Readings: Jonah 3:1-5,10; Psalm 24; 1Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark
1:14-20 THEME
OF THE READINGS
In all three Readings, the
time is short and conversion is consequently an urgent matter.
Conversion is a "turning from" evil and a "turning ones
life towards" the kingdom of God that is imminent. Indeed,
Jesus proclaims that it is already present - as it
must be, for where he is, there is the kingdom
- even if "not yet" in its fullness. The entire
lifestyle of the believer is radically affected by the different
vision of life that faith affords him (Second Reading). So
profoundly changed is our relationship with the things and persons
of this world that Jesus can even direct to whomever
he wills a peremptory call to leave everything, even the
most sacred of ties, in order to follow him; and
whereas Jonah had been an unwilling prophet, giving in only
to God´s strong-arm tactics (Jonah 1-2), Jesus´ presence obtains an
immediate and willing response (Gospel).
DOCTRINAL MESSAGE
We
are a pilgrim people, essentially "on the way"; there is
no sense in acting as if the rest and best
of our existence were to be realized in our current
dwelling place, which is not permanent (Hebrews 13:14). All the
realities of this world are passing, mere intimations of the
fullness of life that is to come. St Paul spells
out the complete change in attitude (conversion) that must result
with some examples: "those with wives should live as though
they had none", while "buyers should conduct themselves as though
they owned nothing".
The apostle´s words might appear to be at odds with
what we habitually hear about marriage from Scripture and the
Church, but he is simply drawing the consequences of what
Jesus told the Sadducees: "Those who belong to this age
marry and are given in marriage; but those who are
considered worthy of a place in that age and in
the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given
in marriage." (Luke 20:34) Good as marriage is – and
as a sacrament, image and realization of the mutual love
of Christ and the Church, it is particularly good in
the eyes of the Christian – it is only
a pale shadow of the love that will be realized
when this world finally passes away, and the kingdom of
heaven reaches total fulfillment with its acceptance by all. Since
Christ, the relationship between the sexes is no longer reduced
to conjugal union but also goes through the personal encounter
of each one with the Lord. Not only does this
enhance marital union, but also underlies the teaching that virginity
or celibacy "for the kingdom", though misunderstood by the world,
can be an even greater form of love for God
and for our brothers and sisters.
Though the first disciples are unaware of it
at the time, such a great love underlies both Jesus´
call to go with him, and their acceptance. Jesus makes
clear that the urgency of fishing for the kingdom requires
that they be prepared to sacrifice home, family ties, possessions
and whatever else might hinder them from keeping up with
his relentless march in search of all those he must
gather into the place of salvation (ekklesia). Peter and his
companions accept the invitation without knowing where it will lead
them. When it is Christ who issues the invitation, it
is the only thing to do.
PASTORAL APPLICATIONS
Marriage in context. To say that
the importance of "sexual fulfillment", whether in or out of
marriage, is grossly overrated in our society, is an obvious
understatement (as well as a mis-statement, since in actual fact
our society, incapable as it is of seeing any real
human meaning or transcendence in it, let alone its richness
and sacrality in the Christian scheme of things, greatly underrates
sex). And many, many Christians are contaminated with the neo-pagan
vision, the search for ´techniques´, the obsession with keeping the
body young and beautiful... St Paul´s message then is as
opportune today as it was when he wrote to the
new Christians of Corinth, a city synonymous with licentiousness. Isn´t
it true that for many (most? – even if they
deny it!) a ´perfect marriage´ is a kind of a
´must´? This is the case even with those who know
their marriage is far from it: that´s why they are
profoundly frustrated. To expect that marriage can deliver ´perfection´ is
the best way to make it more difficult, besides being
a recipe for frustration. What St Paul´s words imply is
that even in the case of a failed marriage, or
even in the case of never marrying, just as in
the more-frequent case of the far-from-perfect marriage, a person can
have a beautiful life in God´s eyes. That does require
accepting the cross as a good. It does require belief
in a greater love than any there is on earth.
For the married, it even requires working at marriage to
make it as great a vehicle of love as possible
on this earth. But, then all Christian life requires these
things.
Possessions in context. Sex is not the only thing
overvalued on the life index. As a friend of mine
who works with young people in a prosperous western country
likes to say, it seems that many think life is
a game with just one rule: "at the end, the
one with the most toys wins". "Toys" being all those
things that hadn´t even been invented a few decades ago,
but are now thought to be basic essentials without which
one is an out-and-out pauper. Apparently, neither Christ nor St
Paul understood this. St Paul said, "Okay, maybe you have
some ´things´, but you need to give that fact no
importance whatsoever". Jesus, we are reluctant to recall, not only
asked his disciples to abandon their means of earning a
living (their nets), but went so far as to claim
no one could possess real happiness if not prepared to
give up everything (Mark 10:21). He must have been thinking
of a different game, one supposes. Everybody, of course, can
decide for himself whose game works best. Without forgetting that
what is at stake is true and eternal happiness.
The best recipe. Of course,
anyone who hears Jesus´ invitation to follow him and does
so without delay has found the very best path to
that goal. No one who has any healthy self-love should
ever, ever doubt or delay in answering Christ´s call, whatever
and whenever it be.
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