Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Mark 3: 7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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We’re at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, yet he already gives the impression of Jesus’ public ministry going global.

People are coming from the north, south, east, and west, at least from 100 miles away. His fame and popularity only grow from here.

In fact, the crowds are so large that Jesus has his disciples prepare a boat for him in the event that he must escape a stampede.

His power to cure stands in stark contrast to the frailty of his human nature, which threatens being crushed by a mob of people desperate to touch him.

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One of the greatest miracles of Jesus’ public ministry is the fact that he stays alive as long as he did. 

There was not only the threat of being swallowed up in a stampede, but also the sinister plans of the religious authorities, who are already plotting his death. 

Worst of all, there’s the threat of being misunderstood by the crowds.

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Notice it’s the demons who first recognize Jesus as, “the Son of God.”

This was a term used often enough in the ancient world. For example, Roman Emperors considered themselves to be “sons of God,” as did Egyptian kings. 

There were enough Jewish nationalists at that time that, if rumors spread about Christ being an earthly king like the Romans or Egyptians, then riots could erupt throughout Galilee as people would fight for Jewish freedom.

Such a stunning misunderstanding of Christ’s ministry would evaporate his momentum, ruining the entire purpose of his incarnation.

This is why Jesus quiets the demons, forcing them into silence. What he needs more than anything is privacy with his disciples to teach them about who he really is. 

They, too, are harboring hopes of him being a political savior – a hope that lingers all the way to his crucifixion.

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Misunderstandings of God, Jesus, even the Church he founded upon the rock of Peter, continue to this day. 

God is neither a distant figure uninterested in the world he created, nor a divine vending machine, willing to give us anything we want.

God is a loving Father who sent his Son to wash away our sins so that we might live with him – not here – but forever in his kingdom.

May we follow him, each in our own way, today.

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Image credits: (1) Strengthened by Grace (2) Bible Gateway (3) Centered on Christ – Substack

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Gospel: Mark 3: 1-6

Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In ancient Palestine, most men made a living through manual labor. Joseph, for example, was a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker. Peter was a fisherman. Tradition states that this man in the Gospel was a stone mason.

Like many other professions, masonry required the use of both hands. Thus, the man’s withered hand not only prevents him from working; it’s also symbolic of his state in life.

He’s paralyzed; all income and opportunity have dried up. His withered hand also represents the withered hearts of the religious authorities, who’ve become deadened inside through a harsh interpretation of the Law.

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The fact that the religious authorities don’t care about this man’s healing, or wish that Jesus would simply do it on another day, implies they’ve placed boundaries around compassion.

It’s okay to be compassionate six days a week, but don’t dare lift a finger on the Sabbath; that’s God’s day, as if God could ever rest from charity. 

This is what angers Jesus so much. The authorities have a tiny, boxed-in, bound and broken view of God. They fail to understand that whenever there is an opportunity for charity, it must be done because charity is an act of love.

And God is love.

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Today’s Gospel provides all of us an opportunity to reflect upon our own limits. 

Where are the withered edges of our own heart? When have we seen an opportunity to be charitable – to give, to forgive, to love, or to serve – and not acted upon it?

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“Jesus said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was restored.”

Yes, God worked on the Sabbath. Charity demanded it.

May that same zealous love of neighbor burn within our hearts today.

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Image credits: (1) PottyPadre (2) Catholic Daily Reflections (3) Pitt News

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Gospel: Mark 2: 23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s only one group of people whom Jesus cannot stomach. Surprisingly, perhaps, isn’t tax collectors, prostitutes, or sinners. 

He loved them and forgave them.

The ones whom Jesus cannot tolerate are the hardened religious leaders of his day, who pressed the Jews into following hundreds of man-made laws, including a law which forbade people from eating grain on the Sabbath, as we hear in today’s Gospel.

What good is it to follow a series of rules if doing so does not lead to a transformation of the heart?

This is why Jesus says elsewhere, the scribes and Pharisees are like “whitewashed tombs,” religious rule-followers on the outside, but defiled within.

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Catholics also follow a series of rules. We attend Mass on Sunday. We say our prayers. We avoid eating meat on Fridays during Lent. These guidelines are meant to lead us to an inner transformation. 

Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist becomes “food for the journey.” Praying the rosary allows us to intercede on behalf of others. Avoiding meat on Fridays in Lent reminds us of the sacrifice that Christ made in his flesh on the Cross.

But if we aren’t mindful of why we’re doing these things, then their lasting impact begins to wane. 

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Today’s Gospel isn’t meant to upend the “rules” we follow or the devotions we practice. Rather, it’s meant to make us more aware of why we follow them – to encounter the Divine. 

What is my religious practice like? What difference has it made in my spiritual journey? How do I encounter God?

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Anyone who puts their heart and soul into seeking Christ will not only find him; slowly, they will also become more and more like him – holy, innocent, and pure of heart.

May that include us today.

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Image credits: (1) Radically Christian, Wes McAdams (2) Bread for Beggars (3) Ottawa Church of Christ