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Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Wis 2.12, 17-20; Ps 53; Jas 3.16 – 4.3; Mk 9.30-37

1. What a sad picture we are presented with in today’s gospel. “The disciples did not understand what he said, and were afraid to ask him.” In the passage immediately before the one for today, we are told that the Lord gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone who He was. Why all this uncertainty? On one level, it was a matter of strategy. Many people hoped that a man from Nazareth called Jesus would be the new leader who would liberate them from their Roman oppressors. Many of the people who followed Him were waiting and hoping for a political leader, a führer, one might say. Their political expectations meant that they might well go too far, too soon. Their ignorance of Who He really was might cause premature difficulties for their Master with the authorities, thus sabotaging His real spiritual mission of salvation. He Himself had to restrain His disciples on several occasions. “My time is not yet come.” In their enthusiasm and their ignorance, they must have wondered what on earth He meant.

2. Our Lord says two strange things to the disciples: firstly, that they are to tell no one about Himself; but then, immediately, He Himself tells them about His future passion and death. Not surprisingly, they do not understand Him. What does He mean? He is speaking to them in words, revealing to them God’s Word, but they do not understand. Perhaps the reaction of the disciples is not so surprising. Most of them were probably ill-educated and ill-informed men. Christ is an ocean of wisdom and knowledge They could barely paddle, let alone swim. But before we condemn them too quickly, let us look to ourselves. Do we always understand everything about our faith? Can we really be confident that we know what God means? Do we really know exactly what it is we believe about who Christ is, and why His death is so important? Have we ever wondered about some aspect of our Catholic faith, wanting to know more, but afraid to ask?

3. The gospels are full of people who are deaf and blind to the truth of Christ. Our Lord Himself seems to equate lack of understanding with hardness of heart; in hearts that are hard there is no life, and therefore no growth. Part of our growth in holiness must involve having enough self-knowledge to recognise our ignorance, and enough humility to ask God for the grace to understand Him better, to love him more dearly, to know Him more clearly and follow him more nearly There is nothing in our Catholic faith which is contrary to reason, but that does not mean that everything is straightforward, nor that we can grasp everything at once. Humble enquiry is one of the marks that distinguish the true disciple in the gospels. The true disciple is one who asks the Lord for help, help to understand better the mysteries of the kingdom, the mysteries of our faith. That is something that we must all do. Ignorance of our faith is ultimately ignorance of Christ.

4. That is the reason why so many parishes have various groups that meet during the week: scripture study, spiritual conferences, catechism classes, all geared to helping those who want to learn more about the Catholic faith. Anyone who wants to help their faith to grow in this way is more than welcome to come along and talk, to find out what’s available and what might suit them. Every one of the Church’s various catechetical enterprises is intended to help people understand better and more deeply the truths of revelation.

5. The writers of the four gospels each have their own different emphases in the way that they pass on the truths of revelation. In St Mark’s gospel, the hallmark of a person who has faith is that he recognises that Jesus is the Son of God, divine, and that He is the Messiah. We see this so clearly in the words of the Roman centurion who witnesses Our Lord’s crucifixion: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” There can only be one explanation of how this gentile reached such understanding: He was given the gift of faith. He was given to understand that the crucifixion was a mighty revelation of God’s saving power, and the inauguration of the Messiah’s new Kingdom. This is the focus of Mark’s message throughout his gospel. His opening words establish the theme: ‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’. Believing this gospel, which is Mark’s challenge to all his readers, means having faith that Jesus is the Son of God, seeing God’s divine life in Jesus, seeing and discerning that powerful presence as it acts through Him in His miracles, as it teaches us through His words, and above all, as it redeems us through His death.

6. Perhaps we should not be too surprised that when Christ started to teach the disciples about His death, they did not understand, and were afraid to ask. Their timidity is a lesson for us today. Do we whole-heartedly accept the entire revelation of Christ? Or do we only accept those things that we happen to like or which we find easy to understand? The disciples were hesitant at first. A lot of the time they misunderstood much of what He taught. But some of them had the sense to ask Him to explain, to show them the way. Let us do the same. Let us ask the Lord for guidance and instruction. The reward He offers us in return for our faith is overwhelming and out of all proportion to our own deserving: eternal life. How tragic if we fail to reach it, simply through fear of asking the Lord to explain it to us, through His Church; to explain to us the full meaning of His gospel, the full meaning of Himself. Speak Lord, Your servant is listening. You have the message of eternal life

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