22/10/2006 - XXIX SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME - Year B
First Reading Isaiah 53:2-3; 10-11 Psalm
32/33
Second Reading Hebrews 4:14-16 Gospel Mark 10:35-45
World Mission Sunday
A truly grave lie is swearing to falsehood. When one does this in a court of
law, especially if an innocent person is damaged or condemned, he commits the
gravest sin. Swearing means to call upon God to be witness to what is being
said as true or false. No swearing gives honour to man: it is a sign that he,
himself, admits to not being worthy of trust. Jesus teaches us: "Do not
swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word
be 'Yes, Yes,' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one"
(Mt 5:36:37).
Jesus didn't have time to answer Pilate, who asked Him: "What is the truth?"
But He had already told the disciples: "I am the truth"! Jesus allows
us to know that God whom no one has ever seen, nor can ever see: by seeing Jesus,
we will know the Father! Knowing the Father also means knowing with what love
we must look at others, and it means to read all time as the fulfillment of
the Resurrection of Jesus and all events as a preparation of our entrance in
eternity! Jesus is the truth: in fact. He is the revelation of the love hidden
by God, hidden in each occurrence and in each man. We can get to know the truth
only through glancing with the same glance with which God looks at His Son.
And we can communicate it only through that love that passes by the Cross, as
St. Paul tells us: "By speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every
way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Eph 4:15). "You must not
bear false witness" commits us to say and do that which can manifest the
mercy and the fidelity of God's paternity, which is present in Jesus. Let's
not, then, be concerned always with making public what we know, but what favours
love, and to say it in such a way that expresses mercy, understanding and blessing.
This must be kept present in our family, in society, in the professions which
commit to secret professionalism, as well as in how we make use of the mass-media.
Those who write the journals, the magazines and the internet, or who speak on
the radio and television, must perform their activities as a service to the
union and the reciprocal comprehension of all people, in all categories. Lies
in this environment are a grave offence to man and to God. So is the spreading
of news that can cause division and conflict, or which favours a mentality and
a sensitivity that is superficial and frivolous, if not altogether repugnant.
A sane balance is difficult! Those in the mass-media must pray a lot to remain
in the Holy Spirit and to receive wisdom and light from Him.
"Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need". Thus, the Letter to the
Hebrews encourages us and exhorts us to have confidence in God: He is not indifferent
to our plight as suffering sinners. Actually, He lived our life, with all the
trials within it and, in so doing, He demonstrated His solidarity towards us.
Jesus' suffering is not a demonstration of weakness, but an occasion in which
He gains our sympathy; our complete faith, in fact. We suffer because of our
sins, and Jesus, though He had not sinned, carried the weight of our iniquity:
that is why the major part of the punishment we deserved ended upon His shoulders.
It is because of this that we look at Him with the attention and feelings of
friendship. His suffering does not scandalize us, it does not push us away;
in fact, it draws us to love Him.
From the Scriptures, He knew that He would have to offer Himself to be sacrificed
to death so that the will of the Father, to save men, might be realized. When
the two sons of Zebedee presented their wishes to Him, Jesus immediately understood
that they had forgotten the role of the Messiah, or that they had never understood
it. They thought that sitting at the right hand of God meant having a place
of honour and of power, as those who sat the right of Herod did. They understood
the reign of God to be as that of earthly reigns. Jesus is not upset by their
desire to be close to Him, but He is saddened that they think that being with
Him means enjoying the pleasure of ambition and the dream of human glory. That's
how all the Apostles thought and, often, so do we. They answer that the Lord
offers the Twelve is a great gift. It is not the will of God that we imitate
or envy the heads of state: they look after their own interests; they like to
give orders and to get rich. On the other hand, we, wishing to be children of
God, we would like to have His grandeur. And God is grand because He loves,
because He cares for the small and the weak, because He wants everyone to become
brothers. We are grand when our life becomes a gift, when we truly serve those
who suffer and who seek eternal life! We imitate the Son of God: He avoided
the place of power and gave Himself up to free all from their sin. We, members
of His Church, continue to offer our life so that all may be saved: this way,
we are part of His mission, that of allowing the love of the Father to be seen
and enjoyed by everyone, especially those who are not aware that they are loved
by Him!