(some thoughts on the Mass readings from last Sunday 10 June 2018)
“If a kingdom is divided against itself,
that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.” –Mark 3:20-35
that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.” –Mark 3:20-35
In today’s first reading, from Genesis 3, we get the story
of what happens after Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. We have that terribly
true vision of how sin divides a kingdom, a house, a family. The first division we see is of God searching
for His beloved creation. God calls out to them, “Where are you?” (cf. Genesis 3:9-15) That plaintive cry is the
first sign of division. Before this,
they walked together in the garden, but now Adam and Eve hide from their
creator. Next, we see the crumbling of the House of Adam as he blames Eve (and
God) for his actions: “The woman whom you
put here with me –she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” (3:12)
And last we see the entire animal kingdom begin to break down into “enmity” as Eve blames the serpent. And
we are left with a vision of the cost of sin: division, enmity, seemingly
endless struggle: “He will strike at your
head, while you strike at his heel.” (3:15)
Division truly is the cost of sin. It divides us externally:
socially, inter-personally, through corruption, crime, broken societies, war
and greed, etc and it divides us internally; driving us into hypocrisies and
double standards. We begin to not only hide the truth, but hide from the truth,
until we may not even know who or what we really are. As Paul says in Romans: “I
do not understand what I do. What I want to do, I do not do; but what I hate, I
do.” (cf. 7:
15-20)
Think of the priest with a sterling reputation, who secretly
engages in corrupt or abusive behavior or the honored Bishop who covers it up. The award winning movie mogul who seduces young
women, promising them career opportunities, then threatens them if they speak
up. The socially conscious politician who takes advantage of a young intern and
tries to cover it up. We don’t do what
we want to do, and we do what we hate… Though in the moment it may not seem
that way.
In my own life I can see this quite plainly when I sit down
to write (hoping to finish that unfinished novel) but find myself 40 minutes
later eating chips and queso and watching a Youtube video of W.C. Fieldsplaying pool. (Sloth? gluttony?)
And when I realize, my first instinct is to hide what I’ve been doing.
Not to accept it and be happy that I had some fun, but to hide it. To close the
browser and open my document and spend 15 minutes beating myself up over
wasting my writing time. Or pretend I
was doing research for a character who loves old movies!
Sin divides us. Satan knows that. And we should, too. Because
sin is like a fault line that division runs straight through the heart of each
one of us.
The answer to this division is stated in very simple terms
at the end of this gospel passage. There
is that wonderful and perplexing image of Jesus being told that His mother and
brothers are at the door asking for Him, to which He says:
“Who are my mother and my brothers?... Whoever
does the will of my
Father in Heaven is my mother and my brother
and my sister.” (Mk 12: 48-50)
The answer to the division of sin, is
very simple. It’s unity. Inclusion. It is love. We must remember that we are
all part of the body of Christ –every single one of us.
The readings from last week’s mass
began with God asking, Where are you? Not because God doesn't know or can't find them, but because Adam and Eve don't know. They are lost (and very divided). And the readings ended with that beautiful reconciling (and inclusive) answer from Mark's gospel. Jesus opens a door to all of us and assures us:
We aren't lost. We don't have to be divided.
In fact, we are invited to be part of the family.
In fact, we are invited to be part of the family.
Don’t hide from that.
