Breaking the Word

Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday in the 1st Week of Ordinary Time (II)
Crowning the King

Readings: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a; Psalm 89:16-17, 18-19; Mark 2:1-12

At a time when many eyes around the world are turned with interest to the United States of America and the long and complicated process that will result in the election of a new occupant of the White House, our first reading today speaks to us about the appointment of a king for the people of Israel. Of course, a democracy is not a monarchy, and a president is not a king. Even so, what we have in both cases is the eventual choice of, and submission to, an earthly authority. And it may be useful to consider one interesting aspect of this process.

Some scholars tell us that the first reading probably presents one perspective on the development of the monarchy as an institution in Israel. Quite obviously, this is a view that emphasizes the disadvantages of submitting to a king. Kingship will mean taxation and national service: he will take your sons… he will use your daughters… he will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves… Worse still, submitting to an earthly ruler seems to imply the rejection of God. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king. And yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, the people are adamant. The reading tells us why: we too must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles. In the mind of the people, having a king brings certain advantages that outweigh the considerable disadvantages. And they are willing to take the good with bad. They are willing to pay the price.

At least among Christians today, few, if any, will dispute the need for political leadership of some sort. Theocracy is no longer a viable option. Even so, isn’t there something we can learn from Israel’s experience of appointing a king? Like Israel, in choosing and submitting to our leaders, don’t we routinely endure what might be seen as disadvantages for the sake of perceived benefits? Don’t we quite naturally accept the bad for the sake of the greater good?

And yet, isn’t it also true that we tend to find it far more difficult to do the same in the spiritual realm? How difficult it is to accept from God, our King of kings and Lord of lords, the bad along with the good. How difficult it is to pay the price of discipleship. Our complaints can vary, ranging from the trivial to the traumatic. Some may chafe at simply having to go to church every Sunday, perhaps the only day of the week when they can sleep in. Others may be led by the experience of terminal illness to seek solace in the teachings of another religion, in the power of some other god. Whatever our particular complaint, don’t we sometimes find ourselves stubbornly refusing to take the bad with the good? Like the scribes of today’s gospel, don’t we also wonder to ourselves, why does this man speak that way? Don’t we sometimes find it difficult to accept that God might actually be revealing God’s self to us in the difficult situation at hand?

Which is why the experience of the paralytic and his friends can be as instructive as that of the people of Israel. In contrast to the scribes, they are willing to go to great lengths to present themselves before the Lord, to submit to his divine authority, even to the extent of climbing walls and stripping roofs. Could their eagerness be because they realize, at some deep level, the immensity of the good that Jesus brings? Child, your sins are forgiven…

How are we being invited to accept Christ as our Lord and King today?

No comments:

Breaking News: Easter

The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one "great Sunday." These above all others are the days for the singing of the Alleluia. The Sundays of this season rank as the paschal Sundays and, after Easter Sunday itself, are called the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The period of fifty sacred days ends on Pentecost Sunday. The first eight days of the Easter season make up the octave of Easter and are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord. On the fortieth day after Easter the Ascension is celebrated, except in places where, not being a holyday of obligation, it has been transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter (see no. 7).[R4] The weekdays after the Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ~ General Norms for the Liturgical Year & Calendar, 22-26

From 36th Jesuit General Congregation

It is our union with one another in Christ that testifies to the Good News more powerfully than our competences and abilities.... In our individualistic and competitive age, we should remember that the community plays a very special role since it is a privileged place of apostolic discernment.... The Jesuit community is a concrete space in which we live as friends in the Lord. This life together is always at the service of mission, but because these fraternal bonds proclaim the Gospel, it is itself a mission. –Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice (CMRJ), nn. 7-9.

With the poor, we can learn what hope and courage mean.... In our communities and apostolates, we hear the call to rediscover hospitality to strangers, to the young, to the poor, and to those who are persecuted. Christ himself teaches us this hospitality. –CMRJ, nn. 15-16.

At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the transforming encounter with the mercy of God in Christ that moves us to a generous personal response. The experience of the merciful gaze of God on our weakness and sinfulness humbles us and fills us with gratitude, helping us to become compassionate ministers to all.... For us Jesuits, compassion is action, an action discerned together. Yet we know that there is no authentic familiarity with God if we do not allow ourselves to be moved to compassion and action by an encounter with the Christ who is revealed in the suffering, vulnerable faces of people, indeed in the suffering of creation. –CMRJ, nn. 19-20.

(T)he Society must respond more decisively to the Church’s call for a new evangelization, giving special emphasis to ministry to and with the young and with families.... A special gift Jesuits and the Ignatian family have to offer to the Church and her mission of evangelization is Ignatian spirituality, which facilitates the experience of God and can therefore greatly help the process of personal and communal conversion. –CMRJ, nn. 22-23.

In many societies, there is an increased level of conflict and polarization, which often gives rise to violence that is all the more appalling because it is motivated and justified by distorted religious convictions. In such situations, Jesuits, along with all who seek the common good, are called to contribute from their religious-spiritual traditions towards the building of peace, on local and global levels. –CMRJ, n. 28.

Pope Francis has emphasized the fundamental connection between the environmental crisis and the social crisis in which we live today. Poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation. These are not separate crises but one crisis that is a symptom of something much deeper: the flawed way societies and economies are organised. The current economic system with its predatory orientation discards natural resources as well as people. For this reason, Pope Francis insists that the only adequate solution must be a radical one. The direction of development must be altered if it is to be sustainable. We Jesuits are called to help heal a broken world, promoting a new way of producing and consuming, which puts God’s creation at the center.... The multifaceted challenge of caring for our common home calls for a multifaceted response from the Society. We begin by changing our personal and community lifestyles, adopting behaviour coherent with our desire for reconciliation with creation. – CMRJ, nn. 29-30

From 35th Jesuit General Congregation

From General Congregation 35

By sending us to 'those physical and spiritual places which others do not or have difficulty reaching,' the Pope entrusts to us the task to 'build bridges of understanding and dialogue,' according to the best tradition of the Society, in the diversity of its ministries.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 6

To be missioned to this work 'at the New Frontiers of our times' always requires that one also be rooted at the very heart of the Church. This tension, specific to the Ignatian charism, opens the way to true creative fidelity.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 13

In every mission that we carry out, we seek only to be where (Christ) sends us. The grace we receive as Jesuits is to be and to go with him, looking on the world with his eyes, loving it with his heart and entering into its depths with his unending compassion.
- Decree on Identity, n. 15

For ultimately, there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. We must communicate this look and provide a pedagogy inspired by the Spiritual Exercises, that carries people - especially the young - into it.
- Decree on Identity, n. 10

Our ministries of proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Life of Christ in the sacraments continue to be fundamental for our mission and our lives together as Jesuits.
- Decree on Mission, n. 19

The complexity of the problems we face and the richness of the opportunities offered demand that we engage in building bridges between rich and poor and establishing advocacy links of mutual support between those who hold political power and those who find it difficult to voice their interests. Our intellectual apostolate provides an inestimable help in setting up these bridges, offering us new ways of understanding in depth the mechanism and links among our present problems.
- Decree on Mission, n. 28

Jesuit community is not just for mission, it is itself mission.
- Decree on Mission, n. 41

In this global context it is important to highlight the extraordinary potential represented by our character as an international and multicultural body. Acting consistently with this character can not only enhance the apostolic effectiveness of our work but in a fragmented and divided world it can witness to the reconciliation in solidarity of all the children of God.
- Decree on Mission, n. 43

Faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that self-realization comes from self-giving and that freedom is not so much the power to choose as the power to order our choices toward love. At the same time, love for Jesus Christ and the desire to follow him call us to trusting commitment. Commitment to the Word Incarnate cannot be separated from commitment to the concrete manifestations of the Word that are at the center of our lives, the Church and the Society which exists to serve the Church.
- Decree on Obedience, n. 19

Friday, January 18, 2008

No comments:

Post a Comment