Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 29^th 2012)  

Mark 1:21-28

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1 Do I sometimes feel discomfort when I listen to the word of God?

2. Could such discomfort be the result of the word of God confronting contradictions or compromises within me?

3. Do I believe that conversion entails the ruination of my life as I am living it now, or true liberation?

4. Does a surgeon make a cut with the primary intention of inflicting a wound, or in order to restore health? Why are we inclined to believe that conversion involves pain primarily, instead of liberation?

5. Jesus does not negotiate with the evil spirit but orders him to leave. What does this tell us about how we should confront the vices and contradictions in our lives?

The teachings of Jesus confront us with the contradictions that dwell within us

The Gospel passage from St Mark describes the opening miracle performed by Jesus on the day that he embarks upon his mission. Jesus enters the synagogue and heals a man possessed by an impure spirit. This story of healing and liberation is significant for us, because all of us have need of healing and liberation. Jesus is a liberator and a redeemer. He is the one who pays the ransom for the slave and frees him. He is the one who comes to rid humanity of its ills, its idols and its deception.

            Jesus enters the Synagogue at Capernaum and begins to teach. It is the teaching of Jesus that smokes out this demon in the first place. And this is true for all of us. In order that our problems might be uncovered and brought to light, we need to be confronted and challenged by the word of God. When Jesus teaches at Capernaum, the possessed man begins to feel unwell and starts shouting. When we are confronted by the word of God, it is important that we be attentive to any discomfort that might arise in our hearts. Discomfort of this sort is the Lord striking at the contradictions within us. These contradictions should be listened to and acted upon. Why does the Gospel often annoy us? Such annoyance is sometimes a covert effort by us to erect barriers to the word of God. When we hear the word of the Lord, we try to hide aspects of ourselves. We don't want our real selves to be smoked out, or to be challenged at the depths of our being. And so we begin to react to what we hear. We often start to complain about the person who is proclaiming the word of God. Biblical scholars sometime claim that certain texts are historically doubtful, or have problems in translation. We develop incredible methods for disputing the good news and for escaping from the contradictions that the word of God reveals inside us!

Deception involves taking the truth and manipulating it to arrive at false conclusions

In the Gospel the impure spirit is smoked out because the word of God has struck at the evil that lies within. The spirit starts to say, "What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you want to destroy us? We know that you are the holy one of God!" These words express self-deception of a classic sort! True deception rarely involves the communication of statements that are false, full stop. Real deception involves putting together various true statements in a way that leads to a false conclusion. Evil has always utilised the word of God, or statements that are true, or matters of fact, and puts them together in a way that leads us to draw conclusions that are wrong.

            It is clear that Jesus of Nazareth is incompatible with the forces of evil. There can be no doubt that the light of Christ is incompatible with the kingdom of darkness. It is clear that evil cannot survive where goodness is cultivated, and vice-versa. But the impure spirit interprets all of this in a way that misleads. "What do you want from us? Do you want to destroy us?" The deception here is that the holy one of God has come in order to destroy. The image of God presented is of one who comes to annihilate. Many people are reluctant to undergo conversion because they fear this very manifestation of God. But this is the voice of evil speaking. It whispers that the work of God involves our ruin and our destruction.

The work of God is directed primarily to our liberation, not to our destruction

In reality, the chastising aspect of the work of God is secondary in nature. Where conversion is concerned it is true that renunciation is required, and it is correct to say that certain things will have to be abandoned. But the problem with this statement from the impure spirit is that it focuses completely on the alleged destruction that is involved in the work of God. And this focus leads us to forget the fundamental good that is the driving impulse behind the work of God. I am being liberated by the action of Jesus; I am constructing a marvellous new edifice: therefore the old one will have to be dismantled. There is always something that will have to be dismantled in order to follow the Lord Jesus! But this dismantling is done only in order to build something greater. The impure spirit diverts attention from this fact and speaks only of the destruction. The central truth that Jesus has come to liberate is obscured completely.

            To overcome a vice is a process that involves a certain amount of pain and suffering. But to overcome a vice is to restore one's dignity and to live a new life. To prevail over a vice is without doubt to have endured a kind of "destruction"! But look at the quality of one's life afterwards! To escape from deception or sin, or to be freed from a state of being possessed by evil, is to have recuperated one's own liberty. The evil spirit cried aloud, "You have come to destroy us!" But this is secondary! Jesus has come in the first place to free us! A surgeon that removes a tumour must inflict a wound of some sort. But the primary intention is to restore health, not to inflict the wound.

How does Jesus win the battle over the evil spirit?

How does Jesus win this symbolic battle that is so important for all of us? He says, "Be silent and come out!" Jesus doesn't attempt to respond to the statements uttered by the impure spirit. He doesn't enter into a discussion with him, but simply orders him to be quiet and leave. One does not negotiate with unclean spirits; one does not negotiate with vices; one does not try to compromise with wrong. In battles of this sort, there is a frontier between right and wrong that must be surmounted. Either we surmount that frontier and enter into life, or we do not. This is a point of fundamental importance. With many temptations that confront us, the only right response is "Be quiet and leave!" We should enter into no negotiations with the impure spirits that seek to tell us what God wants to do with us. Often, we remain entrapped in strange interpretations of our own experience that lead us nowhere. The tree is known by its fruits. If something does not lead to good then let is be silent forever and leave our lives! Christ is a liberator and makes no compromises with evil. Let us allow ourselves to be liberated, and let that which must be destroyed be destroyed, so that which needs to be freed may be truly freed.

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 22^nd 2012)     

Mark 1:14-20

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1 Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. Which kingdom do I give my allegiance to?

2. Who do I follow in my daily life? Jesus? Or someone else?

3. Do I believe that God can take my ordinary characteristics and use them to extraordinary effect?

4. In what sense can I, with my own natural characteristics and traits, become a "fisher of men"?

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. Which kingdom do I give my allegiance to?

This Sunday we continue to read from the Gospel of Mark and we hear of the call of the first disciples. The passage comes directly after the news that John the Baptist has been arrested, upon which the mission of Jesus immediately begins. Everything happens in its own time. When John the Baptist fell into the hands of the evil Herod, people may have thought that the time of grace had come to an end. But God always draws good from evil, light from darkness. God created the world from nothing, so who knows what he might do with our humble lives? From human failure God can make a new beginning. John's mission ends, and Jesus immediately appears, proclaiming the Kingdom of God!

            The good news that Jesus proclaims is that the time is "complete" and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. In other words, we are in touching distance of something marvellous, something whose moment has finally arrived. If the Kingdom of God is not here, then what is here? The kingdom of men, the kingdom of nothingness, the kingdom of evil, a kingdom of anarchy that lacks a true point of reference. If the Kingdom of God is not actual in our lives, then we are living an empty existence that is heading nowhere.

Embracing the Kingdom of God means making God the focal point of my life

If the Kingdom of Heaven is not here, then who is in charge here? This is a question that we should often ask ourselves? Who or what is dictating the course of our lives? To who, or to what, have I bound myself in order to survive? We are all vulnerable and insecure, and we need supports to lean on, lights to illuminate our darkness. Who do I lean on? What are the "lights" that I use to illuminate my way?

            The Kingdom of Heaven is near, and, if I choose, I can make God the focal point of my life. I can make him my strength, and my organising principle. The Kingdom of Heaven is near and I can change mentality completely. I can stop being a victim, move away from the sad, unhappy, and hopeless concerns that dominate my life. What a load of unnecessary preoccupations fill our heads! What silly obsessions we cultivate in our minds! How many trivial things fill up the space in our souls that should be reserved only for God! How many senseless things occupy the place in our hearts that can only be warmed by the certainty of the love of God for us!

            Jesus appears and tells us: "Change mentality and be converted! Leave behind that which is inconsistent and senseless! Reject that which is false and confused so that you will be able to believe in the Good News!" My soul was created to believe in the good. The human soul was made to believe in the Light. When one opens his heart to God, everything becomes a source of light and salvation.

Embracing the Kingdom means to follow Jesus and no-one else

All of this sounds good and warms the heart, but everything we have said so far remains only chatter unless something concrete arises from it. The Gospel goes on to relate how Jesus presents people with the opportunity to put these sentiments into action. He sees Simon and Andrew throwing their nets into the sea. It is a very ordinary act and there is nothing wrong with it. But there is something better that they could be doing. "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!" It is important to understand well the significance of this phrase. To follow Jesus means to no longer follow anyone else. He alone deserves our attention. He alone has given his blood for us. He alone is willing to do anything for us. He alone knows how to look after us and love us. To follow Jesus means not to go ahead of him, in the sense of thinking that he should do what we want. To follow Jesus means to stop following others and asking "life" from them.

God uses the ordinary characteristics that we have, and transforms them to extraordinary effect

"I will make you fishers of men". This saying is curious in the sense that fishers of men must still perform the act of fishing, but the "prey" has been transformed. So God uses, in part, the talents that we already have. We remain ourselves with our own characteristics, but God uses us for a completely different and nobler end. How wonderful it is to "capture" (in the most beautiful of senses) another human being for God! To draw another human being from the sea of death, from the sea of nothingness! What a marvellous thing to be called to do, to bring good into the lives of others through our actions! Whatever our profession is at the moment, whatever our gifts or characteristics are, they can be transformed so that we can become fishers of men. I remain myself with my own ordinary characteristics, but my actions are transformed so that they have extraordinary effects on the lives of others.

It is our responsibility to follow Jesus, and it is Jesus' responsibility to transform us.

What a wonderful call! But we must be careful how we understand that call. In the Gospel, Jesus says, "I will make you fishers of men". This is not an act of ours, but an act of God. It is not sufficient for me to say resolutely, "From now on everything I do will be directed towards leading others to God!" If I try to do it on my own steam, then I will get so far and no further. We have to remember that it is the work of God that is at issue here. It is necessary in the first place to follow the Lord, obey him, and put ourselves in a condition to carry out his work. Jesus is telling us in this Gospel that it is our job to follow him, and it is his job to transform us.

            How many people waste their lives and do not know how to be fishers of men! How many people do not know how to express or defend the Gospel, or use the creativity that is in their hearts. Just consider the amount of beautiful things that there are to be done in this life! And it is our characteristics that can become beautiful in the hands of the Lord. We remain fishermen, but our work is taken and becomes for others an instrument of salvation.

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (January 15^th 2012)      

John 1:35-42

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this passage from the Gospel

1. Who are the mediators that indicate Jesus to me?

2. What am I seeking for most in life?

3. Where are the places in my life that I encounter God?

4. In what ways can I cultivate my relationship with God?

5. Have I begun to discern the mission that God has for me?

We have need of mediators in order to come to know Jesus

At the beginning of the new adventure of ordinary time, we are presented with this beautiful passage that has so many important elements for our life of faith. The story is about the encounter between Jesus and his first disciples. John the Baptist fixes his gaze on Jesus and points him out to his own followers. This is the first important point that emerges from the passage: We have need of someone who shows us Jesus. It is not possible for a person to arrive at faith in Jesus purely on their own efforts. Faith is not a natural trait of the human person, but a supernatural gift from God. We receive it with the aid of others who lead us to the faith. When someone claims to have discovered Jesus purely by means of their own efforts, then the fear arises that they are not speaking about the real Jesus at all. In this passage from the Gospel, Jesus is pointed out by John the Baptist, a prophet who bears the legacy of the entire Old Testament. We need mediators in order to come to know Jesus truly. And, in fact, this text speaks of other mediations of just this sort; his first disciples bring still other disciples to Jesus.

We must take the initiative and follow the indications that we have been given

John's first description of Jesus is "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Here he is referring to the lamb sacrificed at the Passover, and that represents the action of God in liberating his people. The lamb is a meek animal, easy to apprehend and to kill. And it is a fitting animal to represent Jesus, who never imposes himself on any believer, but simply offers himself. Jesus invites us to follow him, and the way of Jesus is demanding, but we have the free choice to follow him or not. He never tries to constrain us. There is no constriction in God, for constriction is alien to the nature of genuine love.

            John says "Behold the Lamb of God!" and his disciples begin to follow Jesus. It is important to follow the indications that we are given! There are many people who listen attentively to the scriptures, listen to great preachers and to leaders in the faith; but when it comes to following the indications that they are given, they fall short. What is important is to take one step after another, and put into practice what we have received.

We must ask ourselves the questions that lead to adult faith

Seeing that they were following him, Jesus asked "What are you looking for?" This is a question that we should all reflect on, and that should inspire us to consider our faith in an adult way. What am I really looking for? We can be in church but have a heart that is distracted by other interests, by other things that I am seeking out, by other priorities. What am I seeking truly? What is it that I cannot live without, that I have genuine need for? Our eyes see the things that they are interested in; our ears hear the things that they wish to hear; our senses in general perceive the things that they are actively seeking to perceive. We do not have a global perspective on the world around us; what we see is selective and is dependent on what we wish to obtain from the world. What am I looking for? If I encounter something that I am not looking for, then I disregard it and continue on, even if that thing represents my salvation! My heart needs to be in tune with that thing if I am to see it for what it is. Jesus puts the disciples' hearts in tune by challenging them to relate to him: "Why are you doing? Why are you following me?"    

Where are the places in our lives that we encounter God?

They reply, "Master, where do you live?" They wish to know where his resting place is, but Jesus, in reality, is someone who is always moving. In all of the Gospels, Jesus is one who passes by and doesn't stay still. But yet the disciples ask, "Where do you live? Where do you hang out? Where do you stop?" And this is an important question for all of us to ask: Where does God live? Where are the places in my life thatI can encounter God? Each one of us has grace-filled moments and places where we can meet Jesus. Every one of us a personal story that has revealed to us numerous blessed places in our hearts and outside of ourselves where we can experience God. And these places are places where we can genuinely cultivate our growth in faith and our relationship with God. It is important that we know how to identify these places where God resides, but we must ask Him where they are! This is what the disciples did, and it is a fact that we must bear in mind.

We must cultivate the desire we have for God and actively seek him in the places where we have learned to find him

We must show initiative! God invites us and facilitates our relationship with him, but the moment comes when we, like the disciples, must make the move from John the Baptist to Jesus. We must cultivate the relationship with God; we must promote the desire to have an intimate relationship with him, to seek out the place where he lives, and to want to be with him there. This kind of relationship does not present itself to us automatically; we have to reach out and make it ours. If our faith is to be an adult one, then we must seek God out and follow him. We cannot expect him to do everything for us. Many people remain stationary in the spiritual life because they are waiting for God to do something. But if I have a desire in my heart, a hunger that has been placed there by God, then it is up to me to follow it! In the Song of Songs, it is recounted how the bride and groom seek each other out. The bride has to struggle to find the groom. It is the same with our relationship with God. He moves way from us to see if we have a genuine interest in following him or not. The Lord respects our hearts. He does not constrain us to follow him, but gives us the glorious opportunity to seek him out freely.

To be on intimate terms with the Lord is to be given a new name and to receive a mission

The disciples follow Jesus and experience an encounter with him. From this encounter, there arises a powerful desire to announce to others what they have experienced. The encounter was so beautiful that they have an irresistible urge to lead other people to the Lord. In this way Simon is taken to Jesus, and the event that occurs is of special significance to us. Jesus changes Simon's name and his identity. To be on intimate terms with the Lord is to have a new name, to be a different person. Every genuine experience of God transforms us. If an experience of God does not change us, then it is clear that we did not receive what God intended to give.

Let us summarize this Gospel!

First, we must listen to the indications given to us by the prophets;

Secondly, we must obey the indications of the prophets;

Then, we must begin to follow Jesus;

We must ask ourselves some serious questions that promote a growth in faith;

We must start to obey the insights that arise from these questions:

Then we must BE WITH JESUS!

Why? So that our identities can begin to be changed!

To what end? To become a new person that has a mission to accomplish. 

Simon was a man who had a mission to accomplish. According to his new name his mission would be to bring the work of the church to fruition. All of us have a mission to accomplish, and these are the steps by which we can discern what it is.

The Baptism of Our Lord (January 8^th 2012)

Mark 1: 7-11.

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Questions raised by this Gospel

1.    What does the baptism of Jesus reveal to us about our own baptism?

2. Do we have difficulty in discerning the loving gaze of God towards each of us?

3. Can it really be true that God’s contentment consists in my existence?

4. In what way is God’s love for us the key to our existence?

Baptism means to be immersed in the Spirit who gives new life

The short reading with which we celebrate the feast of the baptism of Jesus is from the oldest of the Gospels, that of St Mark. In a stark and powerful passage, John the Baptist says, “Someone is following me who is more powerful than I am.” John was the one who showed people the way of the Lord. Who or what can be more powerful than that? John continues, “I baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”. To baptize signifies more than simply to wash or make clean. The Greek term “baptize” means to be immersed completely. The Holy Spirit is the same spirit that hovered over the waters at the creation of the world. To be immersed in the Holy Spirit means nothing less than to have a new life, to be filled with the life that comes from above.

            When Jesus is baptized by John, the heavens are opened. The scene is described in a way that tells us that the heavens are no longer separated from earth by an insuperable barrier. They are “torn open” and there is direct communication between heaven and earth. A dove descends from heaven towards Jesus. This evokes the story of Noah’s ark when, after the flood, a dove with an olive branch descends on the ark as a sign that the time of death and purification has been completed. The dove alights on Jesus and a voice comes from the heavens that have been ripped open: “You are my son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased”.

Jesus’ baptism reveals the nature of our own baptism

If we had wondered earlier why John had described Jesus as the “one who is stronger”, now we know why. He is the Son of God; he is the one who has the presence of the Holy Spirit; and he is the beloved of the Father. God loves this son, and the son’s strength comes from the fact that he is loved. The root of his very essence is his loving union with God, generated from the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God. What is expressed in this passage from the Gospel about the baptism of Jesus, is essential for understanding our baptism, because the baptism of Jesus is the paradigm by which we must understand our own. Our baptism has a foundation; our Christian existence has a particular source; and this source is the same love of God expressed by the Father at the baptism of Jesus. Our life is rooted in the fact of being loved; of being important for someone. Life has no meaning without love. Life demands love. To be alive is to embark on an adventure in which we learn how to love. But in order to learn how to love, we need a source and a master. God teaches us how to love through Jesus. The love that we see in the life of Jesus and that consoles us in our weakness is founded in the acceptance of the love of the Father.

The love of God for each of us is a remedy for our natural inclination to consider ourselves unlovable

This is the foundation of a beautiful life, and it is a remedy for a contrary tendency in life: the inclination to think that we are not lovable; the difficulty we have in believing that we are acceptable; the interior resistance we have in the depths of our soul that puts us always on the defensive, and makes us erect walls around our existence so that it becomes a prison. This belief that we are unworthy; this tendency to hide ourselves, like Adam after the moment of original sin; derives from the failure to discern the loving gaze of the Father upon us. “In you I am well pleased”. We must seek out this place within us where God directs his loving gaze. In every man and woman there is a good light; there is a root of faithfulness; there is a predisposition to believe in God and to believe in his love; to believe in the beauty of life. We are the place in which God’s contentment and approval resides. We must learn to cultivate all of those things in our lives that represent God’s contentment with us and approval of us.

The fact that we are God’s beloved must become the key by which we live our lives

We must remain constantly aware of the significance of our baptism. It is the moment when the heavens were torn open and the fact was proclaimed aloud that we are God’s children and that his love towards us is constant and enduring. The Lord has an abundance of love for each of us, an abundance of patience, forgiveness and magnanimity. God is the one who basically wants to find contentment with us. We spend a lot of time discussing what we think, what we believe, what we consider to be important. But it would be much more liberating if we spent some time contemplating what we are for God. Just what are we for God? This Gospel tells us: “You are my child, the beloved!” That this saying would descend into each of our souls and become the key by which to live our lives! The baptism of Jesus reveals who we are: each one of us is immensely precious. We are something essential that God cannot bear to be without. None of us can feel despair in his heart without denying a part of himself. Even in the worst of circumstances, a part of our being continues to hope and search for the light. That part is the part God has placed within us and in which he is well-pleased. We must focus completely on that part of our existence and leave everything else behind us in the waters of baptism.

This Gospel tells us that the one who is stronger has arrived. Why is he stronger? Because he loves and is loved. Whoever loves understands life better and understands himself better. Whoever allows himself to be loved by God is in possession of the key to life, knows how to tear the heavens open, and how to survive always the waters of the flood.