Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2:18-22)

What does it mean to be a human being?  Without sounding silly or arrogant, we might answer it does mean something.  Contrary to what some are saying today, we are not individuals who we can define themselves in whatever way we like.  We have similar feelings, an intellect and a will, as well as bodily makeup.  In other words, we all have a human nature.

The Letter to the Hebrews identifies Jesus Christ as one of us.  It says that Jesus understood our feelings and needs.  He suffered in the same ways that we do and experienced our joys and satisfaction.  But one thing Jesus did not share with other human beings was the guilt of sin.  He never offended God, his Father.  For these reasons, the letter concludes, Jesus makes the perfect high priest.  He knows our human situation and gives himself to appealing to God for us.  He does not ask for himself because he is always one with the Father.

We can trust in Jesus with our needs.  He will not abandon us because he loves us.  He has won favor with God the Father and will beseech Him on our behalf.  But we must join his company and ask for his help.

Sunday, January 15, 2023

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 49:3.5-6; I Corinthians 3:1-3; John 1:29-34)

One of his city’s best trial lawyers was once asked: What is the most important thing for winning a court case? Is it a fair judge? Is it a sympathetic jury? Is it a good support team? The lawyer promptly responded. "No, the most important thing to win a court case is one credible witness." In the gospel today we find such a witness in the case of Jesus.

John is a man of conviction. He doesn't waver so that his answer one day is this and the next day is that.  John also doesn't care about anything less than the truth. He lives on locusts and wild honey so that he cannot be bribed with any material thing. He does not try to please people but only God. He recognizes his task as preparing Israel for the coming of the Lord’s chosen one.

When he sees Jesus in today’s gospel, John testifies that he is the one, “the Lamb of God…” He means that Jesus is going to give himself up to death as a sacrifice to take away the sin that infects the world. He testifies that Jesus has the Holy Spirit which makes him the Son of God. Jesus imparts the same Spirit to us in Baptism. We have received the Spirit so that we might fulfill the will of God. 

We have just lost one of the great witnesses of our time. Pope Benedict XVI like John lived to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Benedict was a man of truth. He did not seek the favorable opinion of the press or of politicians. In a famous statement he criticized "liberation theology," which was the fashion in theology in the last quarter of the twentieth century. At the time, he was in charge of the Vatican department for matters of faith. The then Cardinal Ratzinger did not condemn liberation theology but warned its adherents that if they professed liberation only from social oppression and not also from personal sin, they would not be faithful to the gospel.

Benedict was also a person of humility. As he grew weak, he did not hold onto the office of pope. Although he had the world's attention, he resigned from the papacy when he realized that he could not carry out its responsibilities well.

Because he came from Germany after many years of rigorous study, Benedict's personality was reserved. But he was not cold and much less ruthless as was sometimes said of him. An American priest remembers meeting him in a receiving line when he came to New York on a papal visit. The priest says that although the line was long, Benedict extended his hand to him and presumably to everyone else, looking into each person’s eyes. His observation of Pope Benedict confirms what his biographer said about his manners. When waiting to see him on his first visit, Cardinal Ratzinger came to him personally and extended his hand in a friendly manner.

More than before, we need testimony like that of Pope Benedict. In fact, it is necessary for all of us mass goers bear witness to Jesus Christ. The world is losing its good sense in a flood of overconcern about oneself. Secularism has eliminated reference to God as an authority outside of the person. Individualism has facilitated tragedies such as the breakdown of the nuclear family. And relativism has produced contradictions like gender change and gay marriage. Christ compels us to love those who think and act differently. But he also teaches us that there are transcendent truths to be defended despite what others think.

Pope Benedict died with a testimony of his love for Jesus on his lips. His last words were: "Jesus, I love you." Perhaps we could bear witness to Jesus by rehearsing what we want to be our final words. After saying goodbye to our loved ones, we would like to say something like: "I trust in you, O Lord." Let's repeat these words to another person every day. 

Friday, January 13, 2023

Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 4:1-5.11; Mark 2:1-12)

Two generations ago people began to see themselves as free of sin.  It was particularly evident in the Catholic Church when few came to confessions.  A generation before people lined up for confession for hours on Saturday afternoon.  Then the lines shriveled until a half an hour was all the time needed for the few who came to ask forgiveness.  Without this sense of sin today’s gospel and Jesus’ whole mission make little sense.

Jesus preached God’s love for everyone, including those who sinned greatly.  He died on the cross to free humans from the punishment their sins deserved. He taught that they need not worry over past sins if they accepted God’s love and turned away from evil.  To show that his message was authentic, Jesus healed the paralytic after pronouncing the forgiveness of his sins.  The paralytic himself showed faith in Jesus’ message by exerting himself and others to be put in his presence.

We too must exert ourselves by acknowledging our sins despite a generation that avoids the subject.  We also need to exert ourselves by confessing our sins to a priest.  The exercises serve us well.  We are relieved of the punishment our sins merited.  We also can live with the firm hope of experiencing the fullness of God’s love.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

 Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 3:7-14; Mark 1:40-45)

The background for the Letter to the Hebrews has much in common with what is happening today.  Hebrew Christians, disillusioned that the Lord had not returned, were leaving the community of faith.  Today many who were raised Catholics no longer attend mass.  They find the promises of Christian faith, especially eternal life, as unreliable. 

In today’s lesson from Hebrews, the author of the letter exhorts the community not to give up hope.  He reminds the people of what happened in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.  The people forgot how the Lord had delivered them from slavery.  When experiencing hardship in the desert, they demanded new signs of power rather than trust in the Lord’s goodness.

Certainly there is cause for today’s disillusion with the Catholic Church.  Some of its officials have proven to be corrupt.  Some of its faithful have shown themselves as unrepentant.  But all this is not to say that the Church does not create saints.  Indeed, we can expect those who express their love for God openly and regularly to show similarly impressive virtue.

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

 Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 2:14-18; Mark 1:29-39)

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke Jesus is revealed to the world with the stories of his birth.  The Gospel of Mark has no infancy narrative.  It introduces Jesus with a flurry of activity on the first day of his ministry. Today’s gospel recounts the events at the end of that first day and the beginning of the second.

Jesus heals diseased people and drives out demons from the possessed.  But he is not on a medical mission.  Rather than stay in one place to treat all who come to him, he goes off to preach to others.  His mission is to announce the reign of God and the need for listeners to change their ways so that they may benefit by it.

But established ways of thinking and acting are notoriously difficult to alter.  Try driving on the left side of the road after driving on the right for ten years.  Similarly, we are accustomed to seeking pleasure and recognition in abundance.  To dominate these passions, we need to take time like Jesus to pray for God’s help.