Weekly Reflections

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First Sunday in Lent, February 21, 2021

A personal test / the meaning of Metanoia

Gospel: Mark 1:12-15
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan…

We may not have time for even a day’s desert retreat, but still, we also need to figure out how to spend time alone listening to God.

Photo by Vicky Sim on Unsplash

A personal test / the meaning of Metanoia

Mark 1:12–15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert,
and he remained in the desert for forty days,
tempted by Satan.
He was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Remember that your compassion O Lord, and your love are from old. In your kindness remember others in need of your compassion as well [here recite some names aloud of those for whom you wish to pray]. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord.

Companions for the Journey

By Jude Siciliano, O.P. From ”First Impressions” 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

People who have had to make significant changes in their lives—break a habit, an addiction, or adopt new ways of living—know that such big transformations don’t happen easily. They require interior fortitude and determination, courage, persistence and more—an interior change of heart and mind.

Today Jesus asks for such significant changes from those who have heard him preach. After he was baptized by John, he spent time in the desert and underwent temptations. He was tested and, accompanied by the Spirit, came out strong and determined. Jesus announces the coming of the reign of God and he invites others who hear him to commit their lives fully to God and God’s ways. He preaches “Metanoia”—“Repentance”—which requires change of mind and heart. He doesn’t want some superficial or cosmetic change. He isn’t asking for a few minutes, hours, weeks, or months of our time which, when completed, we can return to our previous ways of living. Perhaps we have given up wine or desserts for Lent. Then we hope to hang on till Easter when we can pop the cork and slice the Easter cake. No, repentance isn’t just for a part of the year. It is a full-time, on-going commitment to change. Metanoia asks us to turn away from whatever distracts us from God and to turn to the embrace of the One who is infinite love. Such total change can easily be postponed till a later more “convenient time.” We say we will start a more serious pursuit of God later on—after we finish school, when we have a family, after retirement, “When I’ll have more time to give to prayer and good works.” But Jesus is speaking in the present, not future tense. “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” Now is a “Kairos moment.” Now is a graced time when we will receive the help we need to respond, to make a turn in our lives towards God. That doesn’t mean big changes are easy or accomplished in a short period of time. Metanoia means we will have to dedicate our lives to transformation. In truth it will never be a completed process, but if we listen to Jesus today we need to start, or start again, becoming followers of Christ.

There are powerful forces in the world that would discourage and prevent us from responding wholeheartedly to Christ and his ways. Call these forces satanic, or the allure of stuff, power, fame, indifference, domination, sensual satisfaction, etc. Hard forces to resist. But we are not alone as we once again undertake a Lenten journey. Through our baptism God’s Spirit is with us and enables us to live according to God’s ways—to accept the kingdom Jesus proclaims. As we once again hear Jesus’ call to repentance we realize it isn’t a call just about us and our individual lives. We ask ourselves what in our homes, at work, local, and parish communities needs to be changed. In those places we are called to repent the ways we treat others, consume and waste, set ourselves apart and above others and remain indifferent to the well-being of our sisters and brothers.

Do we think Jesus was above being tempted; that he was exempted from the trials and struggles common to us humans? Some hold that Jesus was not really tempted, but was setting an example for us. The homiletician and Bible scholar, Fred Craddock, says, “Just to set an example is not setting an example.” He goes on to say: “Such approaches, however sincere, rob Jesus, the Scriptures, the gospel and life itself of reality.” (“Preaching through the Christian Year: Year B,” Valley Forge, PA, 1993, page 141).

Mark has already indicated how we can make the changes we must. He begins Jesus’ ministry with the stamp of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that accompanied Jesus through his 40-day trial is also given to us at our baptism.

Mark’s gospel is scant on details and he rushes to tell and describe the good news Jesus has brought to us. Still, in his rush, Mark tells us that Jesus paused before beginning his ministry for 40 days of solitude and prayer in the desert. He wasn’t completely alone, the tempter was there, but unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t give details about the nature of the temptations.

We do get the point from Mark that Jesus needed time in solitude and prayer in order to deal with the difficult options he had to make to confront the forces of evil that besiege humanity. We may not have time for even a day’s desert retreat, but still, we also need to figure out how to spend time alone listening to God. What we might discover in such prayer is what Peter emphasizes: that our baptism is not an empty or superficial ritual but, “an appeal to God for a clear conscience.” Baptism opens our minds and hearts to God and begins in us a whole new consciousness of the God life offered to us in Christ. Through our baptism we participate in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord. By itself suffering has no meaning or value, but with Christ, our suffering, especially when it is the result of our commitment to the gospel, transforms suffering into joy because, as Peter reminds us, baptism “saves us now.”

In Jesus the “right time” has arrived. Jesus invites people to accept the rule of God. The Old Testament expressed God’s rule over Israel as its “King” and over the whole world. Yet, this rule was not yet realized and the prophets voiced Israel’s longing for it in images of expectation and hope. Formerly, John the Baptist preached, “One more powerful than I is to come…” (1:7), and today we hear Jesus speak of the kingdom coming near—its arrival is imminent. In Jesus God’s rule is present—and yet we Christians pray, “Thy kingdom come,” for its future completion. John preached judgment and people responded by confessing their sins and being baptized. Jesus preached the gospel, good news and an appropriate response for us this Lent would be joy over God’s graciousness towards us.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

The Kingdom of God is at hand. Change your heart and hear the good news.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • What are the temptations I experience from forces averse to God’s plans for my flourishing and the flourishing of others in my life?
  • When and how can prayer be a “wilderness” time?
    Does it bring us in touch with the evil as well as the good in ourselves?
  • What kind of harmony exists in a desert of any kind—physical, emotional, spiritual?
  • Why do you think the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert? What did He find there? (Do not rely on the other gospel accounts; just use the words of this gospel and your own imagination.)
    Why do people of prayer need to go away to a retreat or even take a solitary walk?
  • What do you think were the wild beasts that Jesus encountered?
    What are the wild beasts that you have encountered in certain times of your life?
  • How did the angels minister to Jesus? Do you think they kept him from being hungry, cold or lonely?
    Are there spiritual forces in my life which nurture me?
  • How do I define “testing”?
    How does adversity “test” us?
    How does such “testing” show us what we are capable of, and how does it make us stronger?
  • Not all of us “pass” every test we face, either professional (including academic) or personal. How have you dealt with failing in either sphere? What attitude would you like to have toward failures, yours and others?
  • Is my life a prayer? Why or why not?
  • How would I define “good news”?
  • What price am I willing to pay to live the good news?
  • To what change in lifestyle is the Spirit leading you this Lent?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:

Read Psalm 51. What does a clean heart have to do with metanoia? I think of a habit of the heart that is keeping me from what God wants for me, and challenge myself to work on overcoming it during this Lenten Season, enlisting the aid of one other person to encourage and remind me of my commitment to change.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style:

By Jude Siciliano, O.P.

Some practical ways to approach a holy fast:

  • Fast from guzzling gas. Drive the speed limit. Ride public transportation. Ride a bike or walk when you can. Car pool.
  • Fast from compulsive consumerism. Check your closets, cupboards, storage rooms and garage. How many items have you collected that you thought you needed-until you got them home and had “buyer’s remorse?” Choose some of these areas in your house to clean out. Fix, clean and deliver these items to those who need them more than you do (or donate them to the yard sale).
  • Examine the ways in which you consume and waste, using up nature’s resources and adding to landfills or air and water pollution. Shorten your showers. Save the warm-up water for your garden. Eat your leftovers at the next meal. Recycle religiously. Refuse to use plastic. Use your own shopping sack. Write on both sides of your paper, or recycle your paper as scratch pads. Lower the thermostat or air-conditioner. Wear a sweater, add a blanket—or take them off.
  • Examine your diet and resolve to make the necessary changes if it is not healthy. Examine your eating habits and change them if you eat impulsively, constantly, too fast, unconsciously or without savoring your food, with disinterest, without care or dignity.
  • Return to a sense of the sacramental at mealtime in your home. Present all meals with dignity. Take at least forty-five minutes to eat your dinner. (The average American family eats a whole meal in five minutes.)
  • Learn to cook and serve the foods the poor eat. Tasty and healthful meals can be made from lentils, rice, grains, legumes which, eaten together, offer all the protein you need.
  • Begin planning or planting a vegetable garden or herb patch. Growing, tending, harvesting, sharing and eating your own produce brings us down to earth and is often a healing experience.
  • If you have no difficulties with any of these suggestions, consider other ways of “fasting.” During Lent we can ask ourselves: What does my baptism cost me? “Surely it asks us to fast from our sinful behaviors.”

I can sure see that I have some reflecting to do on some of my habits. I invite you to join with me in some self-examination and to change at least one behavior this Lenten season.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style:

Read Psalm 25.

Let us never forget that the ordinary way to contemplation lies through a desert without trees and without beauty and without water. The spirit enters a wilderness and travels blindly in directions that seem to lead away from vision, away from God, away from all fulfillment and joy. It may be almost impossible to believe that this road goes anywhere at all except to a desolation full of dry bones—the ruin of all our hopes and good intentions.

—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

What desert are you experiencing in your life at this time—love, creativity, friendship, family, accomplishments, compulsions, insecurities? How is this wilderness experience inviting you to place your trust in God? Do you trust in the Spirit enough to give yourself totally to God? What has you held back? What are you afraid of? Speak to Jesus about this.

Poetic Reflection:

Has this ever been your experience?

I am being driven forward
Into an unknown land.
The pass grows steeper,
The air colder and sharper.
A wind from my unknown goal
Stirs the strings
Of expectation.

Still the question:
Shall I ever get there?
There where life resounds,
A clear pure note
In the silence.

—Dag Hammarskjold

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem by Ed Ingebretsen, S.J., (from Psalms of the Still Country) on the fourth day of an eight-day retreat. It is at times despairing, sometimes hopeful. How would you describe your personal journey to a clean heart?

IV

How calmly I balance here,

On the verge of loving you
again, in ways
I have forgotten.

You love out of your surplus;
I cannot accept out of my need.
How clever this pride
that dresses as humility
that makes of weakness
an excuse for mediocrity.

I am a weak man, Lord—
wrapped simply but completely
in my refusal to try.

Depart from me.
How can you bear my company
and even wish to cleanse me?
I remember you would have washed
Peter's feet, his hands, cleaned
away the remnants of his life.
Yet there was no room in his smallness
for your greatness.

Lord,
if you should but take this withered hand
of mine, and straighten it in love
then suddenly my square world
would go round, my eyes take on a new source
of light, then suddenly,
I might know the urge to fly

Closing Prayer

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my God and savior.

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Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 14, 2021

Gospel: Mark 1:40–45

Theme: God can heal us; we can be healers too.

Gospel: Mark 1:40–45

Theme: God can heal us; we can be healers too.

Mark 1:40–45

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Lord we give our lives to you in obedience to your word. May your word and our response to you cleanse and renew us and lead us to eternal life. I pray by name for those who are sick, isolated, rejected, lonely. [Pause and recall those for whom you want to pray, saying after each name: ”Heal him/her, O Lord.”] Help me to be a healer in your name. I ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from Jude Siciliano, O.P. in “First Impressions” 2008, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

The treatment of lepers, as spelled out in the Book of Leviticus today, seems harsh. But let’s not demonize the Israelites. With little understanding of the cause of leprosy, but noticing its awful consequences on the bodies of its victims, the community was frightened of contagion. To keep themselves and their families safe they isolated the sufferers. The diagnosis of leprosy was approximate, to say the least, since any skin lesion, scab or rash might be labeled leprosy. Guided by Leviticus’ code, the Levitical priests were directed to diagnose the symptoms, make a decision and, if the person were thought to have the disease, he or she was to be excluded, ordered to “dwell apart.” Having leprosy was bad enough, but for Mediterranean people of the time exclusion from the community was like death. Without a community a person would be considered a non-person. Indeed, in such a hostile world, where community support and protection were sometimes essential for survival, loss of your community could mean actual death. For Israelites, God was worshiped in the community; being cut off from that community also meant being cut off from God. Added to all this was the belief by many that people so afflicted were being punished for their sin. So, a leper who passed by with the required rent garment, bare head, crying, “Unclean, Unclean!” might just as well have been shouting, “I am a sinner, I am a sinner.” To be cured of leprosy then was like being raised from the dead. The leper needed a life-giving touch from a compassionate God and he got just that when he heard Jesus’ cleansing words and felt his healing touch.

The community wanted its members back as whole and full participants. Thus, a person healed of leprosy would be considered a whole person again. When Jesus healed the leper he was restoring a full person back to the community; in the eyes of his neighbors and family, the man was both physically and spiritually cleansed—no more disease, meant no more sin, which supposedly was the cause of the disease. Jesus freely dispensed his mercy in response to the man’s request, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

By curing the leper Jesus was showing his mastery over sin. But he didn’t want the cure and its accompanying significance to be a private matter between just him and the man. That’s why he told the man to go to the priests for verification (check chapter 14 for the process the priests were to follow). It sounds like Jesus wanted to include the priests and the community in this cure so that they might come to know that someone had arrived who could help them overcome sin and all its consequences. And the consequences of sin are legion. Who hasn’t experienced the effects of the leprosy of sin in our personal and communal lives? The selfishness of sin cuts a person off from family members and friends when: lies are told; goods squabbled over; siblings exhibit rivalry; parents play favorites; spouses argue excessively and don’t seek help; success is measured by the size of income; students cheat in school. Hansen’s disease, the medical name for leprosy, is treatable with drugs. Sin and its fragmenting and isolating effects are not so easily eliminated.

Mark is telling us that each hearer of the gospel experiences Jesus’ compassion and desire to heal us. What he said to the leper is offered to a sinful world and to each of us as well. There it is—we reach out to God through Jesus and ask to be cleansed. Jesus’ quick and willing response to the leper is our reassurance that, once again, he says to us, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

But the leprosy of sin isn’t just a personal affair; its effects shatter the people and nations of the world. Unfortunately, it is too easy to find evidence of this. I am currently on a plane, so I can’t check the internet or reference books for proof positive of the signs of sin’s effects on the world. But I do have a newspaper and the debris left by sin is right there on the front page.

As you might expect these days, the major stories are from the financial world. Here are a few things I read: a major bank cut its losses and withdrew hundreds of millions invested with Bernard Madoff, accused of cheating people of 50 billion dollars. But the bank never informed its investors of its concerns and their notes are “probably worthless.” More from Wall Street: despite the multi billion dollar bailouts and the collapse of some major financial institutions, some of the most prominent names in the business world collected an estimated 18.4 billion in bonuses last year. There was a string of arsons that destroyed 15 inner city houses in Coatesville, Florida. Five teenagers are accused of killing a Latino man and attacking others on Long Island. It is believed still others were involved in the racially-motivated attacks. Several guards are accused of encouraging attacks by prison gangs on teenagers at a juvenile facility. On the sports page today there is still more evidence that some top athletes have used steroids to artificially enhance their abilities. Then, of course, there are Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Gaza, global warming, famine, etc. There is just not enough space to list the evidence of sin and its effects on our world’s people. Will we ever be able to come together as a community, or will our leprosy keep driving us apart, constructing walls and causing us to settle our differences with might?

People who get seriously ill or are infirm for a long time say they feel cut off from the community—the fate of lepers. Society tends to forget these members easily and moves on to other preoccupying concerns. But in our church community we don’t forget our infirm and isolated sisters and brothers. We have volunteers who take the Eucharist to the homebound, those in nursing homes and prisons. These ministers represent us and, through them, Jesus once again reminds them that they are still part of our us. And who are we? We are a community of people always in need of cleansing; always stretching out our hands saying to Jesus, “If you want, you can make us clean.” And he responds quickly and with compassion, as he did for the leper and continues to do for us, “Of course I want to, be clean.”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

If you wish, you can make me clean

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Who are the lepers in our society today?
    Where does Covid-19 fit in?
  • Who are the lepers in our church today?
  • One of the side effects of illness, contagious or not, is loneliness. Why is this so?
  • Do I know someone in this situation?
  • Has there ever been a time in my life when I recognized the ability of another to help me and accepted that help?
  • How do persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities proclaim the gospel in my faith community?
  • How do we balance faith in the healing power of God with faith in the medical establishment and faith in science?
  • When I ask God for help or a favor, do I understand that God is not obliged to answer?
  • Have I ever been angry at God for not seeming to answer prayers for healing for myself or a loved one?
  • How have I experienced God’s compassion through illness or disability?
  • Jesus breached the law by touching someone who is unclean. When is this unwise, and when is it necessary?
  • How do I know when I should stick up for what I believe and when I should relinquish my own preferences so as to advance the common good?
  • Has there been a time in my life when something so wonderful happened to me that I could not keep it to myself?
  • Why do I think Jesus did not want the cured leper telling others of his cure?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Look at two versions of God helping humanity:

From Exodus 17:8–13:

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Pick out some men to go and fight the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on top of the hill holding the stick that God told me to carry.” Joshua did as Moses commanded him and went out to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his arms, the Israelites won, but when he put his arms down, the Amalekites started winning. When Moses’ arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, while they stood beside him and held up his arms, holding them steady until the sun went down. In this way Joshua totally defeated the Amalekites.

From Mark 1:40–42:

A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.

Here we see represented two sort of opposing views of what God is like. In Exodus, God demands a superhuman effort on the part of Moses—so difficult that he needs help from his assistants. And if Moses fails, all of Israel will suffer. This is a God that places conditions on granting a petition, even if that petition is for the safety of His entire people of Israel. In Mark, all the leper has to do is trust in God’s/Jesus’ kindness; all he has to do is simply to ask, and the leprosy leaves him immediately. These stories show us what a hard time we have in really understanding God and God’s relationship to us. Some of us lean more to a view of a God who is all powerful, and whom we must appease, and others of us think of God as a dad who understands His child’s pain, and works to alleviate it.
Which idea of God’s nature are you more comfortable with?
Do you toggle between the two views?
How does that work for you?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Just imagine for a moment that you are living in the time of Jesus. You have developed a persistent skin disease, which requires that you to go to the priests in order to be diagnosed. The priests confirm your worst fears. You are a leper. They tell you to rip your garments and go with your hair uncombed to proclaim publicly that you are a sinner. They tell you that you must live outside the village and whenever anyone comes near you have to shout: “Unclean, Unclean” to warn them to stay away. So here you are, alone and shunned by all, agonizing over the fate of your family. The children will probably have to beg, or worse, steal, to put food on the table. You miss them terribly—miss their laughter, their hugs, their kisses as you bid them good night. There are no friends with whom you can talk about this. They want no part of you. Banned from religious gatherings which used to be so much a part of everyday life for you, you are truly alone. The fear and revulsion with which you are viewed keeps you isolated, worrying about your family and wondering if your shame has affected the way people in the village are treating them.

Imagine, then, the courage it must take for you to risk approaching Jesus and speaking to him. Will he shrink away like all the others? Somehow, you have faith that he will not. So you beg him, on your knees: “Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean.” And Jesus, touched in his very soul by the sorry figure you cut in your torn and dirty rags, by the desolation in your eyes, the pain in your heart, or your simple human need, reaches out and touches you. Jesus touches you, a filthy, leprous beggar, and you are healed, not only in your body, but also in your heart and in your relationship to the community. How does that make you feel? Now imagine that you are Jesus. Why do you respond to the leper the way you do? In your own life, how do you respond to: A) your own illness or imperfections and B) those in your life who are desperate, sick, lonely, despairing?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

From Sr. Barbara Reid, O.P. in “America”:

Those who suffer chronic illness may experience themselves as being outside all of the usual spheres of human activity. As the workplace carries on without them and their family goes about its business, they can feel isolated, out of the loop, helpless to contribute to the daily doings, left alone with their own suffering. While Christianity does not have regulations concerning ritual uncleanness and separation from sick persons, certain contagious conditions may require physical isolation. Even when this is not the case, however, many avoid persons with illness. It can seem to such a person that even God is keeping at a distance. The loneliness can be as bad as or worse than the illness itself.

There are a lot of “lepers” in our society whom people have shunned out of fear or moral superiority: people with AIDS, those in prison and their families, the homeless, immigrants, especially the undocumented ones, the elderly. Try to do what you can about just one other person who might need a friendly face. Be a pen-pal to a death row inmate, go on an immersion trip to the Border or Appalachia, march in a safe and orderly peace demonstration and bombard your congressperson and senator with letters, work in a soup kitchen, when it is safe to do so, visit some patients at the local convalescent hospital whom no one ever goes to see, go to a movie with a person in your living situation no one ever talks to. Be Christ for someone.

Poetic Reflection:

The following poem illustrates the sense of isolation one can feel when serious illness takes over your life. (This poem describes suffering and the sudden loss of one’s prior life and powers, but they also celebrate the gifts that arise from the heart of suffering—the importance of the smallest things and the ability to pay fierce attention to them.) Which of the sentiments would apply to the leper in today’s gospel?

“Stranded”

Grasping at the bed’s edge
you cling to the sour pillow
of sand, flounder through
the briny sheets, held
out of your damaged body’s
element. You keep struggling
in the shadows for the right
kind of breath. Something you can never fathom
drove you here. Think hard,
so hard it hurts.
Call out all you want.
You can’t get back to the rest
of your life, to finish it.

—From Words Like Fate and Pain by Karen Fiser

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 7, 2021

Gospel: Mark 1:29–39

Theme: Jesus came to preach good tidings about God and to heal

Gospel: Mark 1:29–39

Theme: Jesus came to preach good tidings about God and to heal

Mark 1:29–39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, Let us not only pray for miracles, but teach us to listen to the words of hope and wisdom you spoke to those to whom you brought health and comfort. Teach us to be open to your message of love and compassion. We offer to your care those whom we name now who need your help and courage. [Pause to say those names aloud.] Help us to share your good news with others in our lives. Amen.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

As I read Mark’s brief and animated gospel I am reminded of the musical, “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” The play (also made into a film) had a pounding pace with frenetic scenes of excited crowds pushing in on Jesus to touch him; crying out to him with pleas for help, “Do something!” The people were desperate and they saw Jesus as the “superstar,” the one who could instantly help them. This gospel also reminds me of one of those old time movies, with the characters moving in quick, jerky movements at twice the normal speed.

Jesus was just in the synagogue where his teaching was interrupted by the rants man possessed by an evil spirit. After he drives out the spirit, Jesus leaves the synagogue and, immediately upon entering the house of Simon and Andrew, he is taken to Simon’s mother-in-law who, we are told, “lay sick with a fever.” Jesus cures her, but there isn’t much time for him to rest because at sunset people bring him “all who were ill or possessed by demons”—and more, “The whole town was gathered at the door.” See what I mean, quick paced, frenetic activity caused by a desperate people who look upon Jesus as a miracle worker who can help them. The gospel will show us that Jesus doesn’t want to be seen merely as a wonder worker. In order to get a break from all the hustle and find some quiet for prayer and reflection, he leaves very early in the morning for a deserted place. But Simon and his companions seem caught up in the frenzy, and they “pursued him.” The original language is reminiscent of hunters tracking down an animal. The disciples aren’t cast in a very flattering light in Mark’s gospel. They are like hunters. They want to find Jesus and bring him back to the crowds where he, and they by association, are the center of attention.

People who do various forms of ministry, paid or volunteer, hear this gospel and say, “My life too!” Are we ever off duty? Where is the time clock? When can we punch out and have a break from the many needs we encounter each day? Parents, teachers and those in the helping fields say the same thing. The good work we want to do seems to have no end in sight; our “to do” list has a lot more we need to check off. Jesus’ ministry doesn’t seem to have any clearly drawn lines; no demarcation that sets off his personal from his ministerial lives. Indeed, the needs for help follow him even into a synagogue. That’s what it feels like for many of us too. Here is something else that is like us: most of Jesus’ ministry is conducted outside the sanctuary and “holy places.” His healings and good works take place in domestic settings: like the healing in Peter’s home, on the road, in a fishing boat, walking through a wheat field or on hillsides. Mark’s telling of the story of Jesus’ ministry sounds a lot like our own lives, with no strict lines of demarcation and few “off hours.” We are not part-time Christians and the call to serve can happen at any time and place in our day. So, we feel like we are in “full time ministry.” We are conscious of a child’s needs which interrupt our schedule and plans; a friend’s recent biopsy; a neglected spouse; an aging parent needing doctor’s visits; a son’s wedding; a daughter’s breakup with her boyfriend; a shopping list and a meal to be prepared; a relative who got downsized; the tasks we need to do at our local parish and in our community, etc. We do see these and so much more, through the lens of ministry; in Christ’s name we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned and preach the good news through our actions and words.

Mark’s gospel throws up cautions to disciples. He makes us aware that even the disciples closest to Jesus miss the fuller picture of who he was and what his mission would be like. They got sidetracked by Jesus’ popularity and the acclaim of the crowds. The disciples hear Jesus proclaim “good news” and they think it is a crowd-pleaser that will bring them into power along with a popular Jesus—later James and John will ask him to sit at his right and left when he comes into his “glory” (11:37). Jesus has to remind those disciples that if they aspire to greatness, they must serve the rest. What kept Jesus so focused as his reputation spread throughout the land? What gave him perspective and balance as he wove through the wildly enthusiastic crowds of people reaching out to touch him and get the healings and help they needed? It is too easy to say that he was the “Son of God” and so he knew exactly what he must do and say all the time. Mark stresses Jesus’ humanity, as we say in the fourth Preface at Mass, he was “like us in all things but sin.” When Jesus goes off to pray by himself to a “deserted place” away from the excitement of the crowds and the glory-seeking of his disciples, he seems to do so to get the focus he needs to continue doing the will of the One who sent him. It is as if in prayer Jesus allows God to do for him what Jesus did for Simon’s mother-in-law. In the quiet places, as rare as they are for him in this gospel, Jesus would come to know again that God had a firm grasp on his hand and would never let go, even while he went through the depths of pain and humiliation at his crucifixion. Jesus’ going apart to pray doesn’t mean he will cut back and do less—not in Mark’s gospel! In fact, he has every intention of doing more as he tells Simon they must move on to other places to preach. But he is not deluded or seduced by his reputation; he knows exactly what he must do: he must go to Jerusalem.

We are not nuns or monks in cloisters. Still, we will need to find some quiet places, some mini-Sabbaths, as Jesus did. We Christians have much to do as Jesus’ followers and we need to make space to allow God to reach out to us, quiet the fevers of our minds and hearts, so that we can return to our current places of service or, hear the call to the next places we must go. The pace of our lives probably will not change dramatically; there will continue to be temptations to lose focus and lean into success; there will always be the disciples’ temptation to shun the cross and, of course, there will be many deaths along the way—of loved ones, but also of our plans and dreams. But if today’s gospel is any indication, Jesus will never let go of our hands, never stop driving out the fevers of anxiety and burn-out, never stop raising us up—what he did for Simon’s mother-in-law assures us of that. Jesus travels well and he is no longer trapped by the limits of time and place.

He comes over to us now at this Eucharistic celebration. He extends a hand to help us go further on our journey with him. He strengthens us in the area of life where we are trying to be more generous in service to others—as we also try to fulfill commitments we already have. This Eucharist is our coming aside for a while, not to a deserted place, but with a community of faith, people to whom Jesus is also extending a hand of support and encouragement.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

For this purpose I have come

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • What do you think is the reason Jesus came into our history?
  • From Sr. Barbara Reid, O.P.:
    How has God transformed you with healing love in times when you felt hopeless?
    In what ways do you help others experience divine mercy?
    How are both personal healing and preaching of social justice needed to bring about the reign of God?
  • From Jude Siciliano:
    At this stage of our journey with Christ, how do we experience his hand reaching out to sustain us?
    Who is the outstretched hand of Christ for us?
  • What is the difference between curing and healing?
    Do you let your woundedness define you, or are you looking to move on and be healed? How does God help in this process?
  • In his exhaustion, Jesus went to pray in order to find his true home in the midst of need and chaos. What is my true home?
  • As worn out a Jesus was, he was moved by the needs of others to continue to preach and to heal.
    Have you ever been exhausted by the demands of work or the needs of those close to you, but felt you had to muster the energy to continue on as someone really needed you to be there for them?
  • Was this a work necessity which you needed to complete because your job or reputation demanded it, or was it a work necessity that affected the well-being and safety of others (such as happens to first responders)? Is there a difference?
  • What brings us more awareness, sickness or health?
  • Is there a danger to yourself or others when you carry on beyond total exhaustion?
  • In the time of Jesus, to be sick was to be in a socially devalued state.
    How much is sickness intertwined with a feeling of uselessness, of being irrelevant, or discarded?
    How is sickness isolating?
    What exactly, are the physical, emotional and spiritual consequences of poverty or helplessness?
  • Jesus’ first healing was of a woman and a widow, which made her a marginalized entity in his culture.
    What does that tell me about Jesus?
    What does that tell me about who I should be caring for and helping?
  • What do you think of Peter’s mother-in-law’s response to being cured?
    The word “service” (in Greek, Diakoneo) as described to Jesus’ later calls to discipleship is the same word Mark used here for Peter’s mother in law and her “waiting on” them after she was healed. How do you see service/discipleship/waiting on as a mission of yours?
  • How available am I to those in my life?
    Do I need Jesus to give me energy to serve?
  • Do I only turn to Jesus when I am in trouble of some sort?
  • The Gospel of Mark portrays Jesus’ ministry as constantly busy. Why do you think this is so?
  • Some say these events in Mark’s gospel are not about Jesus healing, but about Jesus preaching… How could that be so?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

The following passage from Job is more than a complaint; it is a form of Jewish prayer called “Lamentation”. The psalms are full of these lamentations, written by people who are willing to lay themselves bare before their Yahweh, knowing Yahweh understands and cares. In this prayer lamenting life’s sorrow and losses, we see Job laying his sorrow and frustration before a God to whom he can speak honestly. Too often, we put on our “prayer party dress” and speak to God as if we are merely being polite. This passage teaches us to level with God about how we are feeling, trusting that God knows how we feel and what we are going through. Read the passage slowly, reflecting on which of these words might actually speak to your life, now or in the past. Share with Jesus your anger, your frustrations, your fears and, yes, your hopes… If you wish, write your own psalm of lamentation.

Is not life on earth a drudgery, its days like those of a hireling?
Like a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for wages,
So I have been assigned months of futility, and troubled nights have been counted off for me.
When I lie down I say, “When shall I arise?” then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind; my eye will not see happiness again.
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read Luke 5:17-26 (The healing of the paralytic). The lengths they went to bring the man to Jesus’ attention was truly remarkable. This was certainly proof to Jesus that they had faith in God’s ability to heal the sick. Do we see healing as a necessary ministry we inherited from Jesus? Make a little extra effort to do something truly special for someone who is ill, in pain, disabled, or elderly, even if it is only saying a daily prayer for that person.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Rewrite the responsorial psalm from this Sunday, using the first person instead of the third person. It is your personal psalm of praise and hope. The Alleluia line is an example of this transposition to the first person: “Alleluia! I praise you Lord, who heals the brokenhearted”

How good to sing psalms to our God;
how pleasant to chant fitting praise!
The LORD builds up Jerusalem
and brings back Israel’s exiles;
he heals the brokenhearted;
he binds up all their wounds.
He counts out the number of the stars;
he calls each one by its name.
Our Lord is great and almighty;
his wisdom can never be measured.
The LORD lifts up the lowly;
he casts down the wicked to the ground.
O sing to the LORD, giving thanks;
sing psalms to our God with the harp.
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares the rain for the earth,
making mountains sprout with grass,
and plants to serve human needs.
He provides the cattle with their food,
and young ravens that call upon him.
His delight is not in horses,
nor his pleasure in a warrior’s strength.
The LORD delights in those who revere him,
those who wait for his merciful love.
Poetic Reflection:

This prayer reflects the difference between Jesus’ sensibility and that of his frequently clueless disciples:

A Christian Confederate Soldier’s Prayer
(Anonymous—alleged to have been found on a CSA casualty at the Devil’s Den, Gettysburg)

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve.
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy.
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but got everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, we have heard your call and it compels us to follow. Let the truth of the Gospel break the yoke of our selfishness. Draw us and all people to the joy of salvation. We especially pray for all those in need of your guidance and your comfort at this time.
[Pause to recall the names of those you want to pray for.]
We pray for a world in need of your call to serve others and the natural world.
[Pause to recall the issues you want to pray about.]
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.

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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 31, 2021

Gospel: Mark 1:21–28

Theme: Jesus is healer of all

Gospel: Mark 1:21–28

Theme: Jesus is healer of all

Mark 1:21–28

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Not to the wise and powerful of this world, O God of all blessedness, but to those who are poor in spirit
do you reveal in Jesus the righteousness of your kingdom.
Gathered here, like the ill and desperate, we long to listen as Jesus, the teacher, speaks.
By the power of his word, heal us, refashion our lives in the pattern of the beatitudes.
[Pause here to pray for anyone in need of healing in mind or body]
We ask this through your son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Companions for the Journey

Excerpted from “First Impressions 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Mark’s gospel is rushing along. We are still only in the first chapter and today we have two accounts of Jesus’ ministry—his teaching in the synagogue and an exorcism. The exorcism has spectacle about it and draws our attention but, judging from the opening and closing of the passage, it doesn’t seem to be the focus of the story. Instead, Mark refers us to Jesus’ teaching. The exorcism underlines his authority to teach. The crowds confirm this emphasis, for we are told they were “astonished at his teaching,” because he taught as “one having authority and not as the scribes.” He was not merely a voice for God; he was the presence of the Holy One in their midst. And more. Jesus’ powerful presence would not be taken away or leave them, even after his death. His resurrection would open their eyes to who he was and who he would continue to be for them. They would remember his words, spoken with authority and authenticated by powerful signs and they would place their confidence in his presence with them as they went forth to preach his word. In their teaching the scribes would have drawn on past teachers and commentators. They wouldn’t have claimed their own authority. Thus, the crowd is amazed because Jesus didn’t rely on anyone else’s authority when he taught, he spoke “as one having authority.” How would the people know that Jesus had any right to speak from his own authority? To show that he did, he drove out an evil spirit. When people observed this they could then put trust in what he taught.

Previously, John the Baptist promised that one more powerful than he (1:17) was coming. Today’s story, and Mark’s gospel itself, reveal the fulfillment of John’s promise. Jesus has entered a world where evil seems to have the upper hand and humanity, like the possessed man in the synagogue, is helpless against such power. Evil works against God’s good intentions for us. A “mighty one,” who can subdue the powers of evil, is needed. Jesus enters the scene and, as we see in Mark’s breathless gospel, he quickly goes about his mission: he confronts and casts out the various guises of evil which oppress people and even attack his own disciples (8:33). He does battle against sin, sickness, falsehood, greed and the power of death itself.

We aren’t merely looking back on Jesus’ authoritative words and being inspired by them. Through his resurrection he is present with us now, still speaking and acting with an authority that overcomes evil. I write this shortly after Martin Luther King Jr’s holiday. We hear in King’s preaching words of hope to people who lived over four decades ago—and today. He spoke to our past, but he speaks to our present and future as well, as he draws on Jesus’ authority and challenges us to live lives based on equality, non-violence and love—even for our enemies. His life and words show us just how powerful Jesus’ words are as they strengthen us in our present and future struggles against the evils that would fragment the human community into competitive and combative factions. King says, as he once did in Montgomery, Alabama:

I know you are asking today, ‘How long will it take?’ I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.
How long? Not long, because you will reap what you sow.
How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.
How long? Not long, because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…

In the voices of such modern-day prophets as M. L. King, you can hear the authoritative voice of the One who stood up in the synagogue to teach and whose words could drive out evil. Such power and authority were reflected in King’s words as he confronted war, racism, violence and injustice and his words still help us in our ongoing struggle to drive out these unclean spirits.

Who has authority over our lives? Whose words and actions have the power to sway us and call us to righteous living? Who influences our conscience enough to cause us to change our ways and take up life in God’s reign? Who gives us perspective and lens through which to look out at our world and helps us find the good and reject the evil? For Christians, Jesus’ words have such authority for us. We have confidence in his words and trust he will be faithful to us as he sends us modern prophets to help us teach by our words and example. Indeed, regular reflection on Jesus’ teachings can shape us; help us resist evil and turn towards the good for, as the crowds acknowledged that day Jesus taught in the synagogue—his teaching has authority.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Contrary to common understanding, authority is not having power over people. Genuine authority is the power to en-able people, to em-power them to transcend what they thought were their abilities.
    Where in the gospels have you seen Jesus display this kind of authority?
    Have you ever known anyone who possessed this kind of authority?
  • What do you think was Jesus’ motive in healing the man possessed by a demon?
    Have you ever been transformed by an encounter with Jesus?
  • From “Living Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:
    Our faith should free us to be authentically what Jesus calls us to be; then our faith should not seem like a burden, an entrapment;
    To what extent is the Church responsible for creating this image which is a contradiction of the gospel message?
  • When has someone’s presence caused a change in your life? Was it a good one or a bad one?
    What is one thing you can do this week to bring God’s presence into your life more fully?
  • Have you ever ostracized someone from your group because (s)he was an embarrassment or worse? How did you feel? What does this incident in today’s gospel tell us about Jesus and inclusivity?
  • What demons do I carry around with me?
    In the gospel of Mark, the evil spirits recognize who Jesus is long before his disciples do.
    Who do you say Jesus is?
  • What is the significance for you of the location and the nature of Jesus’ first miracle?
  • Jesus’ authority did not come from the words of others, not from power or strength, but from a personal relationship with God and a commitment to service. Do I understand the concept of the authority of Jesus’ teachings?
  • Where does my authority emanate from?
  • Jesus also preached through his actions of healing and care for others. Can you think of examples where this was so for Jesus?
    How do I preach through my actions?
  • From Daniel Harrington, S.J., in “America”:
    In the biblical perspective, what qualifies as holiness? In what sense is Jesus the Holy One of God?
    Among the persons whom you know and have known, are there any whom you regard as especially holy? Why?
  • What evil spirits do we encounter daily, through the internet, advertisements, cable news, social media?
  • What evil spirits have disrupted my personal life?
  • Whose words and actions have the power to influence me?
    Whose words and actions have the power to influence a lot of us?
  • The presence of evil spirits was the common explanation for any abnormal events or human actions. It is how people explained what they could not understand. Fear of evil spirits was very prevalent in the time of Jesus. He came to liberate the people of his time, and us, from great and paralyzing fears.
    What are my fears?
    Can I take them to Jesus?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Every one of us wrestles with demons of some sort: loneliness, fear of failure, addictions, parental issues, relationship problems, aging, self-absorption, sin. Reflect on your own personal demons, secure in the knowledge that God loves you just the way you are, and that you do not have to change for God to love you. Then try to remember that God will never leave you to face any trials alone, but will walk with you—sometimes whether you know it or not.

Poetic Reflection:

The following poem captures the experience of meeting or knowing someone who was truly special—marked by God for greatness of some sort. Have you ever known anyone like this? How could this poem apply to Jesus?

I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul’s history
Through the corridors of light where the hours are suns,
Endless and singing, Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, touched with fire,
Should tell of the spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

What is precious is never to forget
The delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth;
Never to deny its pleasure in the simple morning light.
Nor its grave evening demand for love;
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how those names are feted by the waving grass,
And by the streamers of white cloud,
And whispers of wind in the listening sky;
The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire’s center.
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.

—Stephen Spender

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from “Faith Book” 2015, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Who speaks to us with authority? Whose words, guide our spirits and direct our energies? Is it the voice of Pope Francis who expresses concern for the poor, the persecuted and the environment? Or, are we influenced by other “authorities.” How much sway over us have political parties, blogs, editorials, the opinion of others, etc.? We are responsible to form our conscience according to God’s authoritative word—but who and what helps us do that?

Speak to God about the mixed and confusing messages you receive in your everyday life, and ask for clarity and guidance from Jesus, the source of truth, wisdom and empowerment in your life.

Poetic Reflection:

Read and enjoy the following poetic reflection on the gospel by Father Michael Kennedy, S.J. in 2009:

“Astonishment Is Not Enough”

(4th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

It is interesting
That Jesus entered the
Synagogue on the Sabbath
And taught for clearly He
Was very good at it since the
Listeners were overwhelmed and
Saw Him as one who spoke with
Authority and not like scribes
And then Mark piles it on a bit
When he introduces the
Man with an unclean
Spirit who yells
At Jesus

And if truth
Be known the unclean
Spirit was probably very
Afraid of Jesus so it uses
The ploy of calling Him the
Holy one of God in the ancient
Way that using the precise
Name of someone would
Guarantee the unclean
Spirit mastery over
The named one

But the Jesus of
Mark could not be handled
And He simply freed the man
From the unclean spirit and this
Brought out more amazement
From the crowd who had yet
To know Jesus who wanted
Commitment from His own
Followers since this One
Made very clear that
Astonishment is
Not enough

—from “Musings from Michael” © Michael J. Kennedy 2009

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read Psalm 38. In this psalm we can see the connection that the Jews made between illness and sin. Somehow, the ill person has done something to bring this on herself. If this illness is truly a punishment for sin, then no one would feel particularly sorry for the sufferer. Many illnesses, especially those with fevers, blood or sores, rendered someone ritually impure, and no one was allowed to touch or to come near them. Even today, serious illness, and especially a mental illness, can separate the sick person from those around him. Perhaps friends do not want to be embarrassed. Others don’t want to think about the suffering of another for too long. It reminds them of their own mortality. This psalm captures very well the sense of isolation that comes from illness, isolation that can lead to depression and hopelessness. The psalmist asserts that healing, either in body or spirit, only comes from God. Has there been a time in your life when you have needed God’s healing? Did you ask for it? Pray to God for the confidence to trust in the Spirit’s healing powers.

Has there been anyone in your life who needed healing of some sort, but was blamed for his/her illness? Is there anything you can do to bring the healing of Jesus to this person?

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, we especially pray for all those in need of your guidance and your comfort at this time.
[Pause to recall the names of those you want to pray for.]
We pray for a world in need of your call to serve others and the natural world.
[Pause to recall the issues you want to pray about.]
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.

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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 24, 2021

Gospel: Mark 1:14–20

Theme: How can I follow the call of Jesus and bring others to him?

Gospel: Mark 1:14–20

Theme: How can I follow the call of Jesus and bring others to him?

Mark 1:14–20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Not to the wise and powerful of this world, O God of all blessedness, but to those who are poor in spirit
do you reveal in Jesus the righteousness of your kingdom.
Gathered here, like the disciples on the shore, we long to listen as Jesus, the teacher, speaks.
By the power of his word, refashion our lives in the pattern of the beatitudes.
We ask this through your son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, 2015

We have just passed through the Christmas and Epiphany seasons and have heard the narratives of Jesus’ birth and manifestations to the shepherds and the magi. These stories come to us from Matthew and Luke’s gospels. Today we begin a sequential reading from Mark. His gospel will be our focus through much of this liturgical year. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t open with stories of Jesus’ early beginnings, but with His preaching. The German scripture scholar, Martin Diebelius, puts it this way, “In the beginning was the preaching.” Mark’s introductory verses (1:1-8) are about John the Baptist’s preparatory preaching. Today’s gospel presents Jesus to us, not through biographical material, but through his words. “In the beginning was the preaching.”

Mark introduces Jesus not as a miracle worker, but as a preacher. He reminds us that it was not the most comfortable time to begin preaching. The worldly powers had arrested John and had said “No” to God’s reign. But still, God’s message will not be overcome by any worldly power. Instead, God’s sovereign rule is breaking into our history and it is a word of good news for humanity.

We tend to want to flesh out the story of the call of the disciples. We base our reasoning on what would make common sense from our perspective. We know that significant changes in our lives often come after long deliberation and consultation. Even then, most of us make changes only tentatively, a few cautious steps at a time. That makes perfect sense to us and no one would fault our reasoning. In fact, there are plenty of people, friends, family and acquaintances, who are more than ready to offer us advice along the way.

Mark leaves out any preparatory details that may have gone into the disciples’ decision-making process. The preacher needs to respect Mark’s method and not try to make the first disciples’ responses more “reasonable.” Mark presents a crisp, breath-taking story: Jesus invites—the disciples follow. We get the point. For Mark, discipleship requires a decisive and trusting response to Jesus. In the light of today’s telling: we disciples are called to leave our former life behind and take up the new life Jesus offers. And to do it now!

Jesus begins by announcing, “This is the time of fulfillment.” Is not any old time; it is a new time charged with possibilities for those who respond. Thus, Mark’s description of the response by those first called to follow Jesus makes sense. Jesus calls—it is a charged moment. They hear and respond immediately. Who is the director of this narrative? Who is guiding the plot? God is and we are invited to get on board quickly lest we miss the grace-filled moment that is overflowing with new possibilities for those who respond. Mark’s gospel is the story of Jesus. But it is also the story of how people responded to him, starting with the first-called. The story begins well and they respond immediately to his invitation, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of [people].” He will teach them to do what he does: teach, heal and cast out demons. The disciples will also learn that following Jesus will have its difficult moments, but  he will be with them at those times as well—as when he rescued them from the threatening storm (8:45-52).

As the gospel develops the disciples will reveal breaches in their loyalty to Jesus. They misunderstand his miracles and teaching. When he teaches them that following him will mean suffering and death, they resist (8:30-33). They will argue among themselves about rank and prestige (10:35-45).  After sharing his last meal with them one disciple will even betray him (14:10) while others doze off during his agony in the garden. At his arrest they will all flee, even “the rock,” Peter, will deny him. Jesus calls his first disciples, and with these “learners” begins his new community. It’s clear as the narrative proceeds that, with their all-too human traits, they will not be able to achieve anything on their own.

When we think of repentance we usually associate the notion with sorrow for sins. But in Jesus’ language it means to make a 180° change of direction. It means to rethink our notion of who God is and how God acts towards us in the light of our sins. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” In Jesus, God is breaking into our worlds of isolation and indifference and calling us to faith in Christ. In sum, repentance asks that we make a complete turnaround in our lives towards God. The call of the disciples illustrates what repentance and belief in the gospel mean. Is not first of all about acceptance of doctrine, but an acceptance of an attachment to Jesus: to do what the disciples did—get up and go with Jesus all the way to the cross. For some, following Jesus has meant leaving their present life to make a complete change. For others, it means remaining in their worlds with its structures, but living in it with a sense of detachment and a willingness to change what needs changing. What does it mean for you?

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Come, and I will make you fishers of men.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Define “Good News”
    Do I believe in the “Good News”?
    Do I preach “Good News” in word and action?
  • What does it mean to me to say that the Kingdom of God is at hand, but that it is “now” and “not yet”?
  • Consider what the world needs in terms of repentance.
  • Do you see the invitation to the first followers a one-time event, or are we, by extension, called to be disciples as well?
  • Consider the times in your life when Jesus has extended an invitation to you. How did you respond?
  • What does it mean to hear Jesus say “Follow me”?
  • How is the invitation unique to you and you alone?
  • Does answering God’s call insure success, happiness or perfection in what we do to respond to Jesus?

  • From “Faith Book”, a service of the Southern Dominican province:

    What redirection and big change must I make in my life?
    What will be the first step towards that kind of change?

    Is there an emptiness in our lives we know we can’t fulfill on our own?
    What are we doing about addressing it?

  • Mark’s gospel centers around two questions: “Who is Jesus”? and “What are Jesus’ disciples meant to be like”?
    How would I answer these questions generally?
  • How would I compare my discipleship to that of those first called?
  • Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Do I still think of repentance as guilt or sorrow for my sins? The actual meaning of the Greek term metanoia is to change my mind or change my heart. What in me needs to change? What must I turn away from? Walter Burghardt, S.J., suggests that we also need to look at what we are turning to:

  1. Turn to self, and what the true self desires. Like Thomas Merton, who struggled with his vocation for many years, we need to keep asking ourselves what it means to be authentic, true to ourselves. Unlike Merton after his conversion, we may find answers in the wrong places. How honest am I about myself and my desires and needs? Am I consistently faithful to my relationships?
  2. Turn to Christ. Like St Augustine, it may be that true change only happens when we come to learn what it means to love Jesus. Unlike St Augustine, we may occasionally lose sight of Jesus in the midst of stresses and distraction in our daily lives. How much time do I actually spend in prayer? Do I ever, in an ordinary day, imagine Jesus by my side? Do I want a relationship with Jesus?
  3. Turn to the world. Like Dorothy Day, we must find Jesus in the faces of the poor and despised. Piety without action is solipsism. Unlike Dorothy Day, we may find our mission is a little less dramatic, and a little more muted. But we must remember we have a mission to the world. How do I treat those with whom I live and work? How aware am I of the invisible among us? How deep is my concern for others?

Of these actions of metanoia, which is the easiest for me? Which is the most difficult at this time in my life?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Two things make it difficult to hear how Jesus invites each of us to be with him as his companions and to share his work. One is our limitations and consequent feeling of insignificance. The second is how exalted Jesus is as God, even though the same Jesus walked our earth. If you wish to pray with this reality, be with Jesus in a quiet place and let him call you by name. Let him first call you to be with him as his friend and then to share his work.

Poetic Reflection:

Read the excerpt that follows from a poem by Francis Thompson. In what ways do we, each of us, flee God? Why?

“The Hound of Heaven”

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet
'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me'.
I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followed,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are just returning, tired, smelly and cold from a bout of night fishing on the Sea of Galilee. You are a Jew, but how religious are you? Do you think about God and the scriptures a lot? Describe the man who comes up to you and starts a conversation. What does he look like? What does he say to you before he issues that strange invitation? Are you initially wary, definitely repelled, or instantly mesmerized by what he is saying? What is going on in your head as he invites you to join him? Spend some time in your imagination, placing yourself in the events of the day. What makes you drop everything immediately and follow him? How does your family learn that you have abandoned your livelihood to follow a perfect stranger? (I would love to have been a fly on the wall as Peter explains to his wife and his mother-in-law what he wants to do. Maybe, knowing that Peter is such an impulsive man, given to sudden enthusiasms, they decide to let him play out his fantasy… little do they know…)

Like the first four followers, have I ever been caught off guard by an unexpected “epiphany” about a direction my life must take? Did I see it as the hand of God? Looking back, can I discern that sometime in my life there has been an invitation from God to metanoia—to change my life? If I am facing some changes in my life right now, I resolve to view them as an invitation to a new adventure in Christ, being open to whatever the future brings. Scary, huh?

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, we have heard your call and it compels us to follow. Let the truth of the Gospel break the yoke of our selfishness. Draw us and all people to the joy of salvation. We especially pray for all those in need of your guidance and your comfort at this time [pause to recall the names of those you want to pray for]. We pray for a world in need of your call to serve others and the natural world [pause to recall the issues you want to pray about]. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.

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