The call of the Apostles in the Gospels seems artificial and contrived. Despite some differences in the individual Gospels, the Apostles give up everything to answer a call from someone they have only just met. It seems very unlikely as a journalistic account, but it very accurately describes if not the moment when the call is first heard the moment when it is understood. I can relate to this myself and can also see it in the life of Martin Luther King, but here with one enormous difference.
The Apostles were the first leaders of the Church, but we see them today as disciples, followers of Jesus like the rest of us. They were not of the poorest class, Peter and Andrew seemed to be rather prosperous and some may have been better educated than the average Jew. We see in today’s Gospel that the immediate group had some connection with John the Baptizer, so they were knowledgeable and interested in religion. Being the disciple of a famous rabbi would have allowed social and most likely financial improvement. Yet there was significant risk, Jesus’ message was as strange then as now. There is a kingdom coming, but it will not be brought by war and power, but by love and nonviolence. No matter when or how a person hears this, realizing what it really means is always a revelation and always requires a firm decision. Today we read the Apostles’ “yes”.
Mark’s gospel, as so I know many of you are aware, is the shortest of the presentations. And it begins with a very simple line. That he is telling you from the beginning, the story of Jesus Christ, the son of God. He then goes into a very brief piece of presentation about John the Baptist being out in the desert. But the highlight of that first chapter is this scene. When Jesus comes to the River Jordan. And is baptized or submits to the baptism of John, despite John’s objections.
One of the many inequities which has surfaced during the year of Covid is the difficulties of receiving good health care in rural areas. It is hard to get Doctors in general and public health officials in particular to live and work in the countryside. It was then very surprising to see that some rural doctors were being harassed to the point of having to hire guards or to leave these areas for insisting on the value of wearing masks during the pandemic. They were told that they were impinging on people’s freedom and were insufficiently American. The result, as should come as no surprise is that Covid 19 cases have skyrocketed in these counties and the means distributing the antivirus has been compromised. We as Catholics see this as an example of the inescapability the common good: we are made to work for each other’s benefit and when we do not all lose.
Another key aspect of Catholic Social teaching is the importance of “fraternity or solidarity”. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” and his recent book “Let us Dream” show us very powerfully that everyone is important, and no one can be discarded. We have seen this clearly this year when people who may have been previously invisible – people who picked up our trash or brought the mail, those who delivered our food or kept supermarkets open – have been deemed essential workers in ways which people in more prestigious jobs have not.
We could indeed review all the elements of Catholic Social teaching and discover that every one of them has been proven an accurate description of reality. The more they are accepted the better the society runs. When they are not, we have chaos. Yet just to look at these two examples it is interesting that although we have seen the results of reducing freedom to mere individual choice there has been little vision or will to change?
Why?
When urging us to accept Catholic Social Teachings most writers including the Pope have used the parable of Good Samaritan. I would like to use our gospel today instead. It speaks to me more powerfully than any other.
The Magi were good people. They were not followers of the LORD, but they were people of exceedingly good will. They were moved to see that there was something more than what they held to be true. This is not uncommon, but they actually did something about it, they got up and moved. This movement led them to the God of Israel. With all their good will they could not find the object of their desire without the Scriptures of the Jews. Even though those in whose custody the Bible was held remained unaware of their power and were unworthy of their beauty the scribes and pharisees were able to show the Magi where to go. They found Jesus and on entering the house in Bethlehem” they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.” The journey of their hearts was fulfilled in worship.
This story has been found so powerful for so long because it speaks for and to all of us. It has been well said that “You have made us Lord and our hearts will be restless until they rest in you” (The Confessions, St Augustine). How do we find this rest?
It begins with dis-ease: discomfort. Many of our certainties were destroyed in the pandemic and watching the life of George Floyd extinguished live and in exhausting detail forced many people to recognize that something is seriously wrong. It caused a restlessness which moved some people to ask new and tough questions and a few to seek to do something about it. A very few were like the magi and willing to leave their comfort behind to seek the truth. Where could they go?
The Christan church in general lost much credibility in the culture wars and few people looked at the Bible for guidance. Also, much worship has become the exhortation of self and is too weakened to motivate anyone to do much of anything. But I will ask us as Catholic Christians, “Did we go to the scriptures and through them to worship?”
The key to Catholic Social teaching is that everyone has an inerasable dignity by being a child of God. This extends from the unborn child in the womb, however inconvenient, to the most incorrigible criminal on death row, however vile. This dignity is a gift from God and one we cannot take away. Indeed, when we begin to exclude people receiving dignity it is only a matter of time and taste where this exclusion stops. It most often stops with people who don’t look like us.
The Maji prostrated themselves before Jesus and worshiped him, God does not need our worship, worship is a gift from him. In the process of worship, we keep our minds and hearts focused on God and beyond ourselves. It is not our own needs that are paramount but the wishes of the LORD. Following them can only do us good as individuals and as a community.
This is particularly true for Catholics. Our belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is the heart of our relationship with God. In the Eucharist we form a covenant with God but also with our brothers and sisters: all humanity. We do not pray the “My Father’ or “His Father” but the “Our Father. When we say Amen at communion, we proclaim not only that I believe that this is truly Jesus but that I believe that you are my brother or sister as is everyone who needs me to wear a mask or assist them in obtaining health care.
Other people even members of other religions have wiggle room but if we believe that what we consume is more than a piece of bread and that the Eucharist intimately connects us to each other then we do not. If I believe in the real presence, then I must believe in the dignity of every individual and act accordingly. The eucharist makes us prophets despite ourselves.
The Magi worshiped by bowing down their bodies to Jesus; let us worship by lifting up the needy for Jesus.
On behalf of Msgr. LoPinto, Fr. Gribowich, and of course myself, I would like to express our best wishes as we close out the calendar year 2020 and pray for 2021. It is comforting to do this not only as Christians but as Catholics. In our tradition this is the “Octave of Christmas.” As the name suggests Octave means 8 and reflects the Latin way of counting. It means however a week and is a way of marking very special feasts. There were once many Octaves but now they have been reduced to two: Christmas and Easter. The Octave of Christmas has celebrated many things over the years. Some of us may remember when it was the feast of the circumcision of our Lord. But Pope St. Paul 6th realized that it should be dedicated to Mary. An octave is an echo of Jesus major interventions into history and Mary is the most perfect echo of Jesus’ incarnation. Of all the possibilities of recognizing Mary’s special connection to the Incarnation he chose “Mary, the Mother of God.” Let us look at why and another Gospel selection before returning to the Gospel chosen today and a more pertinent lesson.