse, and they run the risk of growing apart from Jesus.
ii) In the 70’s, the time when Mark was writing his Gospel, there was a very great tension within the Christian communities between the converted Jews and the converted pagans. Some Jews, especially those who had belonged to the group of Pharisees, continued to remain faithful to the observance of the laws on purity as found in their millennia-old culture, and thus, found it difficult to live with the converted pagans because they thought that the pagans lived in a state of impurity. The story of the two miracles worked by Jesus for the two women was of great help in overcoming old taboos.
b) A commentary on the text:
Mark 5:21-24: The point of departure: Jairus loses his daughter. Jesus goes with him and the crowd follows.
The crowd joins Jesus who has just come across from the other side of the lake. Jairus, head of the synagogue, asks Jesus’ help for his daughter who is dying. Jesus goes with him and the crowd follows, pushing Him on every side because they all want to be close to Jesus when He is about to work a miracle. This is the point of departure of the following two episodes: the healing of the woman suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years and the raising of the twelve year old girl.
Mark 5:25-26. The situation of the woman suffering from an irregular hemorrhage
Twelve years of hemorrhaging! For this reason, the woman was excluded. In those times, blood made a person impure as well as anyone who touched that person. Mark says that the woman had spent all of her money on doctors, but instead of getting better, was worse. An unsolvable situation!
Mark 5:27-28. The woman’s reasoning in the presence of Jesus
She had heard about Jesus. A new hope grew in her heart. She said to herself: “If I can just touch His clothes, I shall be saved.” The catechism of those days said, “If I just touch His clothes, He shall become impure.” The woman thinks the exact opposite, both in terms of the rules of the time as well as in the relationship of Jesus to these rules. This is a sign of great courage. It is also a sign that woman did not quite agree with what the authorities taught. The woman goes into the middle of the crowd that was pushing Jesus on all sides and, almost secretly, succeeds in touching Jesus.
Mark 5:29: The woman succeeds in getting what she wants and is healed
At that very moment she feels her body healed. To this day, in Palestine, on a bend in the road near the lake of Galilee and close to Capernaum, we can read this inscription on a stone: “Here, in this place, the woman thought to be impure but full of faith, touched Jesus and was healed!”
Mark 5:30-32. The reaction of Jesus and of His disciples
Jesus, too, felt power coming out of Him: “Who has touched Me?” The disciples react: “You see how the crowd is pressing around You; how can You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” Here again we have a little disagreement between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus had a sensitivity not seen by the disciples. They react like everyone else and do not understand Jesus’ different reaction, but Jesus does not give up and goes on asking.
Mark 5:33-34. The conversation between Jesus and the woman healed because of her faith
The woman realizes that she has been found out. This is a difficult and dangerous moment for her. According to the belief of those days, someone impure, who like this woman went among the crowd, would contaminate all who touched her. Such a person made everyone impure before God (Lev 15:19-30). The punishment for this was to be taken aside and stoned. In spite of this, the woman has the courage to do what she did. But the woman, fearful and trembling, falls at His feet and tells Him the truth. Jesus then pronounces His final judgment: “My daughter…your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free of your complaint!” Beautiful and very human words! By saying “My daughter” Jesus welcomes the woman into the new family, into the community growing around Him. What she thought came to pass. Jesus recognizes that without this woman’s faith He could not have worked the miracle.
Mark 5:35-36. The conversation between Jesus and Jairus
Just at that moment emissaries from Jairus’ house arrive to tell Him that his daughter is dead. There is no need to trouble Jesus further. For them, death was the great frontier and Jesus could not cross it! Jesus listens, looks at Jairus, and encourages him to be like the woman, to believe that faith can work when a person believes. Jesus says to him, “Do not be afraid; only have faith!”
Mark 5:37-40. Jesus goes to Jairus’ house and the reaction of the crowd
Jesus goes apart from the crowd and allows only some of His disciples to go with Him. When they arrive at Jairus’ house, He sees people weeping over the death of the girl. He says, “The child is not dead but asleep.” The people in the house laugh. They know when someone is asleep and when someone is dead. It is the laughter of Abraham and Sara, that is, the laughter of those who cannot believe that “nothing is impossible for God!” (Jn 17:17; 18:12-14; Lk 1:37). For them also, death is an obstacle that cannot be overcome. Jesus’ words carry a much deeper meaning. In Mark’s time, the situation of the community seemed to be one of death. They had to hear the words, “You are not dead! You are asleep! Wake up!” Jesus takes no notice of the laughter and enters the room where we find the Himself, the child, the three disciples and the father of the child.
Mark 5:41-43. The raising of the child
Jesus takes the child by her hand and says, “Talitha kum!” And the child gets up. Much shouting! Jesus stays calm and asks that food be brought to the child. The healing of two women: one twelve-year old and one who suffered from hemorrhage and had been excluded for twelve years! Death begins the exclusion of the girl at the age of twelve because that is when she begins menstruating. Jesus has greater power and raises her: “Get up!”
c) Further information: Women in the Gospels
In New Testament times, women were marginalized for the simple fact that they were women (cf. Lev 15:19-27; 12:1-5). Women did not take part in the public life of the synagogue and they could not be witnesses. That is why many women put up resistance to such exclusion. Even in Ezra’s time, when the marginalization of women was greater, (cf. Ezra 9:1-2;10:2-3), resistance grew, as in the cases of Judith, Esther, Ruth, Naomi, Susannah, the Shulamite woman and others. This resistance is echoed in, and welcomed by, Jesus. Here are some examples of non-conformity and the resistance of women in daily life and Jesus’ acceptance of them:
The prostitute has the courage to challenge the laws of society and religion. She enters the house of a Pharisee to meet Jesus. When she meets Him, she meets love and forgiveness and is defended against the Pharisees. The woman bent double does not even hear the shouts of the chief of the synagogue. She wants to be healed, even though it is the Sabbath. Jesus welcomes her as a daughter and defends her against the chief of the synagogue (Lk 13:10-17). The woman who was considered impure because she was losing blood has the courage to go into the middle of the crowd and to think just the opposite of what the official doctrine taught. The official doctrine said, “Anyone who touches her will be impure!” But she said, “If I can just touch His clothes, I shall be saved!” (Mk 5:28). She is not censured and is healed. Jesus says that her healing is the fruit of faith (Mk 5:25-34). The Samaritan woman, who is despised and considered heretical, has the courage to approach Jesus and to change the direction of the conversation started by Him (cf. Jn 4:19.25). In John’s Gospel, she is the first person to hear the secret that Jesus is the Messiah (Jn 4:26). The Gentile woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon does not accept her exclusion and speaks in such a manner as to make Jesus listen to her (Mk 7:24-30). The mothers with little children challenge the disciples and are welcomed and blessed by Jesus (Mt 19:13-15; Mk 10:13-16). The women who challenged the authorities and stayed at the foot of the cross of Jesus (Mk 15:40; Mt 27:55-56,61) were also the first to experience the presence of Jesus after the resurrection (Mk 16:5-8; Mt 28:9-10). Among them was Mary Magdalene, who was considered to have been possessed by evil spirits and was healed by Jesus (Lk 8:2). She was given the order to pass on the Good News of the resurrection to the apostles (Jn 20:16-18). Mark says that "they used to follow Him and look after Him when He was in Galilee. There were many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him" (Mk 15:41). Mark uses three important words to define the life of these women: follow, look after, come up to Jerusalem. These three words describe the ideal disciple. They represent the model for the other disciples who had fled!
6. Praying with Psalm 103 (102)
Thanking God for all that He does for us!
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, His holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all His acts of kindness.
He forgives all your offenses,
cures all your diseases.
He redeems your life from the abyss,
crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
He contents you with good things all your life,
renews your youth like an eagle's.
Yahweh acts with uprightness,
with justice to all who are oppressed;
He revealed to Moses His ways,
His great deeds to the children of Israel.
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love;
His indignation does not last forever,
nor His resentment remain for all time;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve,
nor repay us as befits our offenses.
As the height of heaven is above earth,
so is His faithful love strong for those who fear Him.
As the distance of east from west,
so far from us does He put our faults.
As tenderly as a father treats His children,
so Yahweh treats those who fear Him;
He knows of what we are made,
He remembers that we are dust.
As for a human person -- his days are like grass,
he blooms like the wild flowers;
as soon as the wind blows he is gone,
never to be seen there again.
But Yahweh's faithful love for those who fear Him
is from eternity and forever;
and His saving justice to their children's children;
as long as they keep His covenant,
and carefully obey His precepts.
Yahweh has fixed His throne in heaven,
His sovereign power rules over all.
Bless Yahweh, all His angels,
mighty warriors who fulfill His commands,
attentive to the sound of His words.
Bless Yahweh, all His armies,
servants who fulfill His wishes.
Bless Yahweh, all His works,
in every place where He rules.
Bless Yahweh, my soul.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
The institution of the Eucharist
The supreme power of love
Mark 14:12-31
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your passion and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
Today, the feast of Corpus Christi, the Church places before us the scene of the Last Supper, the last meeting of Jesus with His disciples. This was a tense meeting, full of contradictions. Judas had already decided to betray Jesus (Mk 14:10). Peter had protested that he would not deny Him (Mk 14:30). Jesus knew all this. But He did not lose His serenity or His sense of friendship. Rather, it was precisely during this Last Supper that He instituted the Eucharist and realized the supreme sign of His love for them (Jn 13:1).
The four verses that describe the Eucharist (Mk 14:22-25) are part of a larger context (Mk 14:1-31). The verses that come before and after the Eucharist greatly help us to better understand the significance of Jesus’ action. Before the institution of the Eucharist, Mark speaks of the decision of the authorities to kill Jesus (Mk 1:1-2), of the act of fidelity of the anonymous woman who anoints Jesus in anticipation of His burial (Mk 14:3-9), of the betrayal pact of Judas (Mk 14:10-11), of the preparation for the Passover (Mk 14:12-16) and of the sign of the traitor (Mk 14:17-21). After the institution, there follows the foretelling of the flight by all (Mk 14:26-28) and the announcement that Peter would deny Him (Mk 14:29-31).
The liturgy of today cuts the text in pieces, but keeps the essential elements of the story of the institution of the Eucharist (Mk 14:12-16, 22-26). In our text we keep verses 17-21 and 27-31, which are omitted in the text of the Mass. In our commentary we limit ourselves to the text offered in the liturgy of the day. As we read, let us imagine we are with Jesus and the disciples in the room, partaking of the Last Supper, and let us seek to keep our attention on what strikes us most and what touches our hearts most.
b) A division of the text to help us with the reading:
Mark 14:12: The disciples want to know where to celebrate the Passover
Mark 14:13-15: Jesus tells them where and how to prepare for the Passover
Mark 14:16: The disciples do what Jesus tells them to do
Mark 14:17-21: The announcement of the betrayal of Judas
Mark 14:22-24: Jesus gives a new meaning to the bread and wine
Mark 14:25-26: The final words
Mark 14:27-31: The announcement of the dispersion of all and of the denial of Peter
c) Text:
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he came with the Twelve. And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, “Surely it is not I?” He said to them, “One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish. For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.’ But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.” Then Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” But he vehemently replied, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all spoke similarly.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What does Jesus’ action mean when He breaks the bread saying, “Take and eat. This is My body which will be given up for you.” How does this text help us understand the Eucharist and His Real Presence in the Eucharist?
b) The scene seems very simple and straightforward to us thanks to the way it is written. Close your eyes and place yourself as one of the 12. Who do you think will betray Jesus? How would we interpret His words if we were there?
c) What is Jesus’ attitude towards Judas, who betrays Him, and towards Peter, who denies Him?
d) This event is very enlightening on the relationship between God, free will, evil in the world, Satan’s influence, and what is expected of us with the example of Jesus. How can all of this: evil, betrayal, and death be a consistent part of this great gift? Do I see these same factors at work in my life every day? Do I respond like Jesus to these events in my life?
e) Look into the mirror of the text, enter into your heart today and ask yourself: “Am I like Peter who denies? Am I like Judas who betrays? Am I like the twelve who keep a distance? Or am I like the anonymous woman who remained faithful (Mk 14:3-9)?”
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the text
a) The context:
We are in the room of the Last Supper. What happened over the last couple of days has heightened the tension between Jesus and the authorities. Jesus’ solemn entry into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-11), the driving out of the money-changers at the temple (Mk 11:12-26), the discussions with the priests, the scribes and the elders (Mk 11:27 to 12:12), with the Pharisees and the Herodians (Mk 12:13-17), with the Sadducees (Mk 12:18-27), with the scribes (Mk 12:28-40), His reflections on the offerings of the rich and the poor (Mk 12:41-44), His announcement concerning the destruction of the Temple (Mk 13:1-3) and His discourse on the final judgment (Mk 13:4-37): all these things helped to increase the opposition of the authorities against Jesus. On the one hand we have the anonymous woman, a faithful disciple who accepted Jesus as Messiah and as crucified (Mk 14:2-9); on the other, we have the disciples who could not understand, and much less accept, the Cross, and who wanted to run away, deny and betray (Mk 14:17-21, 27-31). In the middle of this tense and menacing environment we have Jesus’ act of love, who gives Himself completely in the breaking of bread for His disciples.
In the 70’s, in Mark’s time, many Christians had refused, denied or betrayed their faith out of fear. And now they were asking themselves, “Have we broken our relationship with Jesus? Is it possible that He has broken His relationship with us? Is it possible for us to go back?” There was no clear answer. Jesus had not left anything in writing. It was by reflecting on what happened and remembering the love of Jesus that Christians gradually discovered the answer. As we shall see in the commentary, by the way Mark describes the Last Supper, he communicates the reply he discovered to these questions of the community, namely, that the welcome and love of Jesus are greater than the defeat and failure of the disciples. A return is always possible!
b) A commentary on the text:
Mark 14:12-16: Preparation for the Passover Supper.
In complete contrast with the anonymous disciple who anointed Jesus, Judas, one of the twelve, decided to betray Jesus and conspired with the enemies who promised him money (Mk 14:10-12). Jesus knows that He will be betrayed. Nevertheless, He seeks to fraternize with the disciples at the last supper. They must have spent a good bit of money to hire the “large upper room furnished with couches, all prepared” (Mk 14:15). Then, it being the eve of the Passover, the city was overcrowded with visitors. The population usually tripled. It was difficult to find a room to meet in.
On the night of the Passover, families came from all parts of the country, bringing with them their lamb for the sacrifice in the Temple and immediately after, each family celebrated the Passover Supper in the intimacy of the family and ate the lamb. The celebration of the Passover Supper was presided over by the father of the family. That is why Jesus presided at the ceremony and celebrated the Passover with His disciples, His new “family” (cf. Mk 3:33-35).
That “large upper room” stayed in the memory of the first Christians as the place of the first Eucharist and they gathered together at later times. They were together after the Ascension of the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:13); they were together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1). It may have been in the same room that they met to pray when they were persecuted (Acts 4:23-31) or where Peter met with them after his liberation (Acts 12:12). Memory is concrete, connected to times and places of life.
Mark 14:22-26: The Eucharist is the act of supreme love.
The last meeting of Jesus with His disciples took place in the solemn atmosphere of the traditional celebration of the Passover. The contrast is very pronounced. On the one hand we have the disciples who feel insecure and do not understand what is going on. On the other hand we have Jesus, calm and master of the situation, presiding at the supper and breaking the bread, inviting His friends to partake of His body and blood. He does what He always prayed for: to give His life so that His friends might have life. This is the deep meaning of the Eucharist: to learn from Jesus to share oneself, to give oneself, without fear of the forces that threaten life. Life is stronger than death. Faith in the resurrection cancels the power of death.
After the supper, Jesus goes to the Garden with His friends and announces that all will abandon Him: They will flee or be scattered! But He already tells them: “ after My resurrection I shall go before you into Galilee!” They break their relationship with Jesus, but not Jesus with them! He goes on waiting for them in Galilee, where three years previously He had first called them. That is, the certainty of the presence of Jesus in the life of the disciple is stronger than abandonment or flight! Jesus goes on calling. He always calls! It is always possible to come back! This is the message of Mark to the Christians of the 70’s and for all of us.
The way Mark describes the Eucharist gives greater stress to the contrast between Jesus’ action and His disciples’ attitude. Before His act of love, Jesus speaks of the betrayal of Judas (Mk 14:17-21) and, after the act of love, He speaks of the denial of Peter and of the flight of the disciples (Mk 14:26-31). He places emphasis on the unconditional love of Jesus who overcomes the betrayal, the denial, and the flight of His friends. It is the revelation of the gratuitous love of the Father! Anyone who experiences this love will say: “neither… the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Rm 8:39)
c) Further information:
* The celebration of the Passover in Jesus’ times
The Passover was the principal feast of the Jews. During this feast they commemorated their liberation from Egypt, which is at the origin of the people of God. But it was not just a simple recalling of the Exodus. The Passover was a door that opened once more every year so that the generations might have access to the same liberating action of God who, in the past, had given rise to His people. By the celebration of the Passover, each generation, each person, drew from the same spring from which their fathers in the past had drawn when they were liberated from slavery in Egypt. The celebration was like an annual rebirth.
In Jesus’ times, the celebration of the Passover was such that the participants might travel the same journey that was traveled by the people after their liberation from Egypt. For this to happen, the celebration took place with many symbols: bitter herbs, a roasted lamb, unleavened bread, a chalice of wine, and other symbols. During the celebration, the youngest son had to ask the father: “Dad, why is this night different from all other nights? Why are we eating bitter herbs? Why is the lamb roasted? Why is the bread unleavened?” And the father would answer with a free narration of past events: “The bitter herbs allow us to experience the hardness and bitterness of slavery. The cooked lamb, eaten in haste, recalls the speed of the divine liberating action. The unleavened bread is symbolic not being “puffed up” with pride or arrogance either. It also recalls the lack of time to prepare everything because of the speed of the divine action.” In fact, all yeast and yeast containing breads (Chametz) are to be removed from the house. This manner of celebrating the Passover, presided over by the father of the family, gave the presider freedom and creativity in the way he conducted the celebration.
* The Eucharist: The Passover celebrated by Jesus at the Last Supper
It was in order to celebrate the Passover of the Jews that Jesus, on the eve of His death, met with His disciples. It was His last meeting with them. That is why we call it the “Last Supper” (Mk 14:22-26; Mt 26:26-29; Lk 22:14-20). The many aspects of the Passover of the Jews continue to be valid for the celebration of the Passover of Jesus and form its background. They help us understand the whole significance of the Eucharist.
Taking advantage of the freedom that the ritual gave Him, Jesus gave new significance to the bread and wine. When He shared the bread He said, “Take and eat, this is My body given up for you.” When He shared the chalice of wine He said, “Take and drink, this is My blood shed for you and for many.” Finally, aware that this was the last meeting, the “last supper,” Jesus said, “I shall never drink wine any more until the day I drink new wine in the kingdom of God” (Mk 14:25). He thus united His commitment with the utopia of the Kingdom.
Eucharist means celebrating the memory of Jesus who gives His life for us, so that it might be possible for us to live in God and to have access to the Father. This is the deep meaning of the Eucharist: to make present in our midst, and to experience in our lives, Jesus who gives Himself in His death and resurrection.
* The celebration of the Eucharist among the early Christians
Christians have not always succeeded in maintaining this ideal of the Eucharist. In the 50’s, Paul criticizes the community of Corinth that, in the celebration of the supper of the Lord, did the exact opposite because each one of you has his own supper first, and there is one going hungry while another is getting drunk (1Cor 11:20-22). Celebrating the Eucharist as a memorial of Jesus means taking on the plan of Jesus. It means assimilating the plan of Jesus. It means assimilating His life, shared completely, at the service of the lives of the poor.
At the end of the first century, the Gospel of John, rather than describe the rite of the Eucharist, describes how Jesus knelt down to render the lowest service of those times: washing feet. After rendering this service, Jesus does not say, “Do this in memory of Me” (as is said at the institution of the Eucharist in Lk 22:19; 1Cor 11:24), but He says, “Do as I have done to you” (Jn 13:15). Instead of ordering a repetition of the rite, the Gospel of John asks for attitudes of life that keep alive the memory of the gift that Jesus offers Himself without limits. The Christians of John’s community felt they needed to insist on the meaning of the Eucharist as service rather than as rite.
* A summary
To forget the richness of the Passover of the Jews when we celebrate the Eucharist is like tearing down the wall where the frame is hung. The richness of the celebration of the Passover, as it was celebrated in the Old Testament and in the times of Jesus, helps us deepen the meaning of the Eucharist and forestalls the sense of routine that trivializes everything. Summarizing what we have said, here are some points that may enrich our celebrations:
• Be aware of the oppression in which we live today - chewing bitter herbs
• Remember the liberation from oppression – the answers of the father to the questions of the son
• Experience the speed of the liberating force of God – cooked meat and unleavened bread
• Celebrate the Covenant; commit yourself once more – committing ourselves in eating the bread that Jesus offers
• Be thankful for the wonders of God towards us – acts of praise
• Rekindle faith, hope and love – encourage each other
• Remember what has already been achieved and what remains to be done – remember the things God has done for us
• Recreate the same gift that Jesus made of Himself – washing feet
• Live the passion, death and resurrection – of the constant mystery of life
• Practice communion, source of fraternity – acts of peace and help
For further knowledge
Read the Encyclical titled Mysterium Fidei by Pope Paul VI on Christ, the Eucharist, and the Mass, which can be found at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_03091965_mysterium.html
6. Praying with a Psalm: Psalm 16 (15)
The Lord is my share of the inheritance
Protect me, O God,
in You is my refuge.
To Yahweh I say,
“You are my Lord, my happiness is in none
of the sacred spirits of the earth.”
They only take advantage of all who love them.
People flock to their teeming idols.
Never shall I pour libations to them!
Never take their names on my lips.
My birthright, my cup is Yahweh;
You, You alone, hold my lot secure.
The measuring-line marks out for me a delightful place,
my birthright is all I could wish.
I bless Yahweh, who is my counselor,
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep Yahweh before me always,
for with Him at my right hand,
nothing can shake me.
So my heart rejoices, my soul delights,
my body too will rest secure,
for You will not abandon me to Sheol.
You cannot allow Your faithful servant to see the abyss.
You will teach me the path of life,
unbounded joy in Your presence,
at Your right hand delight for ever.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the Word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Resurrection and mission
"I am with you always"
Matthew 28:16-20
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The liturgy of Trinity Sunday uses the closing verses of Matthew's Gospel (Mt 28; 16-20). In the beginning of the Gospel, Matthew introduced Jesus as Immanuel, God with us (Mt 1:23). Here, in the last verse of his Gospel, Jesus communicates the same truth: "I am with you always" (Mt 28:20). This was the central point of the faith of the communities in the eighties (AD), and continues to be the central point of our faith. Jesus is the Immanuel, God with us. This is also the perspective for our adoration of the Most Blessed Trinity.
b) The text:
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What drew your attention most in this text? Why?
b) What kind of image of Jesus does this text convey to us?
c) Is this the first point where Jesus says “make disciples of all nations” rather than just having been sent to the House of Israel? Why now?
d) Some translations use the phrase “they doubted” and others use “some doubted”. Does this make a difference in meaning or what we take away from it?
e) How is the mystery of the Trinity presented in this text?
f) In Acts 1:5, Jesus proclaims a baptism in the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:38, Peter speaks of a baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus. Here the text speaks of a baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What is the difference among these three affirmations, or are they speaking of the same baptism?
h) What, exactly, is the mission that Jesus gives the Eleven? What is the mission of our communities today as disciples of Jesus? According to the text, where do we find strength and courage to fulfill our mission?
5. A key to the reading
to enter deeper into the theme.
i) The context:
Matthew writes for the Judeo-Christian communities of Syria and Palestine. They were criticized by the Jewish brethren who said that Jesus could not be the promised Messiah and therefore, their manner of living was wrong. Matthew tries to uphold their faith and helps them understand that Jesus is indeed the Messiah who came to fulfill the promises God made in the past through the prophets. A summary of Matthew's message to the communities is found in Jesus' final promise to the disciples, the subject of our meditation on this Trinity Sunday.
ii) Commentary on the text:
* Matthew 28:16: the first and last appearances of the risen Jesus to the Eleven disciples.
First, Jesus appears to the women (Mt 28:9) and, through the women, tells the men that they had to go to Galilee to see Him once more. It was in Galilee that they received their first call (Mt 4:12.18) and their first official mission (Mt 10:1-16). And it is there, in Galilee, that everything will begin again: a new call and a new mission! As in the Old Testament, important events always take place on the mountain, the Mountain of God.
* Matthew 28:17: Some doubted.
When the disciples see Jesus, they prostrate themselves before Him. This is a response of those who believe and welcome God's presence, even though it might surprise and be beyond human ability to comprehend. So, some doubt. The four Gospels emphasis the doubt and incredulity of the disciples when confronted with the resurrection of Jesus (Mt 28:17; Mk 16:11:13,14; Lk 24:11,24:37-38; Jn 20:25). This serves to show that the apostles were not naïve and encourages the communities of the eighties (AD) which still had doubts.
* Matthew 28:18: Jesus' authority.
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me". This is a solemn declaration very much like the other affirmation: "Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father" (Mt 11:27). There are other similar affirmations by Jesus in John's Gospel: "Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into His hands" (Jn 13:3) and "All I have is yours, and all you have is Mine" (Jn 17:10). This same conviction of faith in Jesus appears in the canticles preserved in Paul's letters (Eph 1:3-14; Phil 2:6-11; Col 1:15-20). The fullness of divinity is manifested in Jesus (Col 1:19). This authority of Jesus, born of His oneness with the Father, is the basis for the mission that the disciples are about to receive as well as our faith in the Most Blessed Trinity.
* Matthew 28:19-20ª: The triple mission.
Jesus conveys a triple mission: (1) to make disciples of all nations, (2) to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and (3) to teach them to observe all the commands He gave them.
a) To become a disciple: The disciple lives with the master and thus learns from this daily living together. The disciple forms a community with the master and follows him, seeking to imitate his way of living and of living together in obedience. The disciple is someone who does not place absolute value on his/her manner of thinking, but is always open to learning. A disciple is also active. It is not a passive role, like watching television. Like the "servant of Yahweh", the disciple strains his/her ear to listen to what God has to say (Is 50:4).
b) To baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: The Good News of God that Jesus brought to us is the revelation that God is Father and that thus, we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus lived and obtained this new experience of God for us through His death and resurrection. This is the new Spirit that He spread over His followers on the day of Pentecost. In those days, to be baptized in someone's name meant to publicly assume the commitment to observe the proclaimed message. Thus, to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit meant the same as being baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) and the same as being baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). It meant, and still means, publicly assuming the commitment to live the Good News that Jesus brought, to reveal through prophetic brotherhood that God is Father, to struggle to overcome divisions and separations among people, and to affirm that all are children of God.
c) To teach to observe all the commandments that Jesus gave us: We do not teach new doctrines nor do we teach our own doctrines, but we reveal the face of the God whom Jesus revealed to us. It is from this revelation that comes all the doctrine passed on to us by the apostles.
* Matthew 28:20b: God is with us always.
This is the great promise, the synthesis of all that was revealed from the beginning. It is the summary of the name of God, the summary of the whole of the Old Testament, of all the promises, of all the desires of the human heart. It is the final summary of the Good News of God passed on to us in Matthew's Gospel.
iii) The history of the revelation of the Name of God, One and Three:
When one hears a name for the first time, it is just a name. The more we live with the person the more the name becomes a synthesis of that person. The longer we live with the person, the greater the significance and value of the name. In the Bible, God has many names and titles that express what He means or what He can mean for us. God's personal name is YHWH. We have already come across this name in the second narration of creation in Genesis (Gen 2:4). The deep meaning of this name (the result of long living together through the centuries, which also went through the "dark night" of the crisis of the exile in Babylon) is described in the book of Exodus on the occasion of the calling of Moses (Ex 3:7-15). Living with God through the centuries endowed this name of God with meaning and depth.
God said to Moses: "Go and free my people" (cf. Ex 3:10). Moses is afraid and justifies himself by feigning humility: "Who am I?" (Ex 3:11). God answers: "I shall be with you" (Ex 3:12). Even though he knows that God will be with him in his mission of liberating the people oppressed by Pharaoh, Moses tries to excuse himself again: he asks God's name. God replies by simply reaffirming what He had already said, "I AM WHO AM". In other words, God is saying I am certainly with you and you cannot doubt this. The text then goes on: "You are to say to the people of Israel ‘I AM has sent me to you’!" The text concludes, "This is My name for all time: by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come" (Ex 3:14-15).
This brief text, which is deeply theological, expresses the deepest conviction of faith of the people of God: God is with us. He is Immanuel, an intimate, friendly, liberating presence. All this is contained in the four letters of the name YHWH, which we pronounce as Yahweh: the One who is in our midst. This is the same certainty that Jesus communicates to His disciples in His last promise on the mountain: "I am with you always, yes, to the end of time" (Mt 28:20). The Bible is insistent on this one thing: the Name of God, that is, the presence of God in our midst expressed in the name Yahweh: "He is in our midst". In the Old Testament alone, the name Yahweh appears more than 7000 times! It is the wick of the candle around which gathers the wax of the stories.
Something tragic happened (and is still happening) when, in later centuries during the exile in Babylonia, fundamentalism, moralism, and ritualism gradually presented that living, friendly, present and loved face as a rigid and severe figure, unfittingly hung on the walls of sacred scripture, a figure that aroused fear and placed a distance between God and His people. Thus during the last centuries before Christ, the name YHWH could not be pronounced. Instead, the word Adonai was used, a translation of Kyrios, which means Lord. A cult centered on the observance of the laws, a cult centered on the temple in Jerusalem and a racially closed system, created a new kind of slavery that stifled the mystical experience and withheld contact with the living God. The Name that should have been like transparent glass which revealed the Good News of the friendly and attractive face of God, became a mirror that reflected only the face of the one who looked into it. A tragic deceit of self-contemplation! They no longer drank at the source, but drank water bottled by the doctors of the law. To this day we go on drinking water kept in storage, rather than water from the source.
By His death and resurrection, Jesus did away with small-mindedness (Col 2:14), broke the mirror of idolatrous self-contemplation, and opened a new window where God shows His face and draws us to Himself. Citing a canticle of the community, St. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, "God raised Him high and gave Him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:9-11). On the day of Pentecost, Peter ended his first speech by revealing what the great discovery of the experience of the resurrection meant for him, "Let all the people know: God has constituted Jesus Christ Lord". Jesus who died and rose again, is the revelation that God, the same as always, is and continues to be YHWH (Adonai, Kyrios, Lord), an intimate presence, friendly and liberating in the midst of his people, conqueror of every barrier, even death. With the coming of Jesus, and in Jesus, the God of the forebears, who seemed so distant and severe, gained the features of a good Father, full of kindness. Abba! Our Father! For us Christians, the most important thing is not to confess that Jesus is God, but to witness that God is Jesus! God reveals Himself in Jesus. Jesus is the key to a new reading of the Old Testament. He is the new name of God.
This new revelation of the name of God in Jesus is the fruit of the completely free gift of the love of God, of His faithfulness to His Name. This faithfulness can be ours too, thanks to the complete and radical obedience of Jesus: "Obedient unto death, death on the cross" (Phil 2:8). Jesus identified Himself completely with the will of God. He says, "What the Father has told Me is what I speak" (Jn 12:50). "My food is to do the will of the one who sent Me" (Jn 4:34). That is why Jesus is the completely transparent revelation of the Father, "To have seen Me is to have seen the Father!" (Jn 14:9). In Him dwelt "the fullness of the divinity" (Col 1:19). "The Father and I are one" (Jn 10:30). Such obedience is not easy. Jesus went through difficult moments when He exclaimed: "Let this chalice pass me by!" (Mk 14:36). As the letter to the Hebrews says, "He offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears to the One who had the power to save Him out of death" (Heb 5:7). He overcame by means of prayer. That is why He became full revelation and manifestation of the Name, of what the Name means for us. Jesus' obedience is not a disciplinary one, but a prophetic one. It is an action that reveals the Father. Through obedience, chains were broken and the veil that hid the face of God was torn. A new way to God opened to us. He earned for us the gift of the Spirit when we ask the Father for the Spirit in His name in prayer (Lk 11:13). The Spirit is living water earned for us by His resurrection (Jn 7:39). It is through the Spirit that He teaches us, revealing the face of God the Father (Jn 14:26; 16:12-13).
6. Psalm 145 (144)
Jesus establishes the Kingdom
I will extol Thee, my God and King,
and bless Thy name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless Thee,
and praise Thy name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall laud Thy works to another,
and shall declare Thy mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty,
and on Thy wondrous works, I will meditate.
Men shall proclaim the might of Thy terrible acts,
and I will declare Thy greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of Thy abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and His compassion is over all that He has made.
All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee,
O Lord, and all Thy saints shall bless Thee!
They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom,
and tell of Thy power,
to make known to the sons of men Thy mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of Thy kingdom.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all His words, and gracious in all His deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to Thee,
and Thou givest them their food in due season.
Thou openest Thy hand,
Thou satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is just in all His ways,
and kind in all His doings.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of all who fear Him,
He also hears their cry, and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love Him;
but all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the Word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
The witness of the Holy Spirit
and the witness of the disciples
John15:26-27, 16:12-15
1. Opening prayer
Oh, My Father, when will the Consoler come? When will your Spirit of Truth reach me? The Lord Jesus has promised Him, He has said that He would have sent Him from Your womb down to us. Father, then, open wide Your heart and send Him from your holy Heavens, from Your high dwelling! Do not delay any more, but fulfill the ancient promise; save us today, for ever! Open and free Your Love for us, in order that I too can be open and freed by You, in You. May this Word of Yours today be the holy place of our encounter, be the nuptial room to be immersed in You, Oh Trinity who are Love! Come in me and I in You; dwell in me and I in You. Remain, Father! Remain Oh Son Jesus Christ! Remain for ever, Consoler Spirit, do not leave me ever! Amen.
2. Reading
a) In order to insert this passage in its context:
The few verses which the Liturgy offers us today for meditation belong to the great farewell discourse which Jesus addressed to His disciples before the Passion, and which John extends from 13:31 to the end of chapter 17. Here Jesus begins to speak of the unavoidable consequence of following the choice of faith and love for Him. The disciple has to be ready to suffer persecution from the world. But in this struggle, in this pain, there is a consolation, there is a Defender, an Advocate who witnesses for us and saves us: the gift of the Spirit illuminates the human adventure of the disciple and fills us with a living hope. He is sent to make us understand the mystery of Christ and to allow us to participate in it.
b) To help in the reading of the passage:
15, 26-27: Jesus announces the coming of the Holy Spirit, as Consoler, as the defending Advocate. He will be the one to act in the process of accusation which the world has against the disciples of Christ. He will be the one to make them strong in persecution. The Spirit renders witness to the world regarding the Lord Jesus; He defends Christ, who is contested, accused, and rejected. But the witness of the disciples is also necessary. The Spirit has to use them to proclaim with strength, in this world, the Lord Jesus. It is the beauty of our life transformed into a witness of love and fidelity to Christ.
16, 12: Jesus places His disciples – and therefore us too – ahead of their condition of poverty and incapacity, by which they do not understand well neither the words of Jesus, nor the words of Scripture. His truth is still a burden, which they cannot receive, lift up, and carry.
16, 13 –15: In these last verses, the Word of Jesus reveals to the disciples what will be the action of His Spirit in them. He will be the one to guide them in the whole truth. He will make them understand the mystery of Jesus in all its importance or significance, and in the totality of His truth. He will guide, reveal, proclaim, and illuminate, bringing to us, His disciples, the words of the Father. In this way we will be led to the encounter with God. By His grace we will be rendered capable of understanding the depth of the Father and of the Son.
c) The Text:
Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
I keep silence, from time to time I repeat in a low voice: “Come Holy Spirit”.
4. Some questions
a) “When the Paraclete will come”. Jesus immediately places me in front of a very concrete reality; He opens before me a new time and tells me that this is a time of waiting in my life. The Paraclete is about to come, the Holy Spirit. Why Lord, have I waited for you for such a short time, and has my attention toward you been so weak, so hypocritical? You send someone to look for me and I am not even aware, do I not even show any interest?
b) “And you too will be witnesses”. Jesus affirms this, addressing Himself to His disciples of that time and of today. He speaks precisely to me and tells me: “You too will be a witness”. I am afraid. Why lose my importance before others: my companions in school, in the university, in my team, my friends, who invite me to go out with them? Why this great difficulty? Can I not be a Christian just the same? You are my beginning and my end: You are my whole existence! How could I not be Your witness, Lord? How can I continue to keep silence in this way?.
c) “He will lead you to the complete truth”. I have always planned my decisions to change. I have always been able to do everything alone. And now, Lord, You tell me that another One will guide me. This is not an easy choice, I confess it. But I want to try, I want to accept You, oh You who are Love. I allow myself to be taken hold of by Your Spirit. Will He lead me to the desert, as He did with You (cf. Lk4:1)? Will He open my life, as He opened the womb of the Virgin Mary (Lk1:35)? Will He invest me as He did with Peter, with the others, with all who believed in the preaching, as it is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles? I do not know what will happen to me, but I want to say yes to You.
5. A key for the Reading
* The Holy Spirit Paraclete
At first sight this term may seem a bit strange. It is a Greek word which is quite vague, from ancient times. Saint John referred to it when he said: “I shall ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (Jn 14:16) and revealing that the Spirit comes to console, to remain with them, to defend and to protect. Here, though, in this verse, there seems to emerge a nuance: the Spirit presents Himself to us as the Advocate, that is, the One who is at our side in the judgment, in the accusation, in the tribunal of persecution. We know the whole story that bears in its heart the accusation, the contempt, the condemnation of the Lord Jesus and for all those who love Him. This is the daily story of all. At the bench of the accused, at the side of Jesus, we also sit, but not alone. We have an Advocate. The Spirit of the Lord comes and acts in the judgment in our behalf: He has discourses, renders witness, tries to convince and to prove. His work is immense in our midst, and for us. Before the Father, our Advocate is Jesus, as John writes in his first Letter (1 Jn2:1); but before the world, our Advocate is the Spirit, whom he sends to us from the Father. We should not prepare our defense beforehand (Lk 21:14), thinking that we can excuse ourselves alone, but we have to make space, within us, for the breath of the Holy Spirit, and allow Him to be the one who speaks, says, proves. Paul also had to have this hard experience. He writes this in his second Letter to Timothy: “The first time I had to present my defense, no one came in to court to support me. Every one of them deserted me” (2 Tim4:16). It is truly like that. There is no defense for us, no innocence, liberation, true freedom from jail, except in the intimate relationship with the Spirit of the Lord. He comes to us, in order that we may allow ourselves to be taken up by His presence, as in an embrace, as in an intimate and intense relationship of friendship, trust, abandonment and love.
* The Witness
I begin to understand, continuing to accept, in my heart, the words of this Gospel, that the relationship of us, disciples with the Holy Spirit, has as its purpose to render us capable of giving our witness to Jesus. We are united unconditionally with the Holy Spirit. We are grasped by Him, taken up in His fire, which is the reciprocal Love of the Father and of the Son, so that we too may become luminous, that we also may be sources of love in this world.
To render witness means to affirm clearly, giving proofs. The first one to do this, continually, is the Spirit. In every place and at all times He acts with power, in us and around us. He is the one who moves the hearts, who changes our distorted and hardened thoughts, who brings us closer, reconciles, impels to pardon, and brings us to union. He is also the One who heals the soul, the sick body and heart. He is the One who teaches, trains and makes one docile. He gives witness to the Lord Jesus, the Savior, through all His actions, soft touches of love, and of communion on our desolate and dry earth. He calls out the Risen One, who has conquered and stepped on death for ever. He gives witness to the Living One, the Glorified One from the One who is with us until the end of time. Behold, this is the witness. The Spirit introduces this in our world, brings it to us. We cannot remain indifferent or choose a bit here and there. He is the truth. And there is only one truth: that of God, His Son Jesus Christ. We are called to give witness to all of this. That is to commit our life, out of love, to this truth. To give witness is to become martyrs, out of love. Not alone, not by our own strength or by our own wisdom. “You will also be my witnesses”, says Jesus. But our wisdom can only exist within the witness of the Holy Spirit. They are not parallel witnesses, but lives fused together: that of the Spirit and ours. This takes place before the infinite tribunals of the world, every day of our life. It becomes a sacred place, almost a sanctuary, of the witness to the Lord Jesus. It is not important to carry out great enterprises, to show wisdom and intelligence, or attract crowds of people. No, one thing alone suffices: to tell the world that the Lord is alive, that He is here, in our midst and to proclaim His mercy, His infinite love.
* The Father
The contact with the Holy Spirit, allowing ourselves to be embraced and invaded by Him, leads us to the Lord Jesus. It leads us to His Heart, to the source of His love. And from there we go to the Father. We had nothing. We were not able to bring anything with us coming into this world and now, behold, we are loaded with gifts! It’s impossible to contain them all. It is necessary to allow them to overflow, to flow outside, toward the brothers and sisters whom we meet.
The Spirit speaks of Jesus and uses the words of the Father. He repeats to us what He hears from the Father. His dwelling is the Father, and coming to us, the Spirit brings with Him the seal of that dwelling, of that place of infinite communion, which is the womb of the Father. We understand well that this is our house. We recognize the place of our origin and our end. Receiving the Spirit of Jesus we rediscover that we also come from the Father, that we are born in Him and we live in Him. If we seek ourselves, if we want to find the way, the sense of our life here, all this is written in the words which the Spirit pronounces for us, within us, concerning us. It is truly necessary to have a great silence in order to be able to listen to understand Him. It is necessary to go back to the house. To finally rethink in the Father and to say, within ourselves: “Yes, it is now enough! I have wandered far away from You for a long time, I have been lost… I will go back to my Father”. I see how many wonders the Spirit of truth can act, that my Lord Jesus Christ sends me from the Father. It will not be Pentecost if I do not allow myself to be taken up by Him, to be led by Him to the womb of the Father, where Christ is already waiting for me, where the fire of the Holy Spirit is already burning for me.
6. A moment of prayer
Psalm 68
(The tenderness of the Father is the dwelling of the poor)
Response: Abbà Father, I am your son!
I pray to You, Yahweh,
at the time of Your favor;
in Your faithful love answer me,
in the constancy of Your saving power.
Answer me, Yahweh, for Your faithful love is generous;
in Your tenderness turn towards me;
do not turn away from Your servant,
be quick to answer me, for I am in trouble.
Come to my side, redeem me,
ransom me because of my enemies.
The humble have seen and are glad.
Let your courage revive,
you who seek God.
For God listens to the poor,
He has never scorned His captive people.
Let heaven and earth and seas,
and all that stirs in them, acclaim Him!
For God will save Zion,
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and people will live there on their own land;
the descendants of His servants will inherit it,
and those who love His name will dwell there.
7. Final Prayer
Thank You, Father, for the coming of the Consoler, the Advocate. Thank You for His witness of Jesus in the world in me and in my life. Thank You because it is He who makes me capable of receiving and bearing the glorious weight of your Son and my Lord. Thank you, because He guides me in truth, He hands me over to the whole truth and reveals to me the Word which You Yourself pronounce. Thank You, my Father, because in Your goodness and tenderness You have joined me today and You have attracted me to You. You have made me enter in the house of your heart. You have immersed me in the fire of the Trinitarian love, where You and Your Son Jesus are only one in the infinite kiss of the Holy Spirit. I am also here and because of this my joy is overflowing. I pray You, Father, make me give this joy to all, in the loving witness of Jesus, the Savior, every day of my life. Amen.
Ascension of The Lord
"Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News!"
He lives in our midst!
Mark 16:15-20
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The liturgy of the feast of the Ascension presents us with a scene where Jesus appears to the disciples and confers on them the mission of going to the whole world to proclaim the Good News. The text of Mark's Gospel (Mk 16:9-20) is the final section of the appendix of that Gospel (Mk 16:15-20). We expand the brief commentary to include the whole of the appendix. During the reading we need to pay attention to the following point: "To whom does Jesus appear, what are the various aspects of the mission and what are the signs of His presence in the community?"
b) A division of the text as an aid to the reading:
Mark 16:9-11: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.
Mark 16:12-13: Jesus appears to two disciples.
Mark 16:14-18: Jesus appears to the eleven and gives them a mission.
Mark 16:19-20: Jesus ascends into heaven in the presence of the disciples.
c) The text:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) How do we handle discerning and verifying the news we hear today? What news today would be able to make us change our lives completely as news of the Resurrection did back then?
b) To whom does Jesus manifest Himself alive and how do they react (Mk 16:9-20)?
c) In this text, who has the greatest difficulty in believing in the resurrection?
d) As Paul says, "God brought us to life with Christ…and gave us a place with Him in heaven" (Eph 2:6). How does this affirmation help us to understand the meaning of the Ascension?
e) What are the signs of Jesus' presence within the community? What is the meaning of each sign? What is our personal involvement, reaction and response to each?
f) What signs best convince people today of the presence of Jesus in our midst?
5. A key to the reading
to enter deeper into the theme.
i) The context:
The appendix of Mark's Gospel offers a list of Jesus' appearances (Mk 16:9-20). There are other lists but they do not always coincide. The list given by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians is quite different (1Cor 15:3-8). These differences show that, in the beginning, Christians were not concerned about describing or proving the resurrection. For them, faith in the resurrection was so vivid and evident that there was no need to prove it. The communities themselves, living and persevering among so many challenges and persecutions from the Roman Empire, were living proof of the truth of the resurrection.
The people of that time were not easily convinced of things. They demanded proof all along the way, from the Pharisees to Thomas. Considerable weight must be given to the way the first communities lived out their witness. The Gospels are not a general history book. Much is also handed down through tradition (Jn 21:25). Consider, even in that time, the Jews paid to create false news stories of the Resurrection. Belief within the first communities, despite death and persecution, is more convincing than logical arguments for us today. Their radical change of life proves they experienced Jesus and the Gospel in reality.
ii) Commentary on the text:
a) Mark 16:9-11: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, but the other disciples do not believe her.
Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and she announces this to the others. To come into the world, God chose to depend on the yes of Mary of Nazareth (Lk 1:38). To be recognized as living in our midst, He chose to depend on the word of Mary Magdalene who had been freed from seven devils.
Mark says that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. In this he agrees with the other three Evangelists (cf. Mt 28:9-10; Jn 20:16; Lk 24:9-11). But on the list of appearances given in the Letter to the Corinthians (1Cor 15:3-8), there is no mention of any appearances to the women. The first Christians found it difficult to believe the witness of women. This was a condition of the society at the time.
b) Mark 16:12-13: Jesus appears to two disciples
The story of Jesus' appearance to the two disciples who were walking in the fields is probably a reference to Jesus' appearance to the disciples from Emmaus who, on returning, shared their experience of the resurrection with "the eleven” and their companions (Lk 24:33-34). Only here, Mark differs from Luke because the others did not believe in the witness of the two disciples.
c) Mark 16:14: Jesus scolds the eleven for their incredulity
Finally, Jesus appears to the eleven disciples gathered at table and scolds then because they have not believed those who had seen Him risen. For the third time, Mark makes reference to the resistance of the disciples to believe the witness of those who had experienced the resurrection of Jesus. Why does Mark insist so much on the incredulity of the disciples? Probably to teach two things: first, that faith in the risen Jesus is transmitted through the faith of those who give witness to it; second, that no one must give up hope when doubt or confusion arises in one's heart. Even the eleven had doubts!
d) Mark 16:15-18: The signs that go with the proclamation of the Good News
Jesus immediately confers the mission of announcing the Good News to all creation. The requirement for anyone who wishes to be saved is this: to believe and be baptized. To those who have the courage to believe in the Good News and are baptized, He promises the following signs: (1) they will drive out devils; (2) they will speak in new tongues; (3) they will hold snakes in their hands; (4) if they drink poison it will not harm them; (5) they will lay hands on the sick and these will be healed. These signs take place even now:
* to drive out devils is to fight the power of evil that chokes life. The life of many people has improved since they entered in community and have started to live the good news of the presence of God. By participating in the life of the community, they drive out evil from their lives.
* to speak in new tongues: is to begin to communicate with others in a new way. Sometimes we meet someone whom we have never met before, but it is as if we have known each other for a long time. This is because we speak the same language of love. The way of thinking about others and speaking to them is different than what our original inclination was.
* to hold snakes in one's hand and to overcome poison: there are so many things that poison our life and living together. Gossip breaks down relationships for instance, as does envy, hate, pride, and many others. Those who live in the presence of God can overcome these deadly poisons. “Snakes”, as in serpents, can refer back to the devil’s interaction in the Garden. We are able to restrain these demons who attack us.
* to heal the sick: wherever we have a clearer awareness of the presence of God, we find also special care for those excluded and marginalized, especially the sick. What best restores health is welcoming and loving care. To “lay hands on” means to touch. It demands more than tossing a donation in a cup. Touching creates a bond of friendship, whereas a donation is more like a transaction.
e) Mark 16:19-20: Through the community, Jesus continues His mission
The Jesus who, in Palestine, welcomed the poor and revealed to them the love of the Father, is the same Jesus who now continues to be present in our midst in our communities, from couples to families to parishes and religious orders. Through us, He continues His mission of revealing the Good News of the love of God for the poor. To this day, the resurrection still takes place. No earthly power can neutralize the force that comes from faith in the resurrection (Rom 8:35-39). A community that wants to witness to the resurrection must be a sign of life, must fight against the power of death. So that the world may become a place of life, that community must believe that another world is possible. Above all, where the life of the people is in danger because of a system of death that is imposed, the community must be a living proof of the hope that conquers the world, without fear of unhappiness!
iii) Further information on the Gospel of Mark - God's surprises:
From the start, Mark's Gospel insists that "The time has come…and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News" (Mk 1:15). This initial request for conversion and faith shows us the door through which we have access to Jesus and the Good News of God that He brings. There is no other access. Faith demands belief in Jesus, in His Word, accepting Him unconditionally. We are invited to not shield ourselves with any name or title, doctrine or custom, and to keep ourselves always open to the surprises of God which demand a constant conversion. Names and titles, doctrines and customs, devotions and pleadings are like a tag that we wear on our chest for identification. The tag is important because it helps us and directs us when necessary to meet a person we are looking for. But when we meet, we do not look at the tag any more, but at the face! Very often, when we meet the person we are looking for he or she is quite different from what we imagined before. The meeting always carries some surprises! More so our meeting with God in Jesus. Throughout Mark's Gospel there are many surprises for the disciples, and these come from where they least expect them:
* from a pagan who gives Peter a lesson because he recognizes the presence of God in the crucified one (Mk 15:39);
* from a poor widow who gives her all to share with others (Mk 12:43-44);
* from a blind man who annoys the disciples by calling out and who does not even have a definite belief (Mk 10:46-52);
* from marginalized little ones who believe in Jesus (Mk 9:42);
* from those who use the name of Jesus to fight evil but who do not belong to the "Church" (Mk 9:38-40);
* from an anonymous woman who scandalizes the disciples by her manner of acting (Mk 14:3-9);
* from a father of a family who is obliged to carry the cross and becomes a model disciple (Mk 15:21)
* from Joseph of Arimathea who risks everything by asking for the body of Jesus to give it burial (Mk 15:43).
* from women who, then, could not be official witnesses but were chosen by Jesus as expert witnesses of His resurrection (Mk 15:40.47; 16:6.9-10).
In a word: The twelve disciples who were specially called by Jesus (Mk 3:13-19) and who were sent by Him on a mission (Mk 6:7-13), failed. Peter denied Him (Mk 14:66-72), Judas betrayed Him (Mk 14:44-45) and all fled (Mk 14:50). But it is precisely through their failure that is shown the strength of faith of the others who were not part of the group of the chosen twelve. The community must clearly be aware that it does not own Jesus nor does it own all the criteria of the action of God in our midst. Jesus does not belong to us, but we, the community, the Church, belong to Jesus, and Jesus is of God (1Cor 3:23). The greatest surprise of all is the resurrection!
6. Psalm 27 (26)
Courage born of faith
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me,
uttering slanders against me,
my adversaries and foes,
they shall stumble and fall.
Though a host encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in His temple.
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent,
He will set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies round about me;
and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
Thou hast said, "Seek ye My face."
My heart says to Thee,
"Thy face, Lord, do I seek."
Hide not Thy face from me.
Turn not Thy servant away in anger,
Thou who hast been my help.
Cast me not off, forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me up.
Teach me Thy way, O Lord;
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong,
and let your heart take courage;
yea, wait for the Lord!
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
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Jesus’ commandment
John 15:9-17
1. Opening prayer
Father, You are the source of life and You always surprise us with Your gifts. Grant us the grace of responding to the call of Your Son Jesus who has called us friends, so that in following Him, our Master and Shepherd, we may learn to observe His commandments, the new and definitive Law that is Himself, the way leading to You and of remaining in You. Through Christ Your Son, our Lord. Amen.
2. The text
Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. 
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."
3. Reading
The context of our passage already determines the tone: this is Jesus’ long discourse to His disciples during the Last Supper and after the washing of the feet of the disciples, which, according to John, characterizes Jesus’ ministry of love even to the end (Jn 13:1-15). If we look at these compact chapters, we can see a dynamism which goes from a gesture as such, the washing of the feet, a gesture in keeping with Jesus’ works as signs of His identity and which appeal to the faith of those looking on and listening, to the long discourse addressed to His disciples. It is an indication of the required attitude and the reality to look for, even including the prayer of Jesus to the Father (Jn 17), a prayer that goes beyond the circle of His disciples for the benefit of all those who believe in Him in all times. There is an ascending movement of the narrative that coincides with the raising of Jesus on the cross, an upward movement perceived by John as the glorification of Jesus and one that ultimately describes Easter as the passing of the Word from humanity back to the Father.
In Jesus’ discourse, expressions follow one another closely, which is neither oppressive in its rhythm nor tiring. Each expression is complete, simple, incisive, and places the Jesus of John in a continuity of favorite themes and terms.
Just before this passage, Jesus spoke of Himself as the true vine (Jn 15:1). It is an image describing two relationships: the Father, who is the vine dresser, and the disciples, who are the branches. This image is revealing. Besides being an exhortation to the disciples, it is a given fact: the Father looks after His precious plants, and looks after the relationship established between Jesus and His disciples, so that the disciples now live in a communion that defines them. The exhortation is expressed in the very image itself, and is made explicit and centered in the word “remain.” The disciples are called to remain in Jesus just like the branches remain in the vine so as to have life and bear fruit. The theme of bearing fruit is also that of asking and receiving, which recurs in our passage, putting before us an example of John’s special style of hinting and echoing. The tone of verse 9 changes because there is no longer an image but a direct reference to a relationship: “I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me”. Jesus places Himself in a descending order that goes from God to humanity. The verb “to love” has already occurred in chapter 14 in connection with the observance of the commandments. In our passage it occurs again in a new synthesis where the “commandments” give way to “the commandment” of Jesus: “My command to you is to love one another” (Jn 15:17). This reciprocal relationship is repeated immediately after in an incisive command: “remain in my love.” Jesus goes from the verb “to love”, to the substantive “love”, to show that the action flowing from the Father through the Son to humanity has created a new order of things, a possibility which was unthinkable until then. In verse 10, the observance of Jesus’ commandments is for the disciples, a way of responding to His love in an analogical and real continuity of the way the Son, who has observed the commandments of the Father, has done. This perspective is quite different from that of the legalism that had monopolized the terms “law” and “commandments.” Everything is referred to Jesus in a truer perspective: a response of love to the love received. The proclamation of the possibility of remaining in the presence of God. The words in verse 11 become a further way out of the legalistic mentality: the aim is joy, a joy of relationship, the joy of Christ in His disciples, and their joy present in its fullness.
In verse 12, as we have already said, the discourse becomes more urgent. Jesus says that His commandments are a single one: “that you love one another as I have loved you.” Notice how the line of relationships remains the same, always as a response: the disciples will love one another in the way that Jesus has loved them. What follows, however, re-establishes in absolute terms the primacy of Jesus’ gift: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (v. 13). This is an action that lifts the terms of involvement to its highest point, the gift of life. Here we have a conspicuous digression in the new name given to the disciples, namely that of “friends” as opposed to that of “servants”. The difference lies in the fact that the servant does not know what his master is planning. The servant is called to do and that is all. Jesus’ discourse follows a thread: it is because He has loved His disciples and is about to give His life for them that He has revealed to them His Father’s plan. He did this by means of His signs and works. He will do this in the greatest of His works, His death on the cross. Again Jesus shows His close relationship with the Father: “I have made known to you everything I have learned from my Father” (v. 15). Yet at the center of this affirmation to His disciples as friends Jesus expresses an order of things: “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (v. 14).
The final verses of our passage recall the image of the vine with the added statements above: It is Jesus who has chosen His disciples, not the other way around. The initiative is His. However, the image of the vine planted in the soil is presented differently. The disciples are called so that they may go, and it is in this going that they will bear fruit; then the fruit is meant to remain (the same word used as in remaining in Jesus’ love).
The identity of the disciples is based on the choice made by Jesus and points to a journey to be undertaken, a fruit to be borne. The picture is complete: the call in the past, the present listening, and the future bearing of fruit. Yet there is still someone who must be considered, there is still an attitude to acquire. “To bear fruit” may lead the disciples towards unilateral action. However, the words “so that” connect the bearing of fruit to what follows: to ask and to receive, to experience need and to receive the gift abundantly and freely given (“anything you ask”). That someone whom Jesus reveals is the Father, source of love and of the mission of the Son, the Father to whom we may turn to in the name of the Son to that extent we have remained in His love. The conclusion is given in a solemn and concise form: “My command to you is to love one another.”
4. Meditation
Jesus’ words just before his glorification tell the Church the meaning of following Him and His demands. They are strong words, mirroring the glory of Him who will freely give His life for the salvation of the world (cf. Jn 10:17-18). They are also precise words: simple, essential, close, connected and typical of a farewell discourse where repetition becomes a pressing and gentle appeal. To be a disciple of Christ is first of all a gift: it is He who has chosen His own. It is He who has revealed to them His mission, and in doing so, has revealed the “background” of the plan of salvation: the will of the Father, the love between Father and Son, which is now communicated to humanity. The disciples now know. This knowledge will demand options so as not to remain in an empty and sterile pretense (cf. 1 Jn 4:8.20). “Remain” in the love of Jesus and observe His “commandments” is above all a revelation, the gift of a supreme possibility that frees people from a servile state even with respect to God and places them in a new, full and reciprocal relationship with Him, typical of friendship. “To remain in His love” is what the Synoptics would call the “kingdom of God,” a new stage in history, at first wounded and now freed.
In the Hebrew culture, the observance of the commandments was connected with pedantic teaching that often went into the smallest details. This had its value because it witnessed to an effort by pious Jews to remain faithful to God. Their image of God and relationship to Him also reflected their needs and abilities at the time as they interacted with neighboring cultures. However, they ran the risk, common to all human endeavors, of losing sight of God’s initiative and emphasizing the human response. In John’s Gospel, Jesus restores and renews the meaning of the “law” and the “commandments” with the concept of “love” and the invitation to “remain.” When Jesus proclaims and shows the love of the Father in the act of giving His life for the salvation of the world, He renews and personalizes this observance. It is love that reveals its quality, not in the abstract, but in the concrete and visible face of Christ who loves “to the end” and lives in person the greatest love. Several times Jesus describes His relationship with the Father. The fact that here He places himself under the sign of obedience to the Father gives new meaning to obedience. It is not the obedience of a servant but of a Son. The work to be accomplished, that is, “the commandments of My Father,” is not something separate from the person of Jesus, but that which He knows and desires wholeheartedly. The Word that was with the Father is always with Him to accomplish the things that please the Father in a communion that is life-giving. This is precisely what Jesus asks of His disciples: to keep in mind that “as the Father has loved… as I have loved you” must not remain on the level of an example, but on the level of action. The love of the Father is the source of the love expressed by the Son, and the love of the Son is the source of the love that the disciples will give to the world.
Knowledge and practice are thus closely connected in the “spiritual Gospel,” as John’s Gospel has been called by the Fathers of the Church. When faith is authentic, it will not put up with a dichotomy concerning life.
In this passage, the disciples appear as the object of the caring cure of their Master. He will not forget them, not even in the imminent trial to come, when He prays for them to the Father and “for those who through their teaching will come to believe in Me” (Jn 17:20). At the end of their listening, their welcoming, and their commitment, there is joy, which is the same as that of their Master. He has chosen them using criteria that only God knows, a choice that recalls the choice of Israel, the smallest of all nations. It is Jesus who has formed, taught and strengthened them. All this acquires a new and more intense meaning in the light of Easter and Pentecost. It is like a paradox, and this is what they are called to: to be steadfast and remain and yet to go. Steadfastness and dynamism whose source is the mystery of God, whereby the Word was with the Father and yet built His tent in our midst (cf. Jn 1:2.14).
Formed in steadfastness and going to bear lasting fruit is what defines the task of the disciples after the Pasch of the Lord, but in our passage this is connected with the invitation to ask the Father in Jesus’ name. It is, then, from the Father, in Christ and with the power of the Consoler that will come the grace to love, and in loving, to bear witness.
5. Prayer
There are some points in this passage that may help us renew our style of prayer:
- Prayer that is truly “Trinitarian,” not just theoretically or in its expression, but also as an inherent dynamic of the prayer itself.
- The need for prayer and life to be one. Prayer is the mirror, the expression and the measure of our life of faith.
- The joy that must accompany our attitude of prayer.
- Appreciating all that is human (awareness of relationships, love of prayer, experience of joy, perception of union with God) and being aware that all is gift.
Psalm 119:129-136
Wonderful are Your instructions,
so I observe them.
As Your word unfolds it gives light,
and even the simple understand.
I open wide my mouth,
panting eagerly for Your commandments.
Turn to me, pity me;
those who love Your name deserve it.
Keep my steps firm in your promise
that no evil may triumph over me.
Rescue me from human oppression,
and I will observe Your precepts.
Let Your face shine on Your servant,
teach me Your will.
My eyes stream with tears
because Your Law is disregarded.
6. Contemplation
The Word of God calls us to confirm in our heart and in our actions the newness of being disciples of the Son. The four aspects: relationship with God, reading reality, commitment, and attention to the life of the Church are like seeds of contemplation, attitudes and possible choices.
Relationship with God: growing in an awareness of being in relationship with the Trinity. “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Sg 2:16). We are thought of, wanted, gifted, saved between the Father and the Son in the Spirit; presenting our actions in response to the love of God who first called us.
Reading reality: recognizing personal reactions to people and institutions, such as the trivializing of the concept of “love” in a materialist interpretation as well as in spiritual escapism. On the other hand, to be aware of the expectations of free and freeing relationships as experiences of an authentic gift often not recognized.
Commitment to reality: to give one’s life (in all its forms) as a concrete expression and appreciation of love; the importance of new communications of experiences of wisdom in following the fruits of the witness given to the Gospel in the world that God wishes to save.
The life of the Church as a life of relationship in relationship: to see the Church not only as an image of the Trinity, but “within” the Trinity; to regain the feeling of freedom and joy in the community of believers.
7. Closing prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for the loving care with which You have taught and still teach Your disciples. We praise You, Lord, conqueror of sin and of death, because You have gambled all that was Yours, even Your infinite relationship with the Father in the Spirit. You have presented this relationship to us who risk not understanding it, trivializing it, forgetting it. You spoke of it to us so that we may understand how great a love has given us life. Grant, Lord, that we may remain in You as the branches remain united to the vine that nourishes them and allows them to bear fruit. Turn your gaze of faith and hope on us that we may learn to go from words and desires to concrete actions in imitation of You who have loved us to the end when You gave Your life to us so that we may have life in You. You who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
You call Your children
to walk in the light of Christ.
Free us from darkness
and keep us in the radiance of Your truth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 9:14-17
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
3) Reflection
• Matthew 9:14: The question of John’s disciples concerning the practice of fasting. Fasting is quite an ancient usage, practiced by almost all religions. Jesus Himself practiced it for forty days (Mt 4:2). But He does not insist that the disciples do the same thing. He leaves them free. Because of this, the disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to know why Jesus does not insist on fasting:“Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not?”
• Matthew 9:15: Jesus’ answer. Jesus answers with a comparison in the form of a question: “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is still with them?” Jesus associates fasting with mourning, and He considers Himself the bridegroom. When the bridegroom is with His friends, that is, during the wedding feast, they have no need to fast. When Jesus is with them, with His disciples, it is a feast, the wedding feast. Therefore, they should not fast. But one day the bridegroom will go away. It will be a day of mourning. Then, if they want, they can fast. Jesus refers to His death. He knows and feels that if He continues on this way of liberation, the authorities will want to kill Him.
• Matthew 9:16-17: New wine in new wineskins! In these two verses, the Gospel of Matthew gives two separate sayings of Jesus on the patch of new cloth on an old cloak and on the new wine in new skins. These words throw light on the discussions and the conflicts of Jesus with religious authority of the time. A patch of new cloth is not put on an old cloak, because when it is washed, the new piece of cloth shrinks and pulls on the old cloak and tears it and the tear becomes bigger. Nobody puts new wine in old skins, because when the new wine ferments, it tears the old skins. New wine in new skins! The religion defended by the religious authority was like a piece of old cloth, like an old wineskin. Both the disciples of John and the Pharisees tried to renew the religion. In reality, they barely put some patches, and because of this, they ran the risk of compromising and harming both the new and the old uses. The new wine which Jesus brings to us tears the old skins. It is necessary to know how to separate things. Most probably, Matthew presents these words of Jesus to orientate the communities in the years of the 80’s. There was a group of Jewish Christians who wanted to replace the newness of Jesus with the Judaism of the time before His coming. Jesus is not against what is “old.” He does not want what is old to be imposed on that which is new. Similarly, Vatican II cannot be reread with the mentality before the Council, as some try to do today.
4) Personal questions
• What are the conflicts around religious practices which make many people suffer today and are a reason for heated discussions and polemics? What is the image of God which is behind all these preconceptions, these norms, and these prohibitions?
• How is this saying of Jesus to be understood: “Nobody puts a piece of new cloth on an old cloak? What is the message which we can draw from all of this for your community today?
5) Concluding Prayer
I am listening. What is God's message?
Yahweh's message is peace for His people,
for His faithful, if only they renounce their folly. (Ps 85:8)
The image of the true vine, that is, Jesus
The pressing invitation to remain in Him
in order to bear the fruit of love
John 15:1-8
1. Opening prayer
Lord, You are! And this is sufficient for us, to live by, to go on hoping every day, to walk in this world, not to choose the wrong road of being closed and lonely. Yes, You are forever and from all time; You are constant, O Jesus! Your being is our constant gift; it is an ever ripe fruit that feeds and strengthens us in You, in Your presence. Lord, open our heart, open our being to Your being; open us to life with the mysterious power of Your Word. Help us to listen, to eat and savor this food for our souls, which is indispensable for us! Send us the good fruit of Your Spirit so that He may bring about in us that which we read and meditate about You.
2. Reading
a) To place the passage in its context:
These few verses are part of the great discourse of Jesus to His disciples during that intimate moment of the last supper and they begin with chapter 13, verse 31, and proceed up to the end of chapter 17. This passage has a very tight, deep and inseparable unity, unequaled in the Gospels, and sums up the whole of Jesus' revelation in His divine life and in the mystery of the Trinity. It is the text that says what no other text in the Scriptures is capable of saying concerning Christian life, its power, its tasks, its joys and pains, its hopes and its struggle in this world in the Church. Just a few verses, but full of love. That love to the very end that Jesus chose to live for His disciples, and for us, even to this day and forever. In the strength of this love, the supreme gesture of infinite tenderness, which includes all other gestures of love, the Lord bequeaths to His disciples a new presence. A new way of being. By means of the parable of the vine and its branches and the proclamation of the wonderful verb remain, repeated several times, Jesus initiates His new story with each one of us called indwelling. He is no longer with us, because He is going back to the Father, yet He remains within us.
b) To assist us in the reading of the passage:
vv. 1-3: Jesus reveals Himself as the true vine, which brings forth good fruit and excellent wine for His Father who is the vinedresser. He reveals to us, His disciples, the branches, that we must remain united to the vine so as not to die and to bear fruit. The pruning, which the Father accomplishes on the branches by means of the Word, is a purification, a joy, and a chant.
vv. 4-6: Jesus passes on to His disciples the secret of being able to continue to live in an intimate relationship with Him by remaining. As He lives in them and remains in them, and is no longer external to them or with them, so they must also remain in Him, inside Him. This is the only way to be completely consoled, to be able to hold on to this life and bear good fruit which is love.
v. 7: Once more, Jesus bequeaths the gift of prayer in the heart of His disciples, that most precious and unique pearl, and He tells us that by remaining in Him, we can learn true prayer, the prayer that seeks insistently the gift of the Holy Spirit and knows that it will be granted.
v. 8: Jesus calls us to Himself, asks us to follow Him, and to be always His disciples. The remainder brings forth mission, the gift of life for the Father and for the neighbor. If we really remain in Jesus, then we shall really remain in the midst of our brothers and sisters, as gift and as service. This is the glory of the Father.
c) The text:
Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
3. A moment of silent prayer
As a branch, I now remain united to the vine, my Lord, and I abandon myself to Him. I allow myself to be overtaken by the sap of His silent and deep voice, which is like living water. Therefore, I remain in silence and stay close.
4. A few questions
These help me remain and to discover the beauty of the vine, Jesus. They lead me to the Father, and allow Him to take over and labor in me, certain of His good labor as loving vine-dresser. They urge me to enter into the life blood of the Spirit to meet Him as the only necessary thing that I must seek untiringly.
a) "I am": it is beautiful that the passage begins with these words, which are like a song of joy of the victory of the Lord that He loves to sing all the time in the life of each one of us. "I am": He repeats this infinitely, every morning, every evening, at night, while we sleep, even though we are not aware of this. In fact, He really is at our disposal. He is turned towards the Father, and towards us for us. I meditate on these words and not only listen to them, but allow them to penetrate me, my mind, my innermost memory, my heart, and all my feelings as I ruminate on and absorb His being into my being. I try to enter into the depths of my being, overcoming fear, crossing the darkness that I find there and I gather those parts of my being that are most lifeless. I take them delicately and bring them to Jesus and I hand them over to His "I am".
b) The vine recalls to mind wine, that precious and good fruit, and also recalls to mind the covenant that nothing will ever break. Am I willing to remain in that embrace, in that continuous yes of my life thus woven into His? Together with the Psalmist, I shall also raise the chalice of the covenant, calling on the name of the Lord and saying to Him, “yes, I also love you”.
c) Jesus calls His Father the vine-dresser, a very beautiful term that carries all the force of the love dedicated to working the land. It expresses a bending over the earth, a drawing close of body and being, a prolonged contact, a vital exchange. This is precisely the Father's attitude towards us! However, St. Paul says: "The farmer who has done the hard work should have the first share of the harvest" (2 Tim 2:6) and St. James reminds us "See how patient a farmer is as he waits for his land to produce precious crops" (Jas 5:7). Will I disappoint the patience of the Father who cultivates me every day, turns me over, gets rid of the stones, nourishes me with good fertilizer and builds a hedge all round me to protect me? To whom do I give the fruits of my existence, my heart, my mind, and my soul? For whom do I exist? For whom do I decide and choose to live every day, every morning, when I wake up?
d) I follow the text carefully and underline two verbs, which occur frequently: "to bear fruit" and "to remain". I understand that these two realities are a symbol of life itself and are woven together, each depending on the other. Only by remaining is it possible to bear fruit, and the only true fruit that we as disciples can bear in this world is to remain. Where do I remain every day, all day? With whom do I remain? Jesus always makes the connection of this verb with that wonderful and enormous particle: "in Me". Do I console myself with these two words "in Me"? Do I dig in search of the Lord as one digs for a well (cfr. Gn 26:18) or for treasure (Pr 2:4)? Or am I outside, always lost among the ways of this world, as far as possible from intimacy and from a relationship from contact with the Lord?
e) Twice Jesus reminds us of the reality of His Word and reveals to us that it is His Word that makes us pure and it is His Word that leads us to true prayer. The Word is proclaimed and given as a permanent presence within us. It also has the ability to remain, to make its dwelling place in our heart. However, I must ask myself, what ears do I have to listen to this proclamation of salvation and goodness, which the Lord addresses to me through His Words? Do I allow room to listen in depth to that which the Scripture speaks to me all the time, in the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms and the apostolic writings? Do I allow the Word of the Lord to find me and overtake me in prayer, or do I prefer to trust in other words, lighter, more human and more like my words? Am I afraid of the voice of the Lord who speaks to me urgently and all the time?
5. A key to the reading
As a branch, I seek to be ever more one with my Vine, that is, the Lord Jesus. Here and now, I drink of His Word, the good sap, seeking to penetrate ever deeper so as to absorb the hidden nourishment that transmits real life to me. I pay attention to the words, the verbs, the expressions Jesus uses and which recall other passages of divine Scripture and, thus, I let myself be purified.
The meeting with Jesus, the "I am"
This passage is one of the texts where this strong expression appears, an expression that the Lord addresses to us in order to reveal Himself. It is wonderful to walk through the Scriptures in search of other texts similar to this one, where the Lord speaks of Himself directly. When the Lord says and repeats, in a thousand ways, with a thousand nuances, "I am". He does not do so in order to annihilate or humiliate us, but only to stress forcefully His overflowing love for us which desires to make us live that same life that belongs to Him. When He says "I am", He is also saying "You are" to each one of us, to each son and daughter who is born into this world. It is a fruitful and uninterrupted transmission of being, of essence, and I do not wish to let this be in vain. I wish to welcome it and welcome it inside me. So, I follow the luminous trace of the "I am" and I try to stop at each step. "I am your shield" (Gen 15:1), "I am the God of Abraham your father" (Gen 24:26), "I am the Lord who led you and still leads you out of the land of Egypt" (cfr. Es 6:6) and from the hands of every Pharaoh who will threaten your life. "I am He who heals you" (Es 15:26). I allow myself to be enlightened by the force of these words, which fulfill the miracle they speak of; they fulfill this miracle to this day, and for me, in this lectio. Then I go on reading in the book of Leviticus where at least 50 times this affirmation of salvation is found: "I am the Lord", and I believe these words and hold on to them with my whole being, my whole heart and say: "Yes, indeed the Lord is my Lord, He and no other!" I note that the Scriptures probe ever deeper. As the journey continues, gradually, the Scriptures penetrate me and lead me to an ever more intense relationship with the Lord. In fact, the book of Numbers says: "I am the Lord and I live among the people of Israel" (Num 35:34). "I am" is in the present, He who does not draw apart, does not turn His back to leave. It is He who cares for us from close by, from the inside, as only He can do. I read Isaiah and I receive life: 41:10; 43:3; 45:6 etc.
The holy Gospel is an explosion of being, presence, and salvation. I run through it letting John lead me: 6:48; 8:12; 10:9. 11; 11:15; 14:6; 18:37. Jesus is the bread, the light, the gate, the shepherd, the resurrection, the way, the truth, the life, the king. All for me and for us, and so I want to welcome Him, know Him and love Him, and I want to learn, through these words, to say to Him: "Lord you are!" It is this "You" that gives meaning to my “I” that makes life a relationship and a communion. I know for certain that only here can I find full joy and live forever.
The vineyard, the true vine and its good fruit
God's vineyard is Israel, a beloved vineyard, a chosen vineyard, a vineyard planted on a fertile hill in a place where the earth has been cleared afresh, hoed, and freed of stones.A protected vineyard, worked, loved, large and one that God Himself has planted (cfr. Is 5:1ff; Ger 2:21). So loved is this vineyard that the beloved has never ceased to sing the canticle of love for her. Strong notes, yet sweet at the same time. Notes that bear true life, that go across the ancient covenant and come to the new covenant in even clearer notes. At first it was the Father who sang, now it is Jesus, but in both it is the Spirit who is heard, as the Song of Songs says: "The voice of the dove is still heard… and the vineyards spread fragrance" (Sgs 2:12ff). It is the Lord Jesus who draws us, who takes us from the old to the new, from love to love, towards an ever stronger communion, even to identification: "I am the vine, but you too are in me". Hence it is clear: the vineyard is Israel, is Jesus, is us. Always the same, always new, always chosen and beloved, loved, cared for, protected, visited: visited by rain and visited by the Word. Sent by the prophets day by day, visited by the sending of the Son, who is love, and who expects love, that is, the fruit. "He waited for the grapes to ripen, but every grape was sour" (Is 5:2). In love, disappointment is always around the corner. I stop here at this reality. I look inside me. I try to discover the places where I am closed, dry, and dead. Why has the rain not come? I repeat this word that echoes often through the pages of the Bible: "The Lord waits…" (see Is 30:18; Lk 13:6-9). He wants the fruits of conversion (cfr. Mt 3:8), as He tells us through John, the fruits of the word that hides the listening, the welcoming and the self-control, as the synoptics say (cfr. Mt 13:23; Mk 4:20 e Lk 8:15), the fruits of the Spirit, as Paul explains (cfr. Gal 5:22). He wants us "to bear fruit in every good work" (Col 1:10), but above all, it seems to me, the Lord waits and desires "the fruit of the womb" (cfr. Lk 1:42), that is Jesus, in whom we are truly blessed. In fact, Jesus is the seed that, dying, bears much fruit within us in our life (Jn 12:24) and defeats every solitude, every closure, opening us wide to our brothers and sisters. This is the real fruit of conversion, planted in the earth of our bosom. This is to become His disciples and, finally, this is the true glory of the Father.
Pruning, a joyful purification
In this passage of the Gospel, the Lord shows me another way of following Him, together with Him. It is the way of purification, of renewal, of resurrection, and new life. It is hidden in the term "pruning", but I can better discover it thanks to the Word itself, which is the only sure guide. The Greek text uses the term "purify" to point to this action of the vine-dresser in His vineyard. Certainly, it is true that He prunes and cuts with a knife sharpened by His Word (Heb 4:12) and sometimes, wounds us, but it is even truer that it is His love that penetrates ever deeper in us and thus purifies, washes, and refines. Yes, the Lord sits as washer to purify, to make splendid and luminous the gold in His hand (cfr. Mal 3:3). Jesus brings a new purification, the one promised for so long by the Scriptures and in waiting for the Messianic times. It is no longer the purification that took place by means of cult, by means of the observance of the law or sacrifices, a temporary purification, incomplete and figurative. Jesus brings about an intimate, total purification. One of the heart and conscience, the one sung by Ezekiel: "I shall purify you of all your idols, I shall give you a new heart…When I shall have purified you from all you iniquities, I shall bring you back to your cities and your ruins will be rebuilt…" (Ez 36:25ff. 33). I also read Eph 5:26 e Tt 2:14, beautiful and rich texts, which help me better enter into the light of grace of this work of salvation, of this spiritual pruning that the Father works in me.
There is a verse in the Song of Songs that can help my understanding more. It says, "This is the time for singing" (Sgs 2:12), however, it uses a verb that means also "pruning, cutting" as well as "singing". Thus pruning is the time for singing and for joy. It is my heart that sings before and in the Word. It is my soul that rejoices for my faith, because I know that through this long but magnificent pilgrimage in the Scriptures, I too will take part in Jesus' life. I too will be united with Him, the pure, the holy, the immaculate Word and that thus, united to Him, I shall be washed and purified with the infinite purity of His life. Not for me alone, not in order to be alone, but to bear much fruit. To grow leaves and branches that do not wither. To be a branch together with many other branches in the vine of Jesus Christ.
6. A moment of silent prayer: Psalm 1
A meditation on the joy of one who lives by the Word and, thanks to the Word, bears fruit.
Res. Your Word is my joy, Lord!
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on His law he meditates day and night. Res.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away. Res.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. Res.
7. Closing prayer
Lord, I still see the light of Your Word. The healing force of Your voice still rings in the depth of my being! Thank you, O my Vine, my sap. Thank You, O my dwelling where I can and wish to remain. Thank You, O my strength to do, to carry out every task; thank You my Master! You have called me to be a fruitful branch, to be fruit of your love for humankind, to be the wine that makes the heart rejoice. Lord, help me to realize this blessed and true Word of Yours. Only thus can I live truly and live truly as You are and remain. Lord, let me not err so that I wish to remain a branch in Your vine without the other branches, my brothers and sisters. It would be indeed the sourest and most displeasing fruit.
Lord, I do not know how to pray. Teach me Yourself and let my most beautiful prayer be my life, transformed into a bunch of grapes for the hunger and the thirst, for the joy and company of those who come to the vine, that is, You. Thank you for being the wine of Love!
Jesus the Good Shepherd
“So that all may have life and have it to the full!”
John 10:11-18
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The Gospel of the fourth Sunday after Easter presents to us the parable of the Good Shepherd. This is why, sometimes, it is called the Sunday of the Good Shepherd. In some parishes the feast of the parish priest is celebrated on this day, the shepherd of the flock. In today’s Gospel, Jesus presented Himself as the Good Shepherd, who has come “so that they may have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). At that time, the shepherd was the image of the leader. Jesus says that many presented themselves as shepherds but in fact they were thieves and bandits. The same thing happens today. There are people who present themselves as leaders, but in reality, instead of rendering service, they only seek their own interests. Some of them have such a meek way of speaking, and make such an intelligent type of propaganda that they succeed in deceiving people. Have you ever had the experience of being deceived? How does one recognize a “false prophet” today? How is and how should a good shepherd be? Keeping these questions in mind, let us try to meditate on the text of today’s Gospel. During the reading let us try to be attentive to the images which Jesus uses to present Himself to the people as a true and good Shepherd.
b) A division of the text to help me in reading it:
Jn 10:11: Jesus presents Himself as the Good Shepherd who gives his life for His sheep
Jn 10:12-13: Jesus defines the attitude of the mercenary
Jn 10:14-15: Jesus presents Himself as the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep
Jn 10:16: Jesus defines the goal to be attained: only one flock and one shepherd
Jn 10:17-18: Jesus and the Father.
c) Text:
Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What is the difference between a shepherd and a hired man in our current day?
b) Which are the images which Jesus applies to Himself? How does he apply them and what do they signify?
c) How many times does Jesus use the term life in this text and what does he affirm about life?
d) What does the text say about the sheep that we are? What are the qualities and the tasks of the sheep?
e) Shepherd (Pastor) - Pastoral. Do our pastoral works continue the mission of Jesus as Shepherd?
5. For those who desire to deepen more into the text
a) Context:
i) The discourse of Jesus on the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-18) is like a brick inserted into a wall which already exits. With this brick the wall is stronger and more beautiful. Immediately before, in Jn 9:40-41, the Gospel spoke about the healing of the man born blind (Jn 9:1-38) and of the discussion of Jesus with the Pharisees on blindness (Jn 9:39-41). Immediately after in Jn 10:19-21, John gives the conclusion of Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees on blindness. The Pharisees presented themselves before the people as leaders and believed that they could discern and teach the things of God. In reality, they were blind (Jn 9:40-41) and they despised the opinion of the people represented by the man born blind who had been cured by Jesus (Jn 9:34). The discourse on the Good Shepherd has been inserted here for the purpose of offering some criteria to know how to discern who is the leader, the shepherd who deserves to be trusted. The parable fulfills a word which Jesus had just said to the Pharisees: “It is for judgment that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight may become blind.” (Jn 9:39).
ii) The discourse of Jesus on the “Good Shepherd” presents three comparisons, linked among themselves by the image of the sheep, which offer criteria to discern who is the true shepherd:
First comparison (Jn 10:1-5): “Enter through the gate”. Jesus distinguishes between the shepherd of the sheep and the one who climbs some other way to rob them. That which reveals the shepherd is the fact that He enters through the gate. The thief climbs some other way.
Second comparison: (Jn 10:6-10): “I am the gate”. To enter through the gate means to act like Jesus, whose greatest concern is the life in abundance of the sheep. What the shepherd reveals is the defense of the life of the sheep.
Third comparison: (Jn 10:11-18)): “I am the Good Shepherd”. Jesus is not simply a shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd. That which reveals who is the Good Shepherd is (1) the reciprocal knowledge between the sheep and the shepherd and (2) to give His life for the sheep.
iii) In what way can the parable of the Good Shepherd take away the blindness and open the eyes of persons? At that time, the image of the shepherd was the symbol of the leader. But not because of the simple fact that someone who took care of sheep can be defined as shepherd. The mercenaries also count and the Pharisees were also leaders. But were they also shepherds? As we shall see, according to the parable, in order to discern who is shepherd and who is a mercenary, it is necessary to pay attention to two things: (a) To the attitude of the sheep before the shepherd guiding them, to see if they recognize his voice. (b) To the attitude of the shepherd before the sheep to see if his interest is the life of the sheep and if he is capable to give his life for them (Jn 10:11-18).
iv) The text of the Gospel of the Fourth Sunday after Easter (Jn 10:11-18) is the last part of the discourse on the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-18). This is why we wish to comment on the whole text. We observe closely the diverse images which Jesus uses to present Himself to us as the true and Good Shepherd.
b) Commentary on the text:
i) Jn 10:1-5: First image: the shepherd “enters through the gate”
Jesus begins the discourse with the comparison of the gate: “He who does not enter through the gate, but climbs somewhere else, is a thief, a bandit! Instead, the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep!” To understand this comparison, it is important to remember what follows. At that time, the shepherds took care of the flocks during the day. When night arrived, they took the sheep into a large communitarian place, which was well protected against thieves and wolves. All the shepherds from the same region took their flocks there. There was a guardian who took care of them during the night. On the following day, early in the morning, the shepherd would go, knocked on the gate and the guardian would open. The sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd, got up and got out following him to the pastures. The sheep of the other shepherds heard the voice, but did not move because for them it was an unknown voice. The sheep recognizes the voice of their shepherd. From time to time, there was the danger of bandits. To rob the sheep, the thieves didn't present themselves to the guardian by the door, but entered by another side or destroyed the wall.
ii) Jn 10:6-10: Second image: He explains what it means “to enter through the gate”: Jesus is the gate.
The Pharisees who were listening to Jesus, (cf. Jn 9:40-41), did not understand the comparison. Then, Jesus explained: “I am the gate of the sheepfold. All those who have come before Me, are thieves and bandits”. About whom is Jesus speaking using these hard words? Probably, he is referring to the religious leaders who drew people behind them, but who did not respond to the hopes of the people. They deceived the people, leaving them worse than before. They were not interested in the good of the people, but rather in their own interests and in their own portfolio. Jesus explains that the fundamental criterion to discern who is the shepherd and who is the bandit is the concern for the life of the sheep. He asks the people not to follow the one who presents himself as a shepherd, but does not desire the life of the people. It is here that Jesus pronounced that phrase which we sing even now: “I have come so that they may have life, and life to the full!” This is the first criterion.
iii) Jn 10:11-16: Third image: he explains what it means “I have come so that they have life, and life to the full” (The text for this fourth Sunday after Easter begins here).
* Jn 10:11: Jesus presents himself as the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep.
Jesus changes the comparison. First, He was the gate of the sheep. Now He says that he is the shepherd of the sheep. And not just any shepherd, but rather: “I am the Good Shepherd!” The image of the good shepherd comes from the Old Testament. Everybody knew what a shepherd was and how he lived and worked. In saying that He is a Good Shepherd, Jesus presents Himself as the one who comes to fulfill the promises of the prophets and the hopes of the people. He insists on two points: (a) the defense of the life of the sheep; the good shepherd gives His life (Jn 10:11.15.17.18), and (b) in the reciprocal understanding between the shepherd and the sheep; the shepherd knows his sheep and they know the shepherd (Jn 10:4.14.16).
* Jn 10:12-13: Jesus defines the attitude of the mercenary who is not a shepherd.
“The mercenary who is not a shepherd”. Looking from outside, the differences between the mercenary and the shepherd are not perceived. Both of them are busy with the sheep. Today there are many persons who take care of other persons in hospitals, in the communities, in the old peoples’ homes, in schools, in public services, in the parishes. Some do this out of love, others, hardly for a salary, in order to survive. These persons are not interested in the other persons. Their attitude is that of a functionary, of a worker earning a salary, of a mercenary. In a moment of danger, they are not interested, because “the sheep are not theirs”, the children are not theirs, the pupils are not theirs, their neighbors are not theirs, the faithful are not theirs, the sick are not theirs, the members of the community are not theirs.
Now, instead of judging the behavior of others, let us place ourselves before our own conscience and let us ask ourselves: “In my relationship with others, am I a mercenary or a shepherd?” Look, Jesus does not condemn you because the worker has a right to his salary (Lk 10:7), but he asks you to take another step forward and to become a shepherd.
* Jn 10:14-15: Jesus presents himself as the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep.
Two things characterize the Good Shepherd: a) He knows the sheep and is known by them. In the language of Jesus, "to know" is not a question of knowing the name or the face of the person, but to be in relationship with a person as a friend, and with affection. b) to give the life for the sheep. That means to be ready to sacrifice oneself out of love. The sheep feel and perceive when a person defends and protects them. This is valid for all of us: for the parish priests and for those who have some responsibility towards other persons. In order to know if a parish priest is a good shepherd it is not sufficient to be named parish priest and to obey the norms of Canon Law. It is necessary to be recognized as a good shepherd by the sheep. Sometimes this is forgotten in the present day politics of the Church. Jesus says that not only does the shepherd know the sheep, but also the sheep know the shepherd. They have criteria for this. Because if they do not recognize him, even if he is named according to Canon Law, he is not a shepherd according to the Heart of Jesus. Not only the sheep have to obey the one who guides them. Also the one who guides has to be very attentive to the reaction of the sheep to know if he is acting like a shepherd or like a mercenary.
* Jn 10:16: Jesus defines the goal to be attained; only one flock, only one shepherd.
Jesus opens the horizon and says that He has other sheep that are not of this fold. They have not as yet heard the voice of Jesus, but when they will hear it, they will become aware that He is the shepherd and they will follow Him. Who will do this, and when will this happen? This intimates the future inclusion and call to the Gentiles later on. We are the ones, imitating in everything the behavior of Jesus, the Good Shepherd!
* Jn 10:17-18: Jesus and the Father.
In these two last verses Jesus opens Himself and makes us understand something which is in the deepest part of his heart: His relationship with the Father. Here the truth of everything He says in another moment is understood: “I shall no longer call you servants, but I have called you friends because all that I have heard from the Father I have made it known to you” (Jn 15:15). Jesus is for us an open book.
c) Extending the information:
The image of the Shepherd in the Old Testament which is realized in Jesus
i) In Palestine, the survival of the people depended on raising animals: goats and sheep. The image of the shepherd who guides his sheep to the pasture was known by everyone, just like today we know the image of the bus driver. It was normal to use the image of the shepherd to indicate the function of the one who governed and guided the people. The prophets criticized the kings because they were shepherds who were not concerned about their flocks and did not guide them to the pastures (Jr 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-2). This criticism of the bad shepherds increased and reached its summit when the people were deported into exile because of the fault of the king (Ezk 34:1-10; Zc 11:4-17).
ii) In the face of the frustration which they had to suffer because of the way the bad shepherds acted, the desire arose to have God as the shepherd. a desire which is very well expressed in the Psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want (Ps 23:1-6; Gn 48:15). The prophets hope that in the future, God Himself will come to guide His fold, like a shepherd (Is 40:11; Ezk 34:11-16). And they hope that this time the people will know how to recognize the voice of their shepherd: “Today listen to His voice!” (Ps 95:7). They hope that God will come as a judge who will pronounce judgment among the sheep of the fold (Ezk 34:17). The desire and the hope arise that one day, God and the Messiah will be a Good Shepherd for the People of God (Jr 3:15; 23:4).
iii) Jesus fulfills this hope and presents Himself as the Good Shepherd, different from the bandits who, before Him, had robed the people. He also presents Himself as the judge of the people who, at the end, will issue the sentence as the shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats (Mt 25:31-46). In Jesus, the prophecy of Zechariah is fulfilled, which says that the good shepherd will be persecuted by the evil shepherds, annoyed by His denunciation: “Strike the shepherd, scatter the sheep!” (Zc 13:7).
iv) At the end of the Gospel of John, the image is extended and Jesus at the end is everything at the same time: gate (Jn 10:7, shepherd (Jn 10:11) lamb and sheep (Jn 1:36)!
A key for the Gospel of John
Everyone perceives the difference that exists between the Gospel of John and the other three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Someone defines it as follows: The other three make a photo, John makes an X-ray. That is, John helps his readers to discover the most profound dimension which exits in what Jesus says and does. He reveals the hidden things that only the X-rays of faith succeed to reveal. John teaches to read the other Gospels with the gaze of faith and to discover their most profound significance. Jesus Himself had already said that He would send the gift of his Spirit in order that we could understand all the fullness of His own word (Jn 14:24-25; 16:12-13). The ancient Fathers of the Church said: the Gospel of John is “spiritual” and “symbolic”.
Some examples: (a) Jesus cures the man born blind (Jn 9:6-7). For John this miracle has a more profound significance. It reveals that Jesus is the light of the World who makes us understand and contemplate the things of God in life (Jn 9:39). (b) Jesus rises Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:43-44) not only to help Lazarus and to console his two sisters, Martha and Mary, but also to reveal that He is the Resurrection and the Life (Jn 11:25-26). (c) Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-13). He does this not only to safeguard the joy of the feast, but above all, to reveal that the new law of the Gospel is like wine compared to the water of the former law. He does it with such great abundance (about 600 liters), precisely to signify that it will not be lacking for anyone, through to today! (d) Jesus multiplies the bread and feeds the hungry (Jn 6:11) not only to satisfy the hunger of those poor people who were with Him in the desert, but also to reveal that He Himself is the bread of life which nourishes all throughout life (Jn 6:34-58). (e) Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman about water (Jn 4:7.10), but He wanted that she would succeed to discover the water of the gift of God which she already had within her (Jn 4:14-14). In one word, it is the Spirit of Jesus that gives life (Jn 6:63). The flesh or only the letter are not enough and can even kill the senses and the life (2 Co 3:6).
6. Prayer: Psalm 23 (22)
Yahweh is my shepherd!
Yahweh is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows He lets me lie.
By tranquil streams He leads me
to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice
as befits His name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine
as dark as death
I should fear no danger,
for You are at my side.
Your staff and Your crook
are there to soothe me.
You prepare a table
for me under the eyes of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup brims over.
Kindness and faithful love pursue me
every day of my life.
I make my home in the house
of Yahweh for all time to come.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
