News - January 2021 RSS Feed

Today’s Gospel continues our reading from Mark and describes what some believe was likely to have been a typical day in Jesus’ ministry. Jesus and the disciples that chose to follow him in last week’s Gospel arrive at Capernaum, a small town on the Sea of Galilee. Mark is direct and concise in his report of the work of Jesus. He is quick to point out that Jesus carried a special ‘authority’ in his words and actions. Mark also lays before his readers two conflicts that Jesus will confront, one against the forces of evil and another with the religious leadership.

The Scripture readings of this week-end present to us the theme of calling by God and human reaction to the call. God says to Jonah, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me” (First Reading). Jonah, like a house cat, does exactly the opposite of what he is asked. He drops everything and runs in the opposite direction. He goes to the town of Joppa, finds a ship to farthest place he can think of which is Tarshish and gets on board, trying get as far from the task as possible. You know the rest of the story of how the ship is caught up in a storm and Jonah is thrown overboard to placate the ‘angry God’ and a fish swallows him and brings him back to the place which he was asked to go in the first place.

The ancient Greek city of Corinth acquired something of a proverbial reputation for sexual promiscuity, and modern biblical scholarship has frequently reiterated a view of the city as a particular hotbed of immorality and vice. In addition to their wealth, Corinthians worshiped Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. Corinth was the ancient equivalent of Sin City. Most of the people of the pagan world engaged in blatant immorality, but some of the worst were those in Corinth. They even had their own saying to justify their behavior. “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food.” It was like saying, “You have no choice: you have no choice but eat, so too you ought to behave immorally.” Paul tells them and us that we are so much better than that. Our bodies belong to the Lord. We are members of the Body of Christ. We are far more than animals with nothing but animal instincts. We share in the Body of Christ. He goes on to use a very important phrase: our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit. If we are immoral, we are sinning against our own bodies, sinning against our union with Christ.

The Christmas season ends today with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The beginning and end of the season have much in common. On Christmas, we celebrate God becoming one of us, taking upon himself a human nature. On the Feast of the Baptism, we celebrate the public proclamation that Jesus is more than just one of us. He has more than a human nature. He has a Divine Nature.

We have just begun a New Year. All of us have our own wishes and dreams for this year. Some of us will have taken new resolutions. I am also conscious of the fact that the merged Parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Tappan and St. John the Baptist, Piermont will function as one body of Christ. The feast that we celebrate today of the Epiphany or the Manifestation of the Lord to the Nations, can throw light on all of the above.