April 1, 2012
Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm
2; Philippians 2:8-9; Mark 14:1-15:47
Mark's Passion is
the oldest narration of the four Gospels. It contains the most graphic violence
because it was the most proximate to the event. As time heals wounds, the other
Gospels lose the intensity of the drama. The Jesus portrayed by Mark is the
most human. He does not have conscious knowledge that he is God or that he will
be redeemed. He goes to his death trusting in a God who remains silent to his
cries. Jesus dies alone - even God abandons him. His last words are pleading
cries to God: "Why have you forsaken me?" His mission is an apparent
failure. He trusts in God, who does not show up for him.
A major theme of Mark's Gospel is the
failure of the closest disciples of Jesus to comprehend that he is the Messiah.
The very first words of the Gospel disclose that "this is the good news of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God." When we encounter the disciples at the
beginning, they are full of energy and commitment when they immediately leave
their livelihoods to follow Jesus. Yet, as Jesus reveals his identity, the
minds and hearts of the disciples get clouded. They are not alone in their
hardening of hearts. Many stories reveal lack of faith as a failure to see and
understand in contrast with those who come to see him as the Son of God. The
Twelve, who should know better, abandon Jesus one by one at the arrest
following the Last Supper, and run away. Even Mark, the Gospel author, writes
himself into the narrative: he too runs away naked when the guards try to seize
and arrest him. Jesus is left to face his tribulations utterly alone.
However, as the disciples repeatedly
fail, certain women remain faithful. A woman seeks out Jesus at the house of
Simon the leper before the feast of the Passover and the feast of Unleavened
Bread. She pours excessive quantities of costly perfumed oil onto the head of
Jesus as a burial anointing. Jesus makes it clear that her act of faith will be
remembered by future generations.
Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary, the
mother of James and Joses, watch the crucifixion events from a distance. They are
joined by many other faithful women who come up with him to Jerusalem. Their
eye-witness is key to show that Jesus really dies and is buried and that they
know the place of the burial. They are present when the stone is rolled against
the entrance of the tomb that Joseph of Arimathea, another believer, acquires
for him. Our faith is based on the reality that Jesus dies and is buried.
Not all the men are weak in their
faith; not all the women abide by Jesus. We remember that the women run away
from the empty tomb filled with fear - too afraid to tell anyone. Even their
faith has been rocked. At this point, we come to the original ending of Mark's
Gospel. Jesus dies; the mission fails; the disciples abandon him; even the
women flee in fear. End of story - until we go back to the beginning of the
Gospel and understand that much more has happened as we know the secret - this
Jesus is the Son of God - just as the Roman centurion, a Gentile, testifies.
Since Mark's Gospel is a mere 16
chapters, it is worth reading slowly during Holy Week to get a full view of the
author's intentions. When one does this, he or she is able to see the important
nuances in the Passion narratives. Too often, Christians surface skim the texts
to find parallels between the others. To an ordinary reader, the Passion texts
are nearly identical, but when you let the details emerge, the Gospels reveal
profound insights that create new levels of meaning.
I set aside half an hour before Mass
to read the Passion narrative slowly. I fix my attention on the emotions of
each character so I can experience what they may have felt. Mostly, I try to
understand what Jesus is feeling. I ask him to tell me as I hold what he says
in reverent silence. I simply want to be a friend to him and give him what he
needs most in suffering - the experience of sharing his story with a friend.
Each year, I am surprised with the deeper emotions he shares with me. I know I
can never hold all his pain; I just try to be there with him. I don't know what
else to do.
Themes for this Week’s Masses
Monday of Holy Week: We hear from Isaiah 42 in the First Oracle of the Servant of
the Lord in which God’s servant will suffer silently, but will bring justice to
the world. In the Gospel, Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anoints Jesus’ feet with
costly oil in preparation for his funeral.
Tuesday of Holy Week: In the Second Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49), he cries out that I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. In deep hurt, distress and grief, Jesus tells his closest friends at supper that one of them will betray him and another will deny him three times before the cock crows.
(Spy) Wednesday of Holy Week: In the Third Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 50), the suffering servant does not turn away from the ridicule and torture of his persecutors and tormentors. The time has come. Matthew’s account shows Judas eating during the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Jesus and their good friends after he had already arranged to hand him over to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. The Son of Man will be handed over by Judas, one of the Twelve, who sets the terms of Jesus’ arrest.
Tuesday of Holy Week: In the Second Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49), he cries out that I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth. In deep hurt, distress and grief, Jesus tells his closest friends at supper that one of them will betray him and another will deny him three times before the cock crows.
(Spy) Wednesday of Holy Week: In the Third Oracle of the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 50), the suffering servant does not turn away from the ridicule and torture of his persecutors and tormentors. The time has come. Matthew’s account shows Judas eating during the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Jesus and their good friends after he had already arranged to hand him over to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. The Son of Man will be handed over by Judas, one of the Twelve, who sets the terms of Jesus’ arrest.
Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday:
Only an evening Mass can be said today and we let our bells ring freely during
the Gloria that has been absent all Lent. In Exodus, we hear the laws and
customs about eating the Passover meal prior to God’s deliverance of the people
through Moses from the Egyptians. Paul tells us of the custom by early
Christians that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim
the death of the Lord until he comes. In John’s Gospel, Jesus loves us to the
end giving us a mandate to wash one another’s feet.
Good Friday: No Mass is celebrated today though there may be a service of veneration of the cross and a Stations of the Cross service. In Isaiah, we hear the Fourth Oracle of the Servant of the Lord who was wounded for our sins. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus learned obedience through his faith and thus became the source of salvation for all. The Passion of our Lord is proclaimed from John’s Gospel.
Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil: No Mass, baptisms, or confirmations can be celebrated before the Vigil to honor the Lord who has been buried in the tomb. The Old Testament readings point to God’s vision of the world and the deliverance of the people from sin and death. All of Scripture points to the coming of the Righteous One who will bring about salvation for all. The Old Testament is relished during the Vigil of the Word as God’s story of salvation is told to us again. The New Testament epistle from Romans tells us that Christ, who was raised from the dead, dies no more. Matthew's Gospel finds Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at dawn arriving at the tomb only to find it empty. After a great earthquake that made the guards tremble, and angel appears telling the women, "Do not be afraid." The angel instructs them to go to the Twelve to tell them, "Jesus has been raised from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee."
Good Friday: No Mass is celebrated today though there may be a service of veneration of the cross and a Stations of the Cross service. In Isaiah, we hear the Fourth Oracle of the Servant of the Lord who was wounded for our sins. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus learned obedience through his faith and thus became the source of salvation for all. The Passion of our Lord is proclaimed from John’s Gospel.
Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil: No Mass, baptisms, or confirmations can be celebrated before the Vigil to honor the Lord who has been buried in the tomb. The Old Testament readings point to God’s vision of the world and the deliverance of the people from sin and death. All of Scripture points to the coming of the Righteous One who will bring about salvation for all. The Old Testament is relished during the Vigil of the Word as God’s story of salvation is told to us again. The New Testament epistle from Romans tells us that Christ, who was raised from the dead, dies no more. Matthew's Gospel finds Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at dawn arriving at the tomb only to find it empty. After a great earthquake that made the guards tremble, and angel appears telling the women, "Do not be afraid." The angel instructs them to go to the Twelve to tell them, "Jesus has been raised from the dead, and is going before you to Galilee."
Saints of the Week
No
saints are remembered on the calendar during this solemn week of our Lord's
Passion.
This Week in Jesuit History
·
Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte
Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the
Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.
·
Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the
arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.
·
Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo
Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with
publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of
the early Society.
·
Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre)
ordained a deacon in Paris.
·
Apr 5, 1635. The death of Louis
Lallemant, writer and spiritual teacher.
·
Apr 6, 1850. The first edition of La
Civilta Cattolica appeared. It was the first journal of the restored Society.
·
Apr 7, 1541. Ignatius was unanimously
elected general, but he declined to accept the results.
Thanks for this especially your closing lines in the last paragraph : "I just try to be there with Him. I don't know what else to do."
ReplyDeleteThey speak volumes and could sum up a life's journey of faith.
Blessings
Thanks, Phil. Now that you quote it, it reminds me of the song from Jesus Christ Superstar, "I don't know how to love him."
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteTo see only the failures of Jesus' followers is to hear only part of the music the Holy Spirit has composed for the church in this part of the Gospel of Mark. We should indeed hear that, yes, but not without also hearing that God faithfully triumphs even when His people fail. This is a theme that continues beyond verse 8: in verse 11, and verse 13, unbelief remains a problem -- but then Christ appears and puts His gospel into the hands of those who up to that point were overcome. As Christ overcame death, those who were overcome by despair become overcomers.
The last 12 verses of Mark, being part of the Vulgate, and attested in every undamaged Greek copy of Mark except two, and in patristic evidence from the 100's, constitute the original ending of the Gospel of Mark. One might say that at some point in the production-stage, there was no text after 16:8, but one could just as truthfully say that at some point the Gospel of Mark was a blank scroll, a pen, and a few ounces of ink in an inkwell. When the production-stage was completed, it was all there, including verses 9-20.
I'm not convinced that Mark's first-century listeners, if they had encountered a form of Mark ending at 16:8, would grasp that they were supposed to go back to the beginning of the Gospel, as if re-reading it would make the ending less abrupt, or somehow tie up the threads that are left hanging. This was a recited book representing Peter's remembrances of Jesus, and if the other miracles were worth describing, how much more would Christ's post-resurrection appearances be worth describing. I can't go into much detail about this in this brief comment; I just recommend considering the setting in which Mark wrote, and ask yourself if it really looks like Mark intended to stop writing at 16:8. How likely is it that Mark would expect most of the people who read/heard his work to contemplatively re-read it? It looks to me like after Mark was compelled by some emergency to stop at 16:8, his colleagues at Rome, realizing that the text was unfinished, completed it by attaching another composition (not something composed in order to finish Mark's text, but something already written), and that is what we know as verses 9-20 - canonical Scripture.
Yours in Christ,
James Snapp, Jr.
Ah, the failure of the disciples were to inspire others to not be like them since they know from the outset that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. It was one slant on telling the story and bolstering the faith of the nascent community.
ReplyDeleteThe traditional ending of the Gospel leaves room for much speculation. Of course, we know that the women did not only run away in fear. They couldn't have. They had to tell the others. Grasping the resurrection is a process, and once we realize the significance of God's actions, we can be like the other disciples whose fears were transformed into a boldness that testified to the Spirit of Christ. It is a fascinating reality to ponder.