By Fr. Antony Christy, SDB –
30th September, 2018: 26th Sunday in Ordinary time
Num 11: 25-29; Jas 5: 1-6; Mk 9: 38-43,45,47-48
Jesus gives us a lesson against feeling jealous. Feeling zealous is not Feeling Jealous. The first reading and the Gospel bring it out so clearly. The second reading points to the rest of the complications within feeling jealous, how it leads to greed and avarice and finally to perdition.
Today we are aware of the hardships that the Church is undergoing – forget about the sins committed (be it by the shepherds or by the faithful), they are to be denounced and God alone shall be the judge. But, think of the purposeful maligning of names and assassination of characters that are ventured upon for selfish motives and political gains… is that truly a Regin feel?
For decades now, it is becoming bitter by the day, the denominations fighting with each other, the various churches giving into a sense of unchristian rivalry, the infights within parish communities, clashes and stand offs on the basis of caste or region within the churches and congregations… are these truly part of a Reign feel?
The Reign Feel is God Centered… it was not Moses or Aaron or Joshua…it was God, the I AM who was leading the community. Zeal for the Reign would make us think in terms of God and not in terms of divisions and establishments. Today, when people in the name of God try to draw attention to themselves and wish limelight all over them, are ready to sacrifice anything – values, morals, decency, integrity – for the sake of the popularity and living, they are truly far far away from the Reign! God has to be the absolute, undeterred centre of all that we say and do!
The Reign Feel is Jesus Centered… I belong to Apollos, I belong to Paul, I belong to Barnaba…the early Church already had factions we come to understand from the preoccupations of the Apostles like Paul and James. When the people of God begin to go behind individuals and brand names and banners, instead of Jesus the One Lord who died for us on the Cross (As St. Paul so categorically says in 1 Cor 1:13, it is only Jesus who died for you on the Cross, not Paul nor Peter nor any of the preachers and evangelists and miracle workers that people run after today), people fail to measure up to the standards of making up the Reign of God.
The Reign Feel is Other Centered… not calculating my gains, my possessions, my comfort and my luxury; it is not getting obsessed with what I can profit or what I can hoard for myself, not looking for the fame that I can have or making my name known allover! James outlines with clarity what it means to be God Centered and Jesus Centered, it is being Other Centered! The labourers, the reapers, the workers, the poor, the suffering, the innocent, the needy, the weak, the languishing, the lonely, the elderly, the vulnerable, the children, the abused, the battered, those who cry out for help – they are touchstones of the Reign of God.
Yes, the Reign Feel is also feeling J… it is not Jealous but Jesus. Reign Feel is feeling Jesus: it is thinking like Jesus, reasoning like Jesus, choosing like Jesus and prioritising like Jesus, reaching out like Jesus, and being ready to die like Jesus for God’s will and God’s people!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.