Jesus invites those who have strayed back to the path
Oct. 6, 2024—27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128, R. May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives.; Hebrews 2:9-11: Gospel–Mark 10: 2-16
This Sunday’s Gospel can be reflected on from the perspective of the prophetic character of Jesus’ mission. This gives us the first two points to reflect on: one, how Jesus brought religious practice back to its original inspiration, and two, as a result, reminded us of our core values.
The third point for reflection is Jesus’ exhortation for us to “accept the Kingdom of God like a child.” (Mark 10: 2-16)
Let us revisit one important element in the context of Jesus’ time. For four to five centuries, the Jewish nation did not have any prophets. This accounted for the distortion of religious practices and the whole notion of religion itself.
Jesus in today’s Gospel addressed a burning issue during his time, the question of divorce. In addressing this we saw Jesus’ exercise of his prophetic role.
Jesus called out the “hardness of [their] hearts” and brought the meaning of marriage back to its original intent or inspiration.
We saw this very often in Jesus’ encounter with the religious authorities. He would always call them out and call them back to the original intent of certain practices—marriage, for example.
This is parallel to what Pope Francis said at the beginning of his papacy, that the church must become less dogmatic and be more pastoral.
Prophetic office
Here we see clearly the impact and the authority of the prophetic office. The basic role of the prophet is to call out the community every time they stray away from the path, and to invite them back to the core.
The Filipino term is very vivid: “magbalik-loob,” or going back to the original inspiration or core.
In calling people back, Jesus defined the core values of the Kingdom. It was not simply a list of dos and don’ts. He laid out what mattered most, the original plan of God.
“But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
One could not get more core than this regarding God’s original inspiration for married life.
The third point brings us back also to a core value of Jesus’ message and mission: “Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”
This was issued in the context of a prophetic call again. When the disciples prevented the children from going to Jesus, he rebuked them.
“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
The Lord highlighted the children because of their innate qualities that Jesus, in his prophetic function, upheld to his disciples and to us as worthy of emulation.
Children are innocent, trusting, and humble. This is a prophetic call now more urgent and relevant than ever.
Our world has become so mired in everything counter-cultural to these qualities of the child.
Strengthen the family
Furthermore, we have not just failed to care for the children of our society, but we have also failed to protect them from the evils of this world—human trafficking, sexual abuse, proliferation of drugs, poor delivery of basic services in health and education.
This is a prophetic voice we hear from Jesus. It calls here and now.
When we read the Gospel passage for this Sunday, it is a reminder of how we need to constantly strengthen the family in the changing context of our time.
The first part upholds the sanctity and the grace of marriage. It is what holds the family together.
The second part reminds us of the value and vulnerability of children and the need to proactively care for and protect them.
More and more institutions I have talked to in recent years look at the family background and experience in their choice of employees.
As one of them said, the kind of atmosphere and environment in the family is turning out to be the best predictor of how an applicant will perform in a job or a school.
These realities our youth are living in offer very good guides on the kind of support we need to give them.
