Sunday, March 2, 2003
Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Readings:

Ho 2: 14-15; 19-20 I will betroth you to myself forever

Responsorial Psalm 103

2 Cor 3: 1-6 You are a letter from Christ, drawn up by us

Mk 2: 18-22 Why do your disciples not fast?

 

In this Sunday’s gospel we see Jesus’ second encounter with the enemies that accuse and harass him. A week ago, it was for forgiving sins, today it will be about fasting. It takes place in an environment of mistrust and hostility by the Jewish authorities because of the polemical statements Jesus makes about himself and his mission. The underlying option that Jesus has made, the causes of the conflict with his adversaries and the decision to eliminate him also begin to appear here. Jesus himself perceives this and lets his followers know. He explicitly tells us he has come for a mission among sinners, and that he is the lord of the Sabbath, the bridegroom of the Kingdom (a term exclusively used for God in Judaism), while he aids the sick.

 

We are in the midst of the controversies from Mark’s chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus reveals himself as the Bridegroom and shows us something basic about the novelty of the Kingdom in today’s gospel. The first level is a mere comparison with a wedding feast, not a time for fasting but for great joy. But a more current aspect is the vision of what happened to Jesus and his disciples; the wedding time is the presence of God in our history with the one God sent among us. This is like a wedding of God to human beings. It is the presence of the Bridegroom amidst human history. This is why it is presented as the point of liberation from legal or ritual things, which sometimes fill us with anxiety and don’t let us see the real message intended for us. Sometimes, instead of feeling free, we feel enslaved by these practices.

 

Jesus’ mercy towards the poor and marginated is a defense against the exploiters, against the things they sometimes do in order to implement that margination and slavery. Jesus clearly states that he has brought something new to the Old Testament, a novelty that does not allow for commitments to the old. The novelty is announced today with the comparison to a wedding; it briefly alludes to the fact that his death will be violent, but that it cannot be reconciled to the Law. And it highlights the non-commitment to the old, through the image of the new cloth being added to an old garment. He goes beyond the differences that some make between what is pure and impure and places the Law in question.

 

For Jesus, this is the way to present the Kingdom, and everything he does is captured by the evangelist as a sign of that Kingdom. In today’s text, we don’t see a miraculous sign but rather a position regarding the Jewish fast, which ultimately represents the total salvation signified by the Kingdom through the presence of the Bridegroom.

 

Hosea, in today’s first reading, is helpful to us as a summary of daily life. In verses 14 and 15, he recalls the past that the people of Israel lived, far from God, seeking other gods, which is perhaps our situation. But in verses 19 and 20, he gives us enormous and extraordinary news: God’s proposal, expressed in the image Jesus uses in the gospel of Mark. Weddings, a symbol of the presence of God in the Old Testament, and a proposal made from a law, not of human beings but of God. The sensation proposed to the people, to those who listen to the word of Jesus and to us today, is the joy felt in weddings, in all those projects that can begin in that phase of life.

 

Marrying is the possibility to begin a new life, to start a project, no longer alone but in the company of someone who will most likely make us change many mindsets and customs. We will let go of things we’re used to doing and will surely begin to do things we never imagined. Matrimony is an experience that signifies newness.

 

Paul will use the same image of the novelty that juxtaposes the Old and New Testaments in the letter to the Corinthians; the law not on tablets but in one’s heart, written not with ink but with the Spirit.

 

We should apply this image and message to our lives today. Each one of us is called to return to God (Hosea), to experience some novelty in our lives (Paul) and to see in Jesus the novelty and the person who carries out this new project, not for each one individually but for the community. Life as a couple cannot be just an experience for two people; it is an experience that must also add to the well being of the community. A couple should not love one another in an exclusive way; it should live its love in such a way that we in the community may see that this is the way, although even more intensely, that God loves us.

 

This coming Wednesday is “Ash Wednesday”, the beginning of Lent. Perhaps it would be helpful to do an introduction this Sunday, as a preparation, since next Sunday we will be talking about Lent as something already underway. Actually, for Christians, “every day is good and holy”, and we don’t have “lucky or tragic” days. The vision of the New Testament and the modern and healthy secularizing vision, has taken away the mystery surrounding the “holy times”, which used to weigh so heavily on the experience of the Christian community. Today’s urban life doesn’t lend itself to 40-day religious celebrations. At any rate, the Christian community needs an explanation of the meaning, value and relativity of Lent.

 

Bibliography for further study on this gospel:

LOHFINK, G. La Iglesia que Jesús quería (The Church that Jesus wanted), Bilbao 1986

MATEOS, J. La utopía de Jesús (Jesus’ Utopia) Spain 1990

MEEKS, W.A. Los primeros cristianos urbanos (The First Urban Christians) Salamanca 1983

NOLAN, A. ¿Quién es este hombre? (Who Is This Man?) Santander 1984

STEGMANN, G. Jesús de Nazaret, esperanza de los pobres (Jesus of Nazareth, hope of the poor) Salamanca 1991

THEISSEN, G. Sociología del movimiento de Jesús (Sociology of Jesus’ movement) Santander 1979

THEISSEN, G. Estudios de sociología del cristianismo primitivo (Sociology studies of primitive Christianity) Salamanca 1985

 

For Personal Consideration

 

As we reflect on the scene presented by today’s gospel, which makes so many religious practices relative, we feel questioned about our Christian faith. Isn’t our faith perhaps, sometimes more doubtful than certain? More traditional than personal? More verbal than vital? As a community of faith, are we capable of sharing our lives and the gifts that the Lord gives us?

 

What are relations within the community like? What process of integration exists? How do we link participation in our community to participation in other groups with which we are apostolically related? What value do we give in our daily lives to the elements that constitute us as a community: the Eucharist, the Word, the presence of Mary, the active and open relationship to the people? Or do we limit ourselves to the external things that identify us?

 

For the Community’s Reflection

 

-That Jesus is the Bridegroom of the Kingdom Wedding, or that God is the spouse of the soul, are metaphors of religious language which are best expressed by suggestive images. But in the 21^st century, people need to fill out the language of metaphors with other ways to touch their situation. What do we think of the religious or spiritual life style that many practice, in which everything is a dialogue, an almost spousal intimacy between one’s conscience and God, between myself and Jesus? Is that way of living religiosity legitimate? Why? Is it “a way”? What dangers might it imply? Could today’s Christian feel uncomfortable with that form of design for his or her spiritual relationship to God? Could their spiritual lives be rightly shaped in another way? For example?

 

-It is clear that Jesus did not speak of mending old cloth with new material by coincidence, as it appears in Marks’ gospel; clearly those words reflected the situation of the community of Jesus’ followers, when they discover the incompatibility between the synagogue and the need to follow new and independent paths. Maybe that’s when they realized the great novelty that Jesus’ life and message represented. Later on in history, however, many old things would come in to the Church which do not seem to be compatible with the radical “novelty” of the gospel. For example? What things, customs, rules, traits, usages, norms and givens existing in the Church are “old cloths” upon which we should not waste energy “mending”?

 

-Lent begins this coming Wednesday. There is no doubt that, despite the good will that many well intentioned Christians display, Lent as such is a celebration that has been on the down-turn in the Church for some time. 1) Why? Are there traits in modern mentality that make it impossible to consider a period of time “sacred”? Which traits?

2) Sooner than later the Lenten liturgy and its very concept will be renewed; if you were asked to make a proposal about how to focus the renewal of the pastoral conception of Lent for all the Church, what would you propose? Give three or four general principles and some specific suggestions. 3) Returning to reality, for the Lenten season beginning this Wednesday, what ideas or specific suggestions could we give to our Christian communities to give meaning to this Lent?

 

-Ashes, prayer, fasting, mortification are “penitential” elements typical of Lent. Let’s comment on each one of them.

 

For the Prayer of the Faithful

 

The word of God that we have heard is the basis of our faith, nourishes our hope and helps to build community over and above many commandments and norms that bind us. Let us pray together and say: May your word, Lord, be light for our journey.

 

-That the strength of the Spirit may help us to renounce the idols that the new paganism has built under the norm, the law and certain behavior that distances us from our brothers and sisters. Let us pray to the Lord.

 

-That all social groups, contributing with their sights set on the common good, may build a new society, open to universal fraternity. Let us pray to the Lord.

 

-That in this world immersed in the culture of the relative and temporary, the community of Christians may affirm in a coherent way the absolute values of Love and of Life. Let us pray to the Lord.

 

-That we Christians may strengthen the links of communion with members of other faiths and religions and thus be a sign of reconciliation for all of Humanity. Let us pray to the Lord.

 

Extend your hand, Father, over this tired and oppressed Humanity; grant us a faith rich in memory and secure in Jesus, who walks alongside us so we may be bold in prophetic witness to your Kingdom. You who live and promote life forever and ever. Amen.

 

Let Us Pray

 

Good God, who allows us to be at this Eucharist, and has told us that wherever two or three are gathered in your name, you are there, answer the wishes and pledges that we present to you today, so that together we may build a world closer to the values of the Kingdom, of Truth and of Life in you. Let us feel the presence of your Son who lives and makes us live with you, forever and ever. Amen.

 

or

 

God, your face is sometimes hidden from us. We’d like to finally see you. We utter your name, kneel before you and pray for an answer. We want to always be awaiting you, sure that we see your face in Christ and in our littlest brothers and sisters. May your Spirit accompany us always in this confidence we feel, forever and ever. Amen.