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| “Saint Agnes” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Reading 1: Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14
Commentary on Heb 9:2-3, 11-14
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews contrasts the tradition of Jewish animal sacrifice or sin offering with what Jesus has done for us. He describes, in detail, how Christ becomes the sacrifice of atonement and seals the new covenant. Using this specific Mosaic Law and imagery, he explains how the Lord came as the ultimate offering for our salvation.
CCC: Heb 9:11-28 1476, 1564; Heb 9:11 586, 662; Heb 9:12 1085; Heb 9:13-14 2100; Heb 9:14 614
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R. (6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Commentary on Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Psalm 47 is a hymn of praise celebrating God’s enthronement and kingship over the people. The imagery in the second strophe (v. 6) strongly suggests the movement of the Ark of the Covenant being processed and installed as part of this celebration. The song concludes with a proclamation of the universal claim of God – King of all the earth.
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Gospel: Mark 3:20-21
Commentary on Mk 3:20-21
Jesus returns to his home and is greeted with disbelief by some his own relatives. They likely believe, because of his excessive focus on his mission and the claims made about his actions, that he has become delusional.
This short passage provides a sense of the challenges Jesus faces in his mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God. His fame had clearly spread as a consequence of his teaching, his natural charisma, and his miraculous healing power. The disbelief by even his relatives is a barrier to be overcome.
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Reflection:
The Gospel begs a question of us today. If we took the Gospel completely to heart, and lived it so diligently that every suggestion the Jesus made about how life was to be lived was followed completely, would our families think we had lost our minds? The answer that may have popped into our minds may have been: “No, I try to do that now and no one thinks I am insane.”
We are invited to consider more closely the circumstances surrounding Jesus that would have caused that kind of reaction from those with whom he had grown up. We can only suppose that he had been apprenticed to his father (foster father), Joseph, during his adolescent and early years, before we encounter him at the Jordan with the Baptist.
He was no doubt thought to be a bit strange by his peers – probably too good. The adults would have loved him because he seemed to be mature beyond his years. Perhaps suddenly, or with little discussion with his mother (after his foster father’s death), he decides that he is called to begin something important, and goes out to see John, baptizing at the Jordan River. Even if he had been accompanied by some of his relatives, what happened at the Jordan must have stunned everyone. But Jesus did not stay there to be questioned. He was led or driven into the desert, by himself. He remained there, alone, for an extended period of time. His family and friends would have wondered what had happened to him.
Upon his return, the first person to recognize that event was St. John the Baptist, who sees him and tells his disciples: “Behold the Lamb of God” (John1:29). What a strange title to use. Yet some of John’s disciples follow him. This leads to the call of the first four of Jesus’ own disciples, and quickly that number grows to twelve (symbolic of the number of Tribes of Israel perhaps).
Some of these “disciples” were of questionable character, and there would have been news of him having developed a power to heal. There would also be some rather disturbing news about confrontations with the religious leadership. His cousins would have heard that he had been challenging the Pharisees and Scribes – not a good thing and highly uncharacteristic of the good and gentle young man they had known growing up.
This would have been the prelude to Jesus coming home. His excessive preoccupation with the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, and the crowds that were following him around would have caused them to think that perhaps his sojourn in the desert had caused him to go mad. His unbending idealism would have been at odds with the person they thought they knew.
It’s fairly clear how these two short verses came about. Have we not seen similar situations in our own lives? Have we not known people who went off on a retreat or perhaps made a Cursio weekend, and had come back changed, significantly changed, not the same person? Did we think of them as fanatics or religious zealots? We now come back to our original question. If we took the Gospel completely to heart, and lived it so diligently that every suggestion the Jesus made about how life was to be lived was followed completely, would our families think we had lost our minds? The answer might be yes. And if we did, would that be such a bad thing?
Conversion comes in stages to most people. It is a process rather than an event. What is clear is that even a gradual change will be met with resistance. The attitudes and values of Christ are not welcome in many parts of our society, and attempts will be made to silence those who shout too loudly.
Today our prayer is that we too might be thought of as being a bit mad, if it is Christ’s madness we proclaim.
Pax
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