Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 28, 2003 Numbers 11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48	Listen to Audio

Although we must take everything Jesus said and did as recorded in the Gospels seriously, we cannot take everything literally. What we just heard is a case in point. Jesus seems to be advocating physical self-mutilation. Surely that’s not the case, even as a preventive measure against falling into sin. But how do we know what in the Bible should be taken literally, followed to the letter, and what is metaphor, making a strong and graphic point, but actually conveying a deeper meaning? For example, the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Take this and eat it, this is my body.” Are those to be taken literally, as we Catholics do? Or merely symbolically, as the churches resulting from the Protestant Reformation generally understand them? What criteria do we use to know the difference?

To discover how to understand the teachings and the meaning of the events in the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, we have to look at how Christians heard and understood them throughout the centuries, especially from the very earliest times. Catholic faith has always held that Scripture needs to be understood within the context of the living faith of the Church, the people of God united in faith. The various books of the Bible were the product of the faith of the communities who experienced the works of God’s saving love, first the Jewish People of the Old Covenant, then the first generation Christian community who took to heart and were formed by the witness of the Apostles to divine nature and work of Jesus Christ. [For reference see Vatican II, Constitution on Divine Revelation]

Two keywords have traditionally been used to describe the Bible, but have often been misunderstood: inspiration and inerrancy. Inspiration does not mean that the Bible was word-for-word dictated by God, but that the process of preserving a human record of the way faith was understood and lived in its beginnings was truly guided by the Holy Spirit. Inerrancy, which literally means “free from error,” does not mean that the text is 100% literally correct in every last detail, but that the text authentically and accurately reflects the faith of the Church at its origins, and is therefore a sure guide for our faith today.

Back to the “difficult sayings” we heard a few minutes ago. The earliest records of Christian faith, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, and the documents of the church’s early life are unanimous in reflecting the same faith in the Eucharist, the real change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. That was not a belief that developed later. It was held from the beginning, and the historical record testifies to that. [For reference see, The Real Presence]

On the other hand, the kind of self-mutilation that Jesus seems to command in this Gospel passage has always been rejected by believing Christians from the very earliest days; and those few and small groups who actually did take this command literally were often condemned as deviating from the true faith.

So, what is Jesus telling us here?

Beginning with Jesus himself, as well as St. Paul, Christian tradition has held that inner discipline and purification are more important than outward gestures. The most radical and graphic signs, circumcision and mutilation, speak of stripping from the heart all that is impure and not of God. St. Paul, referring to the central sign of the Jewish covenant relationship with God, says, “Circumcise your hearts, not your bodies.” Jesus, when speaking of ritual purification and kosher foods, says, “It’s not what goes into a person that renders one unclean, but what comes forth from the heart” – our desires, our intentions, our motives, even our habits of thinking.

This means that the vital question for Christian living, now as through the past ages, is “How do we identify those things in us that are not of the Lord? And once we see them, how do we strip ourselves of them?” To ask and answer those questions sincerely will cause pain, because they will address some of our most deeply rooted desires, strongest attachments, and most stubborn habits. And in doing so, we will embrace the cross of Jesus as the source of light, strength, healing, and, ultimately, peace.

The purpose of the Retreat for Everyday Life, based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, is a way to guide us and support us in allowing the light of God into our lives, revealing both his love and our barriers to his love, so that we can allow God to remove from us all that is not of him. This journey is not made quickly or easily, nor is it impossible, because God is both guide and healer, and he leads us gently but firmly, step-by-step in his way.

This week, the third week of the Retreat, the Lord leads us from considering his work in our lives to see the broader picture of his presence in our world, inviting us to give thanks and to live in a spirit of gratitude. Beginning this week, the retreat guides are not in the bulletin, but a packet for all of October can be picked up at the Welcome Table in the patio after Mass, or at the Parish Office. If you have any questions about the Retreat or need any assistance with it, I would like to invite you to join me and some members of our Adult Faith Formation Committee for a brief meeting in the auditorium after the Mass. As we continue to walk these first weeks of the Retreat, I pray that we may all have the grace of perseverance to allow the Lord to open us more and more to the wonder of his love.

© Thomas Welbers 2003