GOD In The Midst Of The Meek

"Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O people of Israel!  Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!

YAHWEH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YAHWEH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YAHWEH your GOD is within you, YAHWEH, saving warrior.  HE will jump for joy on seeing you, for HE has revived HIS love.  For you HE will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.

I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed." - Zephaniah 3:14-18  

(The destruction on the Day of YAHWEH has left a Remnant in Zion.  This is the first time that those who wait for GOD are called poor.  It is not mainly a question of being economically poor, but rather of having the attitude of those who have nothing and are open to receive everything from GOD.  The word poverty formerly implied failure: now it will be the condition needed to seek GOD.  After that time, the "poor of YAHWEH" will mean all those in Israel who hope to find YAHWEH.  The Gospel, especially the Gospel of Luke, will proclaim the happiness of the poor [see Luke 6:20].

YAHWEH will be in Jerusalem to share HIS happiness with them.  The Holy GOD suddenly shows that HE is like a young man in love who is not concerned about social considerations.

Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; YAHWEH, the King of Israel, is with you; do not fear any misfortune.  In the Gospel of Luke, the same words are addressed to Mary at the Annunciation: "Rejoice, the LORD is with you.  Do not fear, Mary, you will bear the Savior" [Luke 1:28].)

    

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GOD Is The One Who Moves Us To Ask Something Of HIM.

"They came to Jericho.  As JESUS was leaving Jericho with HIS disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.  On hearing that it was JESUS of Nazareth passing by, he began to call out, 'Son of David, JESUS, have mercy on me!'  Many people scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder. 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'

JESUS stopped and said, 'Call him.'  So, they called the blind man, saying, 'Take heart!  Get up, HE is calling you!'  He immediately threw aside his cloak, jumped up and went to JESUS.

Then JESUS asked him, 'What do you want ME to do for you?'  The blind man said, 'Master, let me see again!'  And JESUS said to him, 'Go your way, your faith has made you well.'  And, immediately, he could see, and he followed JESUS along the road." - Mark 10:46-52  

(GOD is the one who moves us to ask something of HIM.  The blind man understands that if he lets this opportunity go by, there will not be another chance, which is why he shouts all the more while the rest try to silence him.

Son of David!  was a way of designating the Messiah.)

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Leaders--To Serve

"James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to JESUS and said to HIM, 'Master, we want YOU to grant us what we are going to ask of YOU.'  And HE said, 'What do you want ME to do for you?'  They answered, 'Grant us to sit, one at YOUR right hand and one at YOUR left, when YOU come in YOUR glory.'

But JESUS said to them, 'You don't know what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized in the way I AM baptized?'  They answered, 'We can.'  And JESUS told them, 'The cup that I drink, you will drink; and you will be baptized in the way that I AM baptized; but to sit at MY right hand or at MY left is not mine to grant.  It has been prepared for others.'

On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John.  JESUS then called them to HIM and said, 'As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations behave like tyrants, and those in authority oppress the people.  But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all.  Think of the Son of Man, who has not come to be served but to serve, and to give HIS life to redeem many.'" - Mark 10:35-45  

(JESUS feels full of courage and confidence, as HE HIMSELF walks ahead of them to Jerusalem, where HIS punishment awaits HIM.  Prompted by James' and John's request, HE tries to convince HIS followers that success in his kingdom does not consist in prestige and power, but in following the way of JESUS, their leader.

What makes a leader?  How should a leader be?  How do leaders act, the head of a team, of a family?  The heads of the state smile at crowds and embrace a child who renders them homage, but who serves and who is to be served?  JESUS has come to serve and HIS service to humanity will be HIS voluntary death: "HE made HIMSELF obedient, took the condition of a slave and died on the cross" [Philippians 2:8].

To drink the cup and to be baptized are figurative ways of describing the suffering and death of JESUS.)    

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The Reward For Those Who Follow JESUS

"Peter spoke up and said, 'We have given up everything to follow YOU.  JESUS answered, 'Truly, there is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for MY sake, and for the gospel, who will not receive his reward.  I say to you: even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time; and, in the world to come, eternal life.  Do pay attention: many who now are the first will be last, and the last, first.'" - Mark 10:28-31 

(There is no one who has left house... These words of JESUS that we find again in Mathew 19:29 and Luke 18:29 have been given here a notable addition: with persecution.  Once the Gospel had been preached the Church began to suffer persecution: From the year 34, then again in 41 and 62 in Jerusalem, in 64 in Rome with the great persecution ordered by the emperor Nero.  During these persecutions Christians experienced the bonds that united them, often stronger than family relationships.  Hunted, obliged to hide, they found hundreds of brothers and sisters ready with houses to give them refuge.  JESUS does not only speak of reward in the next life.  Already in this world, in the midst of persecution, those who sacrifice themselves for the kingdom will find friendship, joy an human fulfillment far greater than anything they could have hoped for.)

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JESUS And The Rich MaN

"Just as JESUS was setting out on HIS journey again, a man ran up, knelt before HIM and asked, 'Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?'

JESUS answered, 'Why do you call ME good?  No one is good but GOD alone.  You know the commandments: Do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not cheat; honor your father and your mother.'  The man replied, 'I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.'

Then JESUS looked steadily at him and loved him; and HE said, 'For you, one thing is lacking.  Go, sell what you have, and give the money to the poor; and you will have riches in heaven.  Then, come, and follow ME.'  On hearing these words, his face fell, and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth." - Mark 10:17-22 

(He who comes to JESUS is a young man, according to Matthew [19:16].  Luke calls him an important man [18:18].

With deliberation JESUS asks him: Why do you call ME good?  As if JESUS is saying: "Do you not see that you are thirsty for GOD and that you will find HIM if you live with ME?"  

This man asks JESUS the way that leads to eternal life; but JESUS does not have any new commandment to teach.  In the Old Testament everything had already been said about what a person should do to win eternal life: by observing the commandments of justice and compassion.  Now JESUS proposes to him a new way and a new experience of liberty, through becoming HIS follower and imitator.

Sell what you have.  Happiness does not consist in leaving all one has, but in being free of it all in order to submit oneself to CHRIST.)

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Make Disciples Of All Nations

"As for the eleven disciples, they went to Galilee, to the mountain where JESUS told them to go.  When they saw JESUS, they bowed before HIM, although some doubted.

All authority has been given to ME in heaven and on earth.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.  Baptize them in the Name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.  I AM with you always, even to the end of the world." - Matthew 28:16-20  

(JESUS sent HIS apostles to evangelize the world.  The last apparition is related in a very simple way: no sudden appearance, no fear--no physical demonstration of the reality of JESUS.  What is important are the words of JESUS Master.

Although some doubted.  With this, Matthew sums up the last apparitions of JESUS.  Not all the disciples of JESUS [the Eleven and the rest] believed so quickly in the resurrection of JESUS.

Make disciples of all nations.  JESUS, following the example of Jewish teachers of HIS time, gathered around HIM a group of disciples who lived with HIM.  The teacher knew his disciples and the disciples knew the teacher by sharing everyday life.  The same holds true today: evangelization implies interpersonal sharing.

To evangelize means to help someone ponder his former experiences until he can recognize in the person of CHRIST, in HIS death and resurrection, the truth that lights up his own life.

Those who believe will be baptized in the one Name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Three Persons CHRIST taught us about.  Of course, HE named them separately because the FATHER is not the SON and the SON is not the HOLY SPIRIT; in spite of that, the Three are the same GOD.  Upon entering the Church, the baptized will enter into communion with the FATHER, with the SON and with the HOLY SPIRIT.  The Church is, before anything else, communion.

See Acts 19:5 regarding baptism in the name of the LORD JESUS.

Teach them to observe all that I commanded you.  These instructions of JESUS have first place in Matthew's Gospel; they are in the five discourses, and we are to do the will of the FATHER just as JESUS has revealed it.

I AM with you always.  Here we find again the certitude which the name Emmanuel already expressed in 1:23: JESUS is GOD-with-us until the end of time.  The first-generation Christians thought that CHRIST would not delay in returning but at the time the Gospel was written, they already understood that history would continue; the nation of Israel rejected the salvation offered to her and only a minority believed.  JESUS was now committing HIMSELF to HIS apostles and to HIS Church and now began to build the Church of HIS apostles.

The Catholic Church is different from Protestant or Evangelical churches, because it was founded by the apostles of JESUS.  Only she feels obliged to remain united around the successors of the apostles, the bishops; this unity and continuity are at times hard to maintain, especially in situations where it would seem easier to form a new reformed community alongside her.  Obedience to the will of the FATHER is the means by which HE purifies and strengthens our faith.  JESUS is and remains "LORD" regarding the destiny of "HIS" Church.)

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Let The Children Come To ME

"People were bringing their little children to HIM to have HIM touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this.

When JESUS noticed it, HE was very angry and said, 'Let the children come to ME and don't stop them, for the kingdom of GOD belongs to such as these.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of GOD like a child will not enter it.'  Then HE took the children in HIS arms and laying HIS hands on them, blessed them." - Mark 10:13-16 

(JESUS despite having no children of HIS own, opens to everyone the richness of HIS heart.  HE marvels at the mystery of life that begins full of hope and discovers the likeness of the FATHER in every unknown child.  How could JESUS, who asks us to have hope, forget that the children are also our hope?

Whoever does not receive the kingdom of GOD like a child.  We must be like children in order to enter the kingdom of GOD.  We must forget our wisdom and self-sufficiency, and the bitterness of past experience in order to receive GOD's gifts and words in wonder and simplicity.)

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JESUS Speaks About Divorce

"Some Pharisees approached HIM.  They wanted to test HIM and asked, 'Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason he wants?'

JESUS replied, 'Have you not read, that, in the beginning, the Creator made them male and female?  And the Creator said: Therefore, a man shall leave father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body.  So, they are no longer two, but one body.  Let no one separate what GOD has joined.'

They asked HIM, 'Then why did Moses command us to write a bill of dismissal in order to divorce?'  JESUS replied, 'Moses knew the hardness of your hearts, so he allowed you to divorce your wives; but it was not so in the beginning.  Therefore, I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, unless it be of immorality, and married another, commits adultery.'

The disciples said, 'If that is the condition of a married man, it is better not to marry.'  JESUS said to them, 'Not everybody can accept what you have just said, but only those who have received this gift.  There are eunuchs born so, from their mother's womb.  Some have been made that way by others.  But there are some who have given up the possibility of marriage, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  Let the one who can accept it, accept it.'" - Matthew 19:3-12 

(Every human society has had its laws on marriage, and it was the same for Israel.  There was then a law on divorce, in harmony with the difference of status accorded by society to man and woman; it was in Scripture [Deuteronomy 24:1].  JESUS does not want to be involved in the discussions of teachers and interpreters of the law: HE opposes this law with another word of Scripture which presents GOD's point of view regarding human attitudes which HE tolerates.

In doing this JESUS shows how HE brings the Law to "perfection" [5:17], but clearly this "Law of GOD" can only be heard by those who have received the Spirit from JESUS, a fact that is emphasized in the reaction of the disciples.

Better not to marry.  JESUS does not apologize for these demanding words.  HE only proposes something more difficult to understand.  HE praises those to whom have been given to choose celibacy as a way of life for love of the kingdom.

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The New Covenant

"The time is coming - it is YAHWEH who speaks - when I will forge a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.  It will not be like the one I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt.  For they broke MY covenant although I was their LORD.

This is the covenant I shall make with Israel after that time: I will put MY Law within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their GOD and they will be MY people.

And they will not have to teach each other, neighbor or brother, saying: 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know ME, from the greatest to the lowliest, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and no longer remember their sin." - Jeremiah 31:31-34  

(Here we must underscore 31:31-34 where Jeremiah delivers his most famous prophecy.  During the bitter days which the Jewish people are experiencing, GOD reveals, and Jeremiah announces the New and eternal Covenant between GOD and HIS people.

I will make a new covenant.  This is likeable to escape saying that the Sinai Covenant which made Israel GOD's people, had become obsolete or insufficient.  GOD had bound HIMSELF to a family [Abraham's] which became a people under Moses' leadership.  And apparently HIS promises were more for the community than for individuals.

The expression the prophet uses, "a new covenant" does not mean that GOD is forsaking HIS former promises to Israel.  It clearly illustrates the characteristic of the covenant which GOD wants to establish between HIM and humanity through Israel.  This novelty is that of love, because true love is always fresh and new.  Although the people of GOD had broken the covenant, GOD who is always faithful, will respond by a gift, through HIS son, born of Mary.

They broke MY covenant.  Actually, this covenant between YAHWEH and Israel on Sinai had failed, through Israel's fault, not YAHWEH's.  But it is not a matter of renewing it as Joshua, Samuel, Hezekiah and Josiah had done so many times.  Nor is it a matter of making another one like it, since this old covenant had already proven its weakness: people are sinful and unable to escape from their sins.  Moreover, no laws, or human solidarity, or any form of education can bring GOD's grace to a nation or a collectivity and preserve them in the faith.  Only a personal accepting of the divine Truth makes one a true believer.  The true people of GOD cannot be confused with any people or human community: only those who are reborn will become part of GOD's people.

I will put MY Law in their hearts.  Now, Jeremiah knows the secret of the New Covenant.  For he is aware of the change which occurred in him when YAHWEH made him a prophet.  Then, he discovered an intimate relationship with GOD which is entirely different from a religion of mere practices.

I will make another covenant with Israel.  Jeremiah predicts the day when YAHWEH will reveal HIMSELF to all believers as HE had done with HIS great prophets.  The law will be in their hearts and the hand of GOD will keep them on the right path, as was the case with Jeremiah when he doubted.

I will forgive their sins.  A New Covenant will be achieved through the death of CHRIST on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.  In celebrating the Last Supper, JESUS says: "This cup is the New Covenant in MY blood" [Luke 22:20].  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews will develop the meaning of the New Covenant [see Hebrew 8:8 and 10:16]   

The Gospel of John will also clarify the meaning of they will all know ME: in the Christian faith, not everyone receives personal revelations, but everyone is guided by the FATHER to CHRIST in whom are found all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom.

Perhaps Jeremiah himself had not seen all the consequences of this revelation, but it certainly throws a decisive light on the history of the people of Israel.  We understand that GOD's teaching, HIS way of leading and instructing HIS people through events was a pedagogy, leading to a definitive truth to be given through CHRIST and through the gift of the Spirit.  It is understandable that JESUS and HIS apostles so often recalled the message of the prophets to justify the revolution of the Gospel and the birth of a Church rooted in the Jewish people but now independent of its national history.)

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Separate Churches

"John said to HIM, 'Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon YOUR name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.'  JESUS answered, 'Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in MY name can soon after speak evil of ME.  For whoever is not against us is for us." - Mark 9:38-40

(While JESUS prepares HIS apostles, whom HE wants to leave in charge of HIS Church, others preach the Gospel and expel demons.  In the same way nowadays, outside the Catholic Church, the Church of the apostles, others of diverse Christian denominations do apostolic work.

This evangelization outside the Church, at times against the Church, offers a challenge.  If others evangelize, it is perhaps because the Church does not reach a great number of people.  GOD wants others to do what we do not.  The proliferation of separate churches is for the Catholic Church a call to reform.

For the Church finds itself paralyzed for want of a true spirit of poverty and because of its massive structures which no longer allow simple people to find there the fresh life-giving air of the Gospel.

In addition, a missionary sense is often completely absent: too many Catholics are not ready to leave their own practices and little groups, with the end result that the Church is seemingly absent in a great number of places, especially in the urban masses and among immigrants.

With that how can we condemn those who by their missionary action allow a great number of people to meet JESUS CHRIST in fervent and welcoming communities, even if everything there is not authentic?

In saying this we do not forget the many riches of Christian tradition which have often been lost by those who left the Church, especially the certitude that everything human must be redeemed and saved, and the joyful and humble way of believing and doing the will of the FATHER of which Mary is the finest symbol.

Several things seem to us out of place in these churches: the miracle used as an instrument of propaganda, the pressures on the sick, the threatening with punishments from GOD...  Many enclose themselves in their cults, far from the "world," making ecumenism impossible, that is the dialogue and common seeking with other Christians.

There is, however, no room for envy or hatred: who can harm us if we do the work of GOD?)

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