We have recently heard in the Sunday readings about how, when S. John the Baptist very daringly established a ritual baptism of repentance for sin, he was accosted by priests and zealots from the Jerusalem Temple. It was at the Temple where God forgave sin through the sacramental system of the animal sacrifices. How dare this Elijah-looking man set up an independent system in the wilderness! What authority could he possibly have for doing it? On that occasion they asked John in sequence, Are you Elijah, Are you Christ, Are you the Prophet?
“This, then, was the testimony which John bore, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, ‘Who art thou?’ He admitted the truth, without concealment, admitted that he was not the Christ. ‘What then,’ they asked him, ‘art thou Elias?’ ‘Not Elias,’ he said. ‘Art thou the Prophet?‘ And he answered, ‘No.’ So they said, ‘Tell us who thou art, that we may give an answer to those who sent us; what account dost thou give of thyself?’ And he told them, ‘I am what the prophet Isaias spoke of, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Straighten out the way of the Lord.'”
Gospel of S. John, 1: 19-23 [link]
The Jewish people of the first century were looking for these three figures to emerge out of the distant light of prophecy to redeem them from their enslavements. In terms of their expectations, we know a little of the great prophet Elijah, who had centuries before rivalled hundreds of pagan priests to emerge as a prophetic champion, restoring the Hebrew religion in the Holy Land at a difficult time. And we know of the expectations of the Messiah, the great shepherd-king, who would lead the people back to their covenant relationship with God. In our first reading today, we learn about the third figure: the mysterious Prophet, whom Moses had said would one day replace him (Moses) as the teacher of the people.
“‘No, the Lord thy God will raise up for thee a prophet like myself, of thy own race, a brother of thy own; it is to him thou must listen. Was it not thy own plea, that day when all were publicly assembled at mount Horeb, that thou mightest hear the voice of the Lord thy God no longer, have sight of that raging fire no longer, lest it should be thy death? And the Lord told me, All that they have said is well said. I will raise up for them a Prophet like thyself, one of their own race, entrusting My own message to his lips, so that he may instruct them at My bidding. Whoever refuses obedience to these commands which he gives in My Name, shall feel My vengeance. If anyone is so presumptuous as to prophesy in My Name when I have given him no message to deliver, or prophesy in the name of alien gods, his life must pay for it.'”
Book of Deuteronomy, 18: 15-20 [link]
We must remember that Moses had given the Commandments of God to the people as a legal code – they would have to follow this Law to have life and possession in the Holy Land. Moses was therefore teacher and law-giver, as even modern Jews insist. But Moses was aware (as in the reading above) that another and greater Prophet would replace him as Teacher and law-giver. Perhaps he knew or guessed that the Prophet and the Messiah – two of the expected three figures – would be the one and the same: Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Teacher. We can hear His voice of authority in the gospel story this weekend.
“…they made their way to Capharnaum; here, as soon as the sabbath came, He went into the synagogue and taught; and they were amazed by His teaching, for He sat there teaching them like one who had authority, not like the scribes. And there, in the synagogue, was a man possessed by an unclean spirit, who cried aloud: ‘Why dost Thou meddle with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Hast Thou come to make an end of us? I recognize Thee for what Thou art, the Holy One of God.’ Jesus spoke to him threateningly; ‘Silence!’ He said; ‘come out of him.’ Then the unclean spirit threw him into a convulsion, and cried with a loud voice, and so came out of him. All were full of astonishment; ‘What can this be?’ they asked one another. ‘What is this new teaching? See how He has authority to lay His commands even on the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!'”
Gospel of S. Mark, 1: 21-27 [link]
As we said in refrain for the psalm this weekend… O that today we should listen to His voice, our Teacher, our Rabbi, God Almighty in the flesh. Even the devils seem to do. But to what end should we obey the voice of Christ? In order that we may have peace. We who are poor and lowly should not have to think and decide for ourselves the right way to live, and what is good and what is evil, what we should do and what we should not do. All this should be plain to us, if not by the light of reason then by God’s revelation to us, or through the teaching authority of the Church. But even with one Teacher and one Rabbi – that is, Christ – we as Christians are a wretchedly divided people, endlessly prey to confusion and ambiguity, with theologian fighting against theologian, with people leaving the practice of religion in droves, deciding that they are ‘spiritual but not religious,’ torturing themselves for decades with the memories of old sins and their consequences. There doesn’t seem to be much peace for many of us. And this is because of our pride, our rejection of Christ and the structures of teaching authority that Christ left behind. We have forfeited that peace He promised us, and for centuries we have been a disunited mess. But we can hear him in the voice of his priest Paul (in the second reading) when Paul says to his Corinthian Catholics that he would like them to be free from worry. That’s the point of it all. Peace, less anxiety, more freedom to accomplish the will of God. In a sexually profligate place like Corinth, Paul would prefer that Christians remain virgins if they can be, to preserve their holiness and their dedication to God. Where prostitution and adultery is the sin of choice, the Apostle counsels chastity and sexual continence.
“And I would have you free from concern. He who is unmarried is concerned with God’s claim, asking how he is to please God; whereas the married man is concerned with the world’s claim, asking how he is to please his wife; and thus he is at issue with himself. So a woman who is free of wedlock, or a virgin, is concerned with the Lord’s claim, intent on holiness, bodily and spiritual; whereas the married woman is concerned with the world’s claim, asking how she is to please her husband. I am thinking of your own interest when I say this. It is not that I would hold you in a leash; I am thinking of what is suitable for you, and how you may best attend on the Lord without distraction.”
First letter of S. Paul to the Corinthians, 7: 32-35 [link]
He would probably say this to us today; we live in a type of Corinth in the Western world today. The whole point of this meditation on virginity is to enable devotion to God and prayer. Paul makes the point that a husband or wife are always concerned with pleasing their spouses, and find it that much harder to carry out the evangelical counsels to the fullest. It’s the reason the Roman Church has for centuries maintained the strictest discipline for her celibate priests. We pray for holy priests, and we try hard despite everything to keep them holy. We may as well mention that this holy intention of S. Paul’s – to enable a strong devotion to God – has led thousands of men and women to the monasteries and cloisters over the centuries.
But I’d best wrap this ramble up. This is the summary of this post: Christ is the Way, the Way is narrow and difficult, the Church has provided the means as best she can, and we are not to worry, but rather keep our eyes fixed upon Christ.
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 