28th Sunday of the Year (B)

First reading: Wisdom 7:7-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90
Second reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel reading: Mark 10:17-30

"There is one thing more you must do."

Still on the 10th chapter in the gospel of Mark, we are presented
with a passage about the story of the "rich young man". This man
came to Jesus and asked: "what must I do to share in everlasting
life?" When Jesus told the young man to obey the commandments,
the young man replied by saying that he has observed these since
his childhood. Then Jesus said, "there is one thing more you must
do. Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; you will then
have treasure in heaven. After that, come and follow Me." The
young man became sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus and His apostles lived a very radical state of life: that
of poor itinerant missionaries, fully trusting in the Father's
providence. The gospels do not mention any "home" from which they
returned to after their missionary journeys. What the gospels
mention is that they dined and stayed in some houses: like that
of Simon the Pharisee; the house of Peter's mother-in-law; the
house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; and various other homes where
Jesus was requested to heal a sick member of the family. In their
missions, Jesus instructed His apostles and disciples to travel
light: "no food, no traveling bag, not a coin in the purse of
their belts...no second tunic (Mark 6:8-13)." The rich young man
probably had heard of how Jesus and His apostles lived as poor,
itinerant missionaries and therefore in practical terms, cannot
really "do that one more thing" required by Jesus.

This radical state of life Jesus lived is what our clergy and the
religious live - committing themselves totally to the service of
God in the Church. For many of us who chose the lay state of
life, we have to balance ourselves so that our spiritual life may
put in order the secular concerns of family and work. Some may
have the opportunity to "do that extra step" Jesus is asking, by
volunteering for the missions for a temporary period of time
(like one to two years). But the majority of us lay people have
to busy ourselves with building a family and a home. For this lay
state of life, one way to "do that one more thing", is to learn
how to have a holy indifference and a sense of detachment to
earthly things (as taught by St. Ignatius of Loyola): preferring
neither honor to dishonour, a long life to a short life, riches
to poverty, nor health to sickness. The context for this holy
indifference and detachment to earthly things is our grounding
in God - to serve and love Him above all. This is not an easy
step to take, but it is possible.

Let us thus take this opportunity to ask ourselves as we reflect
more deeply on the gospel: "Is my attachment to possessions
greater than my attachment to Jesus?" "What must I do so that my
attachment to Christ can help me have a holy indifference and a
sense of detachment to earthly things?"

25th Sunday of the Year (B)

First reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 54
Second reading: James 3:16 - 4:3
Gospel reading: Mark 9:30-37

"Whoever welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

For the 25th Sunday of the Year (B), we are invited to reflect on
a passage in chapter 9 of Mark's gospel. Jesus repeats to His
disciples how He would soon be arrested, put to death, but three
days after rise again. Then when they journeyed back to their
home in Capernaum, the disciples were arguing among themselves
about who was the most important. Once they arrived the house,
and Jesus learned of what happened along the way, He sat down
and took the occasion to teach the TWelve: "If anyone wishes to
rank first, he must remain the last one of all and the servant
of all." Then taking a child beside Him, He said, "Whoever
welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

During the time of Jesus, women and children are not important in
their Jewish culture; only the men counted. That is why in the
miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the head count was
made among the men - not counting women and children. As Jesus
preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, He created a
reversal of importance from the perspective of our relationship
with the Father. For Jesus, what is really important is the
childlike quality of complete and full trust in someone of higher
rank or authority. To enter the Kingdom of God, we are thus
called to be like children - having full confidence and faith in
One who wielded divine authority and power.

Power struggles and instability can happen in the family, when
its members are focused on other things besides God. Squabbles,
sibling rivalry, rebellion, abuse, disrespectfulness, and envy
results when the household forgets the one thing necessary: their
common faith relationship in God's authority. In relation to
this, that is why the tradition of enthroning the Sacred Heart of
Jesus in a home is vital, because it bring peace and harmony to
all the members of the household. The Sacred Heart reminds us all
that we have to love God above all things and with our whole
being; and to love our neighbor as ourself. Every family member
acknowledges that Jesus is central to their family life and place
their full trust in Him.

Let us therefore take this opportunity to reflect if we have
those childlike qualities Jesus is looking for in us. Do we place
our full trust and confidence in God as a child does to his
father? Or do we rely more on our own strength and intelligence
when we relate to our family and with others? Which direction is
telling me that I am welcoming Christ and His will that we be
children of God?

"If I just touch His clothing...I shall get well."

First reading: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30
Second reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15
Gospel reading: Mark 5:21-43

"If I just touch His clothing...I shall get well."

Mark 5:21-43 tells a story of Jesus' healing ministry. It is the story of Jairus, a synagogue official, who fell at the feet of Jesus and made an earnest appeal for his critically ill daughter.  So the Lord Jesus went with Jairus, while a large crowd followed them. As they went on, there was a woman in the area who had been afflicted with hemorrhage for many years.  Doctors could not heal her ailment, and her sickness grew worse. When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him to touch His clothing - believing that just by a mere touch, she would get well. After she did touch the Lord's clothing, her flow of blood dried up. She got well. Jesus learned what happened, and said to the woman, "your faith has cured you." After this incident, Jesus and Jairus finally arrived at their destination. They entered the house and Jesus saw the girl lying in bed. She took the child by the hand and said, "Talitha koum", which means, "little girl, get up." The girl, a child of twelve, stood up immediately and began to walk around.

This healing story in chapter 5 of Mark's gospel is really two miracle stories combined into one. Bible scholar Wilfrid Harrington in his book, "Mark", teaches that this is St. Mark's "sandwich" technique. Mark uses two verses (verse 24 and verse 35) to tie up two healing stories into one. Harrington then also adds that this technique of Mark presents "salvation and faith" as the major themes of this twin miracles. "Salvation through healing" was made possible by the touch of Jesus. At Jesus' touch, Jairus' daughter got well (verse 23); and the woman with the hemorrhage was convinced that if she touches the garment of Jesus, she will be made well (verse 28).

All humanity share the human condition of vulnerability to ailments and illnesses. However, the twin miracles from Mark's gospel present to us a God who gives genuine hope for healing. We only have to look at our own personal experiences to see that God provides us with enough strength to help ourselves and reach out to Him in prayer. And to believe that miracles still and do happen. Not only do we have strength to help ourselves, God provides us also with family, friends, and co-workers to help us find means to improve our health.. This is a truth we should value well: that God, in the person of Christ Jesus, gives us all the means, that we may hope in Him for anything, especially for whatever health conditions we, or our family members need..