Mother Church celebrates Sunday, June 09, 2024, as the tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. In the entrance antiphon, we pray, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom shall I dread? When those who do evil draw near, they stumble and fall. Amen.”
The first reading speaks about our first parents, Adam and Eve. For their disobedience of the command God gave them, Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent but the serpent blames nobody for it had done its work of alienating man from his Creator. The reading reminds us that sin disrupts our relationship with God and brings us suffering, which is the consequence of sin. In the Second Reading, Saint Paul advises his Christians of Corinth, and through them, all of us listening to this program, not to lose courage in the face of suffering. He who suffers for Christ will also be a sharer in his glory. He reminds us that the day will come when God will give us a spiritual body free from corruption and suffering, and then we can praise, thank, and adore God in heaven. The Gospel passage from Mark presents us with some of the problems a Christian family faces. We see that Jesus’ relatives do not understand him and take him as a madman. They cannot understand why he associates himself with so many people whom they consider undesirables. They make their disapproval known and want to take charge of him. They do not yet understand that Jesus is accountable only to his Father in heaven.
First Reading: Genesis 3: 9-15
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the Lord God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me— she gave me the fruit from the tree, and so I ate it." The Lord God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."
Comment
All ancient religions and cultures have stories that portray the beginning of the world. The story of Genesis invites us to imagine a garden where there is complete harmony between our first parents, Adam and Eve, between them and God, and between the human world and the world of animals and nature. In this garden, peace reigns over everything. However, even though God has given everything in the garden to our first parents, he has placed a veto on eating from the tree which yields knowledge of all things, including death.
The serpent then appears and tempts the woman to eat the forbidden fruit, promising her that their eyes will be opened and that she and her husband will be like gods, knowing good and evil. Once this offer has been made, the woman makes her decision: she takes the fruit, eats it, and gives some to her husband, who does the same. Their eyes do indeed open but to no obvious advantage; rather than becoming divine, they experience a rude awakening when their eyes open and they see each other naked. They have lost their innocence and are now ashamed of themselves and afraid to meet God.
Genesis teaches us the profound truth about sin, which is that when we sin we cannot face each other openly. Neither can we face God. In this story, God goes out in search of our first parents when he comes asking “Where are you?” When they finally emerge from their hiding place, the blaming games begin. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. The serpent happy because he has thrown confusion between mankind and God, says nothing. He has done what he always wanted to do, that is, bring sin into the world and disrupt our relation with God. The consequence is the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden, an act that makes of them the first refugees ever. They are banished from their home, condemned to survive in the chaotic world outside the serenity of the garden.
There are moments when we too are aware of ourselves as naked in the sight of God. God’s call to our first parents ‘Where are you?’ is a call that also echoes in our hearts. He comes looking for us and when we open our hearts to him and receive him into our lives, he cleanses us of our sins and welcomes us as his children again.
As we reflect on the expulsion of our first parents from their homes in the garden, making them the first refugees in history, let us pray for our brothers and sisters, victims of this senseless war in the northwest, southwest, and northern regions of our country who are now refugees within our borders and in neighboring Nigeria. War, caused mainly by the absence of dialogue, has caused tremendous suffering among our people. May reason overcome emotions and sentiments so peace can once more reign in our country. Amen.
Second Reading: 2 Cor 4: 13-5:1
Brothers and sisters: Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we too believe and therefore we speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
Comment
The city of Corinth was one of the most important commercial cities in the Roman Empire. Even in Saint Paul’s days, it already had a long history behind it. Since it was a key trading center, it had a cosmopolitan population, including people from Asia Minor, Phoenicians, Arabs, and others. It also had a sizeable Jewish population since there was a synagogue in the city (Acts 18:4). It was also a city with many different religions and temples dedicated to all sorts of gods, and, like the city of Douala, it was notorious for its low level of morality. Saint Paul preached the Christian message in this city, and God’s help enabled him to found a flourishing Christian community. From Acts of the Apostles (18:1-18), we know that Paul founded the Church in Corinth with the help of Silas and Timothy.
Saint Paul spent more than a year and a half in Corinth in the period 50-52 AD. He made many converts but he also ran into much opposition from prominent Jews who brought charges against him to Gallio, the Roman proconsul. Gallio, however, dismissed the charges against Paul as a mere complicated Jewish religious squabble that was of no interest to him (Acts 18:12-17).
Between the First Letter to the Corinthians, written in the spring of the year 57, and the Second Letter, a number of events must have occurred to prompt Paul to write again to his faithful of Corinth. Some of Paul’s enemies are thought to have reached Corinth and undermined his authority, some of them even attacking him directly. When Paul heard this, he wrote this letter, probably from Ephesus to warn his converts of the danger posed by those he considered as impostors of the faith.
In the passage of our meditation, Paul explains where he gets the strength to bear all the tribulations of this life – it is from the hope in the resurrection and his expectation of being in heaven with those to whom he is writing. This desire for heaven enables us to stay true to the faith and it enables us to see all the sufferings of life as something transitory. As Paul reminds his Christians of Rome, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18).
His faith, especially his firm belief in resurrection in glory, leads him to keep on preaching, despite all the difficulties involved. He also has the hope of sharing this happiness in heaven, in the presence of God, with all the faithful for whose salvation he is working on earth.
We pray for the faith and the courage to keep preaching, like Paul, despite all the difficulties involved. Lord Jesus, be with me now and forever. Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia. Now the ruler of the world will be driven out, says the Lord; and when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself. Alleluia.
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35
Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder the house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
Comment
Saint Mark tells us in this reading that Jesus’ relatives take him for a madman. They cannot understand why he does the things he does; why he associates himself with so many undesirable people (the lame, the crippled, the blind, the deaf, prostitutes, and sinners of all shades and colour). These are people normal parents view with undisguised horror and will do everything to keep their children away from. That is why Jesus’ relatives make their disapproval known. The only explanation they can give is that he is out of his mind and so they must take charge of him by force, if necessary. They fail to understand his total commitment to the mission he has received from his Father.
The fact that his biological family arrives but remains outside, instead of joining the others to listen to Christ’s saving word, leads our Lord to clearly indicate who his real family is: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.” He makes it clear that his real family is determined not by blood relationship but by fidelity to the will of God.
Jesus is certainly not disowning his family; he merely acknowledges a relationship that is higher than the physical bond. He establishes a new family, no doubt hoping that his own relatives would join and accept him for who he really is; but they have trouble accepting the change that he has undergone. How come this village carpenter has suddenly become a mighty prophet, performing all these miracles they hear about? Something must be wrong. If Christ had lived among us today, his relatives would have dragged him, kicking and screaming to the home of a ‘ngambe’ man or a ‘marabout’ to know what was wrong with him.
Christ’s relatives are fully in agreement with the lawyers from Jerusalem, who oppose Jesus by also claiming that he is possessed by the prince of devils, Beelzebul. Our Lord then invites his enemies, who are blind and obstinate, to reflect closely on what they are saying. If he, Christ, is able to expel the devil, it stands to reason that he is more powerful than the devil. They are invited to recognize in Jesus the God of strength, the God who uses his power to save man from enslavement to the devil.
Satan’s dominion has come to an end and Jesus’ victory over the power of darkness, which is completed by his death and resurrection, is an indication that light has already entered the world. As he himself tells us, “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of the world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12: 31-32).
Christ’s rejection by his relatives and by his enemies is part of the cross he has to bear. The good news, however, is that his death and resurrection will help heal the wounds of division in his family, who will then join the inner circle and be united with Christ’s followers. As Saint Luke tells us in Acts of the Apostles, Jesus’ disciples were praying “together with several women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14). His blood relatives have now joined forces with his new family of faith, a union that is central to the life of the Church.
The Good News is that we too are part of Jesus’ new family. We are his mother and his sisters and his brothers, on condition that we do the will of his Father in heaven. Doing the will of God may alienate us from our own families but our relationship with the Lord surpasses all links we have, including with our own biological family. That is why we come together each day at Mass to praise our Father in heaven and gain strength for this pilgrimage from our brothers and sisters. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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