Son of Mary

Gospel: Mark 6: 1-6

In ancient times it was customary that a man was identified as the son of his father - Simon, son of John; James the son of Alphaeus.  Yet in today's Gospel portion Jesus' townspeople refer to him as the Son of Mary, a way of insulting both the man and his mother.  This slur alleges that a man has no father, and that the mother was not connected to a man, or that Jesus' origins were out of wedlock.  This slur is added to a host of others who mock the work of Jesus.

In spite of these slurs, Jesus was still willing to heal and liberate and nourish others in his hometown as he had throughout other towns in Galilee.  Yet the people of Nazareth were not willing to receive or accept these acts of love and mercy.  Undeterred, Jesus simply moved on to other towns to carry out this mission of mercy.  He does not allow the slurs and rejections to prevent him from extending the mercy and love of God in the world.

This scene provides much for us to consider in our own lives and ministry.  Many both in the world and in church life itself mock those who care for the poor and marginalized, the sick, imprisoned, immigrant, refugee, and migrant.  It is for us to imitate the example of Jesus and simply continue this work of love and mercy in the world.  May we too be Sons and Daughters of Mary going about healing, liberating, and nourishing others.  

Preference for the Poor

Gospel: Mark 5: 21-43

In today's Gospel portion an influential person named Jairus in the community comes to Jesus asking him to heal his ailing daughter.  Jesus agrees to do so.  As they were making their way to his house, a poor unnamed woman gets the idea that if she but touch Jesus's garments, she will be healed of her infirmity of many years that has left her destitute and utterly desperate.  Being in a large crowd she can maintain her anonymity too.  

Jesus senses that someone touched his garments in an intentional way.  He stops and wants to meet this person.  His disciples and the crowd are annoyed.  He is holding up an important person! How can he stop to talk with someone so insignificant! But to Jesus no one is insignificant.  This woman matters.  It is not enough that she be healed.  She must also have a personal encounter with the Lord that provides meaning and compassion for her.  

This important man Jairus will have his daughter healed, but he had to wait so that this poor woman could be healed.  Jesus in this scene and in many others shows the preference for the poor that should mark our own lives and the ministry of the Church.  If we think the borders of a wealthy nation are more important than the needs of starving immigrants, refugees, and migrants, then we are a long way off from the kingdom of God.  

Presenting the Lord

Gospel: Luke 2: 22-40

If we have been paying attention, we come to the realization that reconciling the various stories of Jesus' infancy from a historical point of view is utterly impossible.   Fleeing into Egypt and going through the rituals of Jewish presentation and returning to Nazareth are mutually exclusive options, especially given the fact that Luke does not reference the Magi or the flight into Egypt in any way.  There is simply no way to reconcile the two accounts.

But that is not the point.  As with all things in Scripture our goal is not to put together a history but to derive the religious truths of the story for our own spiritual life.  In today's feast the parents of Jesus scrupulously follow the prescriptions of Jewish law in going to the Temple to present Jesus as first born to the Lord, offering the required sacrifice of the poor, and in Mary being purified after giving birth.  Along the way they encounter Simeon and Anna, two unknown figures awaiting the Messiah of God. 

Todays' feast invites us to consider our own presentation of the Lord within us to the world, to our own dedication to the Lord, and our own purification before God.  Today we light candles signifying the light of the world present in the person of Jesus, present within each one of us.  We are to let that light shine before the world just as in the Temple of Jerusalem and beyond where Jesus brought that light wherever he went healing, liberating, and nourishing others.