AT THE CROSSROADS March 2, 2014: Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, On Mark 6,24-34 Commentary: There are two messages contained in the gospel texts: the first is about a radical choice that one must make between God, and everything that He symbolizes, and money, and everything that it stands for. The first is genuine worship, the second is idolatry! Jesus unmasks our deepest tendency for idolatry when we accumulate things of the earth, rather than the things of heaven, when we reason out that the things we accumulate to possess on earth are for the service of others which is heavenly. In fact, this is a kind of blindness, a living in the dark: the weakness of the eye that is the light of the body. In this sense, radicalism is demanded of every follower of Jesus: to have an eye for God and for God alone, in all things. The second message is trust in God! But this is not a blind trust and a fatalism that springs from one’s earthly desire and unexposed idolatry. Rather, it is a trust and confidence in God that arises from one’s desire to seek first his Kingdom and his justice. The providence of God works in the plane of struggle for the good, for the justice and peace of God, for upholding the dignity of his creation. It should be noted here that central to this providence of God is the human person, and the cooperation of every man and woman to work for salvation, for justice and peace! Everything else in the created universe serves for this purpose. That is why they are all blessed and are instruments of God’s providence: God’s motherly and fatherly care for humanity. Fr. Luis Alonso-Schoekel, commenting on this passage, says: “Perhaps, there is no other religious concept in our Christian tradition that may have been given to so much confusion, abuse and manipulation as the concept of the providence of God: to hide the lack of sacrifice and of personal work and to accept with fatalism whatever may come, to quiet and relieve our conscience before injustice and oppression of the poor, hoping that providence will come to their aid!” When the gospel describes the providence of God, it does so by asserting the primacy of life and body as more than just food and clothing. It does so with great joy by describing the freedom of the birds that are fed by the Father. It does so with great celebration over the beauty of the flowers that are just there to be admired in their loveliness, clothed in splendour by the Father. And humanity is dearest to the Father more than the birds and the flowers. In fact, these birds and flowers are for humanity. But money, what it stands for, and its accumulation, do blind and corrupt us into false expression of love and justice. It hides our unbounded egoism and self-interest. That is why it is reasonable to trust in God, and in no other! What the providence of God is asking from us, humans, is to collaborate first and foremost in the realization of God’s kingdom through the acts of justice. It is a call to partnership with God, both personal and collective, in the work of salvation. That is why we must protect and defend life, from the womb to the tomb. That is why we must protect and preserve the integrity of creation. Their mutual dependence provide for the great happening of the Providence of God. – Fr. Ben Stiller
Posted on: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 04:00:04 +0000
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