TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY "B"

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Cycle “B”: Mark, 8, 27-35

               “Who do you say I am?”

                  The Suffering Messiah

Here is a tender story of the King’s daughter. Once upon a time, in the beginning, the King ruled in heaven and his daughter was made entirely of light. The King had two thrones: one of justice and the other of mercy. He could be demanding and just, but he could be tender-hearted and protective as well. The Princess grew up, and the King sent her out into the world to breathe grace and blessing upon the earth and the people. The Princess, made of light, was usually invisible. She came and went in visions, dreams, sunrises and sunsets, sometimes in prayer and times of need. She came as light, a princess, and a bride; sometimes as a divine presence hovering over a house, a person, a place of sanctuary, or she was glimpsed flying over the Temple in Jerusalem. The sight of her gave heart and soul to the people, and they prayed in gratitude for her visitation, for they knew that the King was always aware of her and was close by them as well.

But one day the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were forced into exile, weeping for all that was lost. The Princess, too, was heartbroken and joined her people. She was dressed in rags and tatters. She had to go with them. Her father understood. Time passed and a decree went forth from the King: “Anyone who can find my daughter in exile will marry her and celebration will be proclaimed through all heaven and earth. The day of their wedding will be a time of rejoicing and coming home for all. She is a secret, hidden in and among the people, but she is always there with them.” Many young noblemen tried to find her; they searched the earth, its wild reaches, back alleys, and courts of kings, the winding roads and hillside caves; in the inns and the homes of the poor. No one found her. But there was one prince who sat very still and dreamed and thought and prayed: where could she be? Hidden and yet present with the people? 

The prince knew a friend, a great and wise rabbi, and went to him, saying, “How can the Princess be so well hidden and yet so present with the people?”  The rabbi startled him with the answer: “There is only one thing that is well hidden among the Jewish people and yet present and powerful. That is the Torah, the words of the Holy One.” The prince knew he was close but he did not know the Torah, and asked to learn, to be apprenticed to the rabbi. He became a student, a disciple, of the Torah. Years passed, then decades, and the Torah, the words of the Holy One, seeped into him like air and moved through him like the blood in his veins. He was in love with the Torah! And he found the Princess there, hidden in the words, and he came to understand the secrets therein. Often he would catch glimpses of the Princess made of light and hope, and his eyes would grow bright with wisdom and compassion. The prince now knows where she is hidden. What remains is to set her free from all the world. He will, and he knows that the King, her beloved father, has promised to rebuild the Temple, bring the people back home from exile and set up a light to the nations. The King will bring her home, and on the day of her wedding all the world will rejoice and all will be bound in “Shalom” and wisdom. The prince knows that the secret of freeing her is hidden in the Torah. He knows and searches for his beloved, his friend, the woman of light.

My dear friends, when we remember that this story is not about a man or a woman but about the presence of God in exile with the people he loves, about God’s covenant of faithfulness and friendship with us, then we know who the Son of God is, who as Messiah and light dwells in our pain and suffering. Then we know that we dwell in a sacred place and not merely Caesarea Philippi where Peter proclaimed, “You are the Son of God.” When you are in pain and feel left alone, someone advises you to offer your pain with Jesus on the Cross. That is correct, but not quite. What is more true is that you must become aware that Jesus the Messiah is truly present in your pain as he is present in the Holy Eucharist , so that your very body, broken by trial, becomes the very sacrament of the presence of Jesus Christ. So Jesus tells Peter, “Don’t you stop me from going to my suffering, because as Messiah, as the Holy One of God, I am only entering into the history of humanity’s pain and shame, so that I can be wedded to you all, to bring about joy and exaltation, “shalom” and wisdom.  Now do you understand, asks Jesus, the meaning of Messiah?  Messiah means anointed, anointed with the pain of being human, so that I can anoint humanity with the oil of gladness.”

So, dear friends, do not prevent Jesus, but allow him entrance into your life, your history, your future, and the future of your children.

PRAYER (F.C. Happold)

O Christ, serene and tranquil light,

Shine into the depth of my being,

Come and draw me to yourself.

Free me from the chatter of my mind,

And draw me through and beyond

All words and symbols,

Into the silence,

That I may discover you,

The unspoken Word

The pure light,

Piercing and transforming the darkness

That veils the ground of my being.