St. John the Baptist Catholic Church

Catholic School Sunday": ‘Disciple your children in the way of peace. Show them the illnesses "among people" and their cure: Jesus Christ, the power of God unto Salvation.'

Readings: Is 8:23-9:3, Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14, 1 Cor. 1:10-13, 17, Mt 4:12-23

"…So the future will glorify the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, the territory of the nations…light has blazed forth." (Isaiah 8 – 9)

"Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordan." (Matthew 4)

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Today we have a complete summary of the meaning of God's saving act in the life of Jesus Christ. This gospel passage comes immediately after Jesus' victory over temptations in the desert. He is the real deal, the real Israel, as God has always wanted his people to be. This way of life pleasing to the Father has been the focus of all the prophets according to the situations at hand in their days: "Stick with the Lord, and he will find a solution to your troubles," is no unfair summary of their thoughts and utterances. Coming immediately after this passage is the teaching of Christ: the Sermon on the mountain or the message of the Church. This sermon is an expansion of the meaning of blessedness: Everybody can be "happy", is indeed "happy", if they can see God.[1] We have the histor of Israel become real for all of us in Jesus, and we have the birth of the Church which we have a role to make real for all to enjoy its membership. Where is the Church? In the calling of the two pairs of brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John, and in the crowds. What is the characteristic of the Church? The mission: becoming fishers of people, and healing the world from all divisions. It will always be an unresolved irony to me that Church members have become the source of great divisions among people in history, and that until today, we are struggling to understand the command and identity of our Lord, the Glorious Prince of Peace.[2] Yet the "stripes" of God's servant can heal others. We trust God's transformative power as we work with love on earth.

This reflection is based on the inclusiveness of the message from God today: the lands beyond the Jordan, the worthless people in darkness have been honored by God.

Question: What is the main condition for somebody to be your own?

Jesus' response: Truth. How do we know this? We see how he deals with Satan/Mimicry in the desert: "You are no god, Evil One, get away!" Therefore, the Lord is God alone, and we lack nothing in being faithful/obedient to God. Jerusalem is dangerous for putting John into jail; so Jesus withdraws to the North-East. After other visits he will resolutely return to Jerusalem later, when he is ready to pay the ultimate price for rejecting Satan (I hope we hear well what we say at our own Baptism. Beyond the ritual we mean uncompromised Yes to God).[3] We see who he calls: true brothers, true workers. Then Jesus goes in the synagogues to meet true worshippers of God, to teach them about the God they seek. And he meets true people in their sickness, people with "painful complaints," people checked by reality. Jesus hates mimicry, and he loves every son and daughter of God.

Way of the sea beyond the Jordan…a light has dawned on you! This is similar to the widely adopted notion of "coming out". It is in coming to the light that large crowds followed Jesus, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the Transjordan-the ends of the world. With Jesus, coming out does not mean doing "outrageous things," but humbly affirming one's truth before God and others without fear. This courage is possible only because of God's love discovered and rediscovered when one repents and embraces the Kingdom of God, always close at hand, with Jesus. The way to be in the truth as understood by Jesus is to "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand". Repent from what? From exclusive ways of thinking and acting.

What are some of the signs that we are exclusive in our ways of proceeding?

The spirit of factions which Paul is talking about ("I am for Paul", "I am for Apolos").[4] If I am a Roman Catholic, then, all other faith-communities (particularly the so-called Christians) are wrong and other people are bad (the "Jordan" of my ritual baptism is my self-instituted absolute limit). If I am an usher in the Church, no other group works so hard as we do. If I am a Jesuit, no other missionary order has ever achieved anything significant If I have nine figures in my bank account, I cannot sit with people who have less. If I have a Ph.D, how could I talk to someone who stopped at fifth grade? Everyone may complete the list. This is what we are called to repent from in order to embrace the Kingdom of God in Christ Jesus. We celebrated Paul's conversion on Friday, January 25 as an echo to Jesus' baptism celebrated two weeks earlier. He is the writer of our second reading, the first letter to the Corinthians. Paul repented from the exclusivity of Jewish Puritanism to live as Christ's servant, and to die as a Roman citizen, a witness to the good news that God loves each one of us. "People follow Jesus, even from across the Jordan!" That Jordan limiting my reaching out to others is the Satan/simulacrum of perfection-attained Jesus gets rid of in the desert of temptation, because he sees beyond or across those temporary values – He sees to God. What do we see across the Jordan of Jesus', Paul's, and our own baptism? I see the common brokenness of the world; I hear many "painful complaints," making our joyful celebrations incomplete, thus a petition for the coming of the Kingdom of God, which I am always moved to invoke on the whole of the created world.

We are called to pay attention to what is happening at the periphery. I do not understand well the advice to be other-centered, but looking beyond ourselves to others-as-our-own is inclusive. Seeing the wonders of God elsewhere, and knowing who God is: Lord, Giver of life, Love beyond all particular experiences of God's previous comforting touches, is the message. Likewise, paying attention to the whole story. When you experience the degradation of Zabulun and Naphtali, look around, and see the prelude to glorification coming your way. When in darkness, create sensitivity to the expected light: that is what you will walk towards. When bugged down, see how freedom is all around you! Jesus is the central figure for us. All is ordered around him: Isaiah before him, the Poets in Israel before him; and Paul after him. They all talk about Jesus, the pole of convergence.

The hint at the central role of the cross is also evident in the narrative: John's arrest and the grieving of Jesus for his cousin's trouble is an occasion for God's light to shine. In history, when "Progress" became "God," two world wars brought humanity on her knees. Now global warming and environmental issues remind us of participation in One universal body. However, why do we need tragedy to be people of understanding? If today we find the type of comfort that blinds us, let us turn it over to the living God and see "beyond the Jordan". If "the Lord is my light and my salvation," and I am still under the yoke of oppression, it is high time to ask who is my Lord. Most likely, that "lord" is incapable of saving me or its light is quenchable by the many dark powers I can possibly face in my life. "Wait for the Lord with courage, be stouthearted – not foolhardy" though, for prudence is a virtue lived by Jesus when he withdraws.

This is in the U.S., the perfect time for our second reading, because political party lines (besides ethnic particularities and economic powers) divide us more than many other realities. What is again my strongest sense of belonging? What is it that sits above all other values? The church has always taught that we are never to become totally lost in political struggles, though we must be good citizens, participating in the Public Thing. This supposes that our faith in God is valuable in our eyes. "The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve." If we do this, everything else will fall into place. God is our "light and our salvation".

Let us pray brothers and sisters that God will give us to remember always that across the Jordan, there is still a place and people, beloved of God and parts of the One body of Christ we receive sacramentally in the Eucharist. Jesus wants to leave health among us his people.

 

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[1] Happiness has never been understood as mere gaiety. The Shalom of God is inclusive of conflict for righteousness. The war language in the Old/First Testament, though historically and politically true, refers mostly to a radical attitude against sin and all that takes one away from obedience to Yahweh. Is happy one who obeys God.

[2] We need to remind ourselves that Truth is the essence of Peace. The Peace of God is beyond human contractual conflict-free arrangements.

[3] "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused!" This is Jesus' admonishing over the City of Peace in Matthew 23: 37. Jesus is very critical, and unbounded in acceptance of others. He is the Mystery of Love.

[4] Gal. 5: 19-22 is the place where Paul expands on the spirit behind such rivalry and quarrels: self-indulgence. God has no place in these factions, for He is God for all, because he created even those who stand "across the Jordan" of our various clubs of friends/associates. God indeed loves them and wants them to be saved.