The Nexus

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Lectionary Readings for the 25th Sunday of the Year, Year B
“If anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain
the last one of all and the servant of all.”
It is indeed a great mystery how our Lord taught
us in word and deed the faith we now profess.
Judging by the historical setting of His time,
He truly went against all odds - entering
into a Jewish world that conceived of a
glorious political messiah who would have power
to deliver them from their bondage to foreign
powers.  And yet despite all that, He continued
to preach of “the way of service” [servanthood]
as the narrow road that will bring us to real life.

The will of the Father was not easy for Jesus. 
He knew that He would have to be delivered into
the hands of those who would put Him to
death.  His only saving hope however was his
knowledge that the Father, through the power
of the Holy Spirit, would raise Him to life
after three days. He had such great faith in
His Father, that He entered into His suffering,
crucifixion, and death, and even experienced
the psychological pain of abandonment by His
apostles, yet He remained in total trust and
obedience to His Father.

The Lord was able to do all this, and more
besides, because of His great humility. He
teaches us that if we humble ourselves before
the Father and acknowledge our being His children,
then we will receive all the blessings that
are ours, by our sharing in His Son’s glory.
How truly this is counterculture to what
we often like in life: to be first, to be
tops, and to lord it over others.  But the
Lord Jesus taught something even better:
we would indeed rank first, but we must
go through the same suffering as He did -
to remain in great service to others. And
indeed, God will raise us because of this
humility - just as He did His only Son
who sacrificed His very life that we all
may be saved from our sins.

Humility is a virtue that is the most
difficult to cultivate especially if we
are called to live it in family life,
professional life or community life.
But it is a gift that we can receive
if we let ourselves be grounded in God:
i.e., knowing our sinfulness, and
acknowledging that we are loved by God,
purely out of His goodness and mercy. 
When we have well grounded ourselves
in this truth, then all other Christian
virtues we need to habitually do, in
view of service to others, will rightly
fall in place.  Every act that we do
that is grounded in humility will help
bring about that peace that our Lord
Jesus envisioned for the building of
God’s kingdom.

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Lectionary Readings for the 24th Sunday of the Year, Year B
“…the Son of Man had to suffer much…be put
to death…and rise three days later.”

The Jews awaited the coming of the Messiah
- One who would deliver them from bondage.
However, the popular concept of this Messiah was
a glorious one - a political leader who would
deliver them from slavery.  When Jesus came
and spoke openly of delivering the people
Israel from the bondage of sin, they do not
believe Him.  They knew his family background
and human origins.  And the popular belief among
them was that no one would know where the
Messiah would really come from.

Jesus wanted to know how the people viewed
Him.  Since the people do not yet see Him as
the Messiah who is to come, they say that
He may be one of the prophets.  He then asked
the question of Peter.  And Peter, inspired
by God, answered that He was “the Christ”,
the “Messiah”.  But when Jesus qualified
this reality of His Messiahship as One of
a Suffering Servant, Peter could not believe
it and wanted Him to be far from this.  Jesus
reprimanded him for thinking in the ways of
man and not in the ways of God.

This vocation of Christ to be the Lord’s
Suffering Servant is one that will teach us
a lesson in obedience and humility.  Sometimes,
when we obtain positions of prestige, privilege
or power, we forget the responsibilities and
obligations we are required to meet in fulfilling
our role.  Our being Christian in these situations
call us to forget ourselves, take up our cross,
and follow Jesus, who was obedient to the Father’s
will - even to the point of sacrificing His life
that we may be saved from our sins.

Following Jesus involves a great deal of
sacrifice and suffering.  But if we are faithful
to our calling as Christians, we shall share
in the inheritance of our Lord and Master,
i.e., salvation and eternal life.  We need not
carry “big crosses” or “endure great pains”
for others’ sake. Just the simple discomfort
of serving others, or the simple incovenience
we have to experience in order to be good and
kind to others, or the simple
witness of fidelity to our responsibilities
and tasks, is enough to do our part in making
the world more Christian in its outlook.
Every time we become aware that what we are
doing is denying ourself, taking up our
cross, and following in Christ’s steps, then
we shall be beacons of Christ’s Light and
Spirit in making the glory of the Resurrection
a hope for everyone.

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Lectionary Readings for the 22nd Sunday of the Year, Year B
“You disregard God’s commandment and cling to what
is human tradition.”
Jesus often was at odds with the religious
establishment of His time - the Pharisees and
the scribes - because He spoke with authority,
and taught from the context of a spirit of
charity above the Law.  The Pharisees and
the scribes on the other hand, since they
had to uphold the traditions of the Jewish
faith, had to follow all that was prescribed
by their Law - especially as regards the ritual
washings and other prescriptions of their
Jewish faith.  When Jesus saw that the spirit
of love and charity was being choked by the
prescriptions of their Law, He spoke against
this.  It was this prophetic vocation of Jesus
that called Him to challenge the religious
institution of His time.

In our time, we are also called to seek
the Lord’s will in every situation - and
most especially in situations where our
conscience calls us to follow our faith
against what is the common practice or
prevalent trend of the times.  What is
important is that we pray for strength
and fortitude to do what is right despite
what many are doing wrong.  Societies are
not perfect.  But if they have existed for
a long time, then for sure they are also
very much grounded in life and the values
which the founding fathers have built
them.  When we are confronted with a
moral issue in our society that concerns
us, our course of action is to discern how
best to balance our following of the Lord’s
will through our conscience and still respect
the traditions and laws of our societies.

Although we have a prophetic vocation
by virtue of our baptismal consecration,
not all of us are called to stand up
and speak out - in behalf of those whom
we serve and lead and shepherd - in the
prophetic manner of John the Baptist
or Jesus.  That was their prophetic way
of proclaiming the gospel.  Many of us
are simply called to live out our
prophetic vocation by doing our work
quietly, witnessing to Jesus in good
and ethical lifestyles, and influencing
others to our Catholic value system
like the yeast that raises the dough. 
Whenever we are confronted with the
question of what moral stand we are to
take, let us still take the stand of
Jesus - but let our action be one
that is constructive - building systems
that have the spirit of healing, teaching
and shepherding people to the Spirit
of God, who will lead us all to goodness
and a charity of spirit that is based
on grounding our prayerful lives in
His Word and Sacrament.