Tuesday of Week 8 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Mark 10:28-31

Having overcome their initial shock at what Jesus had to say about the danger of wealth as a serious obstacle to being a follower of Jesus or of being a member of the Kingdom, his disciples begin to take stock of their own actual situation. Clearly they cannot even be remotely numbered among the wealthy. Is there something to be said in favour of their relative poverty? Worried, the ever-irrepressible Peter exclaims:

Look, we have left everything and followed you.

Indeed they had. At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel we are told that, on Jesus’ invitation, they had abandoned their whole livelihood and become followers of Jesus. It was a bold step when they really had no idea where it would lead them.

Jesus replied:

Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

This sounds like a pie-in-the-sky promise, but has it been fulfilled? In fact, it has been—and many times over. By leaving a world where each one scrambles for a piece of the cake and where some get a huge piece and others only get crumbs, the Christian who truly has the spirit of the Gospel enters a community where everyone takes care of everyone else, and where each one’s needs are taken care of by a sharing of the community’s resources.

This is how, by leaving one’s home and family and giving away one’s material goods, one enters a new family in which there are far more mothers, brothers and sisters; where one home is replaced by many homes offering their warmth and hospitality—in essence, offering a home away from home.

This is a reality which, unfortunately, has not been realised among many Christians—those who choose to live their daily lives in the rat race for acquisition characteristic of our modern capitalist societies. Their behavior reflects their belief that what they cannot get by their own efforts they will never come to enjoy.

Yet there are examples. One of the most obvious is religious life where the words of Jesus are lived out. The question is why should only religious have this experience of shared love and shared material goods? There are Christian communities and some charismatic groups where families live in a communal style sharing all their resources.

But by and large, we have to a great extent failed to realise that Christianity is not meant to be a religion where individuals, rich and poor, live individualistic lives and carry out certain ‘religious’ acts to “save their own souls”. Rather, Christianity essentially consists of creating a whole new way of living, by which people relate to each other in mutual love and care.

Jesus says that in his world the first will be last and the last first. In fact, he is saying that in his world there is no first and no last. Perhaps this can be illustrated by the following story.

A rich man was concerned about his future salvation, whether he would ‘go to heaven’ or not. In order to motivate himself, he asked God to give him a preview of heaven and hell, and God agreed. God said that they would first pay a visit to hell. When they got there the man was greatly surprised. He was brought into a sumptuous dining room of a large restaurant all decorated in red and gold. In the centre was a large round table and on it were the most exotic and delicious dishes that could be envisioned. Around the table were seated the diners. They were the most miserable-looking group one could imagine, all sitting there motionless and in silence just looking at the beautiful food in front of them. The reason for their glumness was that they had been given utensils which were three feet long! There was no way they could get any of the food into their mouths. And they were going to sit there like that for eternity. That was hell!

God then brought the man to heaven. Again he was amazed. Because they were in an identical banquet room, with the same kind of table and the same wonderful food. But everybody was in the highest spirits. The sound of laughter rang out everywhere. They were really enjoying themselves and the meal. Was this because they had the normal length utensils? No! Theirs were also three-feet long, but here everyone was reaching out food to serve people on the opposite side of the table—that was heaven.

It is a very good illustration of today’s Gospel. When everyone serves, everyone is served. When everyone gives, everyone gets. It is a lesson even we Christians seem to find difficult to learn.

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Tuesday of Week 8 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Sirach 35:2-15

Today’s reading from the book of Sirach has a message which is relevant for all Christians. It teaches that there should never be a division between our worship in church and the way we lead our daily lives. Each one is meant to reinforce the other.

The author, Ben Sirach, is both a firm supporter of liturgical worship, and at the same time emphasises the observance of the Law, especially in matters of justice and charity. He brings them together in this reading. To live a deeply moral life is in itself a form of worship. But formal worship is also important for him.

He begins by saying that:

…one who heeds the commandments makes an offering of well-being.

Following the teaching of Jesus, we Christians believe that, to extend true love and service to brothers and sisters, especially those in need, is to worship God really present in each one.

As examples, Sirach says:

…one who returns a kindness offers choice flour, and one who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering.

To abstain from moral wrongdoing is to make an act pleasing to God, and to give up sinful ways is the equivalent of making atonement (the Day of Atonement was the greatest day in the liturgical calendar of the Jews). We are told:

Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed, for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the commandment.

To “appear before the Lord” means to approach the Temple with offerings. And to come empty-handed here does not mean coming without sacrificial offerings, but without a record of good behaviour and acts of kindness and help to those in need.

Jesus’ teaches that, if we recall that someone has been hurt by us in some way, we need to work to bring them healing and reconciliation, and do so before we go to make our sacrificial offering. There is an intimate relationship between what is offered in the Temple and the kind of person who is making the offering.

The offering of the righteous enriches the altar,
and its pleasing odor rises before the Most High.

The offering of fruits or animals becomes greatly enhanced when the one offering is someone living a life truly in harmony with God’s will as given to us in the teaching of Jesus.

The sacrifice of the righteous is acceptable,
and it will never be forgotten.

It is the lifestyle of the one offering which gives the offering its real value before God.

As Christians, we need to take this reading to heart. We sometimes describe a daily communicant as a ‘good’ Catholic. But we also do not see what we call the ‘Sunday’ Catholic as an ideal. ‘Going to Mass’ must be much more than the mere observance of a commandment.

On the one hand, the way of life offered to us in the Gospel must be the basis for our everyday living and influence all our words, actions and relationships. Our Sunday worship, if properly celebrated, is intimately connected with our living a Gospel-centred life. And a Gospel-centred life will have a lot to bring to the celebration of the Eucharist. Perhaps it is in this that we find one of the inherent weaknesses of our Christian life in these times.

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