26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
Num 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
1 Oct 2006
Plenty of food for thought is provided by the three Scripture readings. James continues on his blunt, politically incorrect way urging the rich to start crying, to weep for the miseries that are coming. However the rich he describes are killers, cheats and exploiters of cheap labour.
Both he and Mark talk about the punishments of hell, which have been lost in a deep Catholic silence for years. As I have been saying, also for some years, heaven in the mind of many is close to a basic human right (when it is not regarded as a piece of consoling mumbo-jumbo), limbo is out and purgatory has disappeared into limbo.
However we also have in these passages both Moses and Our Lord saying, in effect, that God’s grace works in many places and that those who are not opposed to us are for us.
There is another passage, in Luke’s gospel, which does say that “Anyone who is not with me is against me and anyone who does not gather in with me throws away” (11:23) although an earlier verse in Luke (9:50) repeats today’s milder saying reported by Mark. While it is almost possible to reconcile the two types of saying, they do throw up different emphases.
As a young man I was aware of the stricter version, believing it to be the only approach to the question in the New Testament until I read one of President J. F. Kennedy’s speeches in the 60s quoting today’s alternative. Initially I thought Kennedy had changed the scriptures, making them more inclusive, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the more positive, accommodating version was also Scriptural. I could not find this quote in Kennedy’s inaugural speech which provided then, and I still quote it sometimes, great inspiration for many young people and especially young Catholics. We had no idea then of his personal weaknesses and they of course do not undo the good work for justice and the Free World which he did and they certainly do not cancel out the hope and enthusiasm he inspired. We all need hope and inspiration and I suppose today’s readings mean we should accept goodness wherever we find it.
In less ecumenical and more tribal times many were loathe to accept too much goodness from outside the Catholic community. Some of us were narrow minded.
With most of our young people today the temptation is almost the opposite as they are encouraged to find goodness and wisdom everywhere except in our own national history or in the Catholic Story. If we don’t know who we are, to what community we belong and what we stand for, we can contribute very little because we are not equipped to withstand hostile pressures.
The Holy Spirit is at work first of all through the Catholic Church, in which is centred the Body of Christ and the People of God; but the Holy Spirit is at work in many places just as surely as the spirit of evil is busy abroad, in our communities, and also strives to work his mischief in our hearts.
At last week’s National Catholic Education Conference we had a clear example of the good spirit at work in Professor Kamar Oniah from the International Islamic University in Malaysia, who gave a keynote address in which there were many wise and beautiful truths.
I cite only one. All the monotheist religions worship God and practise religion. It is a bad mistake, she explained, to worship a religion and forget God.
Let me conclude by returning to the fierce references to hell, to punishment after death, found in both James’ excerpt and in Mark’s account. Because the Holy Spirit is at work in many places outside Christianity, we cannot conclude that all is sweetness and light inside the Church or outside. Even a brief glance at the newspapers confirms this. Evil is alive and well.
One fundamental teaching of Our Lord is that there is always a struggle between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, between hope and despair. Each one has to choose one side or the other.
Jesus also taught explicitly about personal judgement after death, of reward for those who follow the light of love and punishment for those imprisoned in hate, violence and selfishness.
Jesus’ language is calculated to penetrate the hearts of people who lived in a brutal age of public violence, political tyranny, no hospitals and early death. Sentimentality was more difficult to achieve then. But Our Lord’s words remain to be pondered, understood in context but not whitewashed out of the text. Our Lord spoke out regularly against evil and was particularly condemnatory of those who corrupt the young.
Our best consolation is that Christ himself will be our judge, wiser and more compassionate than any human judge we can imagine; just as well as merciful. The warm friendly hand of God is always extended towards us, but we also have to stretch out to grasp it.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
