Sunday 5 B (2012)
To look deeply at one aspect of today’s readings,
to let it take root in our hearts,
we have to purify the word ‘preaching’.
We have set aside all negative senses.
‘Preach’ in the biblical sense, the sense we need,
aligns with ‘proclaim’, ‘announce’, ‘herald’:
so there is a sense of introducing the new and momentous,
and a sense of imparting the message in no uncertain terms.
Our New Testament reading today comes from a passage
where Paul expresses his passion for preaching the Good News.
Our translation of the first sentence seems a bit off-key here:
We heard
preaching the gospel…is a duty which has been laid on me:
I should be punished if I did not preach it.
but another translation chimes much better with the context:
I preach the gospel….it’s something I have to do:
I’m in pain if I don’t. [Nicholas King]
Maybe the difference seems minor, but I don’t think it is.
It seems to me that Paul is expressing a drive from within:
His gratitude for the Good News he has received
must find expression in sharing it with others.
Last week’s gospel had Jesus in the synagogue
and we heard that his
teaching made a deep impression on them….
Here is a teaching that is new, they said.
Today, following on from last week,
we hear that he leaves the synagogue
and goes to Simon and Andrew’s house.
The deep impression mentioned last week
is reinforced this week –
by the crowds that come out to see him
as soon as the sabbath is over:
That evening after sunset…..
the whole town came crowding round the door.
Later we hear that Jesus understanding of what he must do
flows out of solitary prayer, for:
…long before dawn, he…
went off to a lonely place and prayed there.
Then, he says to Simon and the others:
Let us go elsewhere,
to the neighbouring country towns,
so I can preach there too,
because that is why I came.
So, at this moment, preaching widely is what Jesus must do.
It is pretty clear from the gospels in general
that Jesus’ preaching
was about the true meaning of the Kingdom of God,
about God’s special care for the troubled,
about God’s generous forgiveness.
But Mark’s gospel records rather little of this.
We heard nothing in last week’s gospel
of what words it was that made such an impression.
Mark’s gospel brings out that:
Jesus himself is the new, momentous, life-changing event
– and that his whole life is a lived announcement,
a lived preaching, of this.
Jesus does teach and preach in words,
but
it is the encounter with him, with the person, that matters.
Jesus whole life preaches, communicates, who God is:
he is Word made flesh.
We are the community that knows Jesus,
and wants to know him better.
That is why we are gathered.
As we follow him – we become him,
we become the Body of Christ.
This is deep, profound and challenging.
Our lives, like Jesus’ life, are to communicate who God is.
We are all to be preachers and teachers with our lives,
but also when needed
preachers and teachers with our words.
This needs prayer.
Prayer that continually asks:
‘how am I to share the Good News about God with others’.
That question has to penetrate every part of our lives.
We have the first meeting for young people
seeking confirmation this evening,
– the sacrament in which they receive
‘the power to profess faith in Christ publicly
and as it were officially’ [CCC1305]
The confirmed share their faith – share the Good News.
Very locally, in our own parish activities,
we need more people involved in this way.
We need people to be involved
with preparing young people for confirmation,
children for communion and reconciliation,
couples for marriage,
families for baptism of children.
We need people to accompany adults
exploring what it means to be a Catholic.
Don’t just wait to be asked.
Reflect on sharing the Good News
– see where it leads –
and if you feel suited to assisting with one of these areas,
or any other ministry in St William’s,
then express an interest to Fr Brian.