The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to follow the call to holiness and to prioritize our action in support of the last who will become the first.
The reading from the First Letter of Peter is a call to Holy Living.
* [1:10–12] The Spirit of Christ (1 Pt 1:11) is here shown to have been present in the prophets, moving them to search, investigate, and prophesy about the grace of salvation that was to come (1 Pt 1:10), and in the apostles impelling them to preach the fulfillment of salvation in the message of Christ’s sufferings and glory (1 Pt 1:12).
* [1:13] Gird up the loins of your mind: a figure reminiscent of the rite of Passover when the Israelites were in flight from their oppressors (Ex 12:11), and also suggesting the vigilance of the Christian people in expectation of the parousia of Christ (Lk 12:35).
* [1:14–16] The ignorance here referred to (1 Pt 1:14) was their former lack of knowledge of God, leading inevitably to godless conduct. Holiness (1 Pt 1:15–16), on the contrary, is the result of their call to the knowledge and love of God. (1 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 98 praises the Judge of the World
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus describes the First and Last.
Mike Cherney (2006) expresses the challenge he understands in the priorities suggested in the Gospel from Mark.
I find that I grow in my understanding of my faith through analogies to familial love. I find it more central to my being to have the experience of a worldly loving father and even the challenges presented by child, than to have the transcendent experience. I have felt the glow given by a loving God, but I admit my weakness and continue to hold my ultimate emotional investment in people in this world. I know some who have interpreted this passage in a sense more along the lines I would like to hear, but really have come to the conclusion that faith asks us to truly make the Lord and his offer of salvation our ultimate end. I recognize this does not mean giving up those I love, but only establishing a new set of priorities. (Cherney, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The spiritual sense of leaving the family,” by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"Do not let this passage trouble you. Put it side by side with the still harder saying Jesus delivered in another place in the words, 'Whoever hates not father, and mother, and children, and his own life besides, cannot be my disciple' (Luke 14:26). Note that the God of peace, who exhorts us to love our enemies, does not arbitrarily require us literally to hate or abandon those dearest to us. But if we are to love our enemies, it must be in accordance with right reason that, by analogy we should also love our nearest relatives... But insofar as one's father, or son, or brother, becomes for you a hindrance to faith or an impediment to godly life, one should then not collude with that temptation. Attend to the spiritual, rather than the fleshly, meaning of the command." (excerpt from SALVATION OF THE RICH MAN 22.13) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 10:28-31 comments that Jesus doesn’t keep time or measure progress the same way our boss or anybody else does. Everything depends on his free gift of grace—a gift that he offers us to the very end. That’s why “the last will be first” (Mark 10:31). It’s not necessarily because they will outrun the first; it’s because the people we consider “last” will be treated just as bountifully as the ones who we think are “first.”
This is an unusual race you’re running. The rules are stacked in your favor! So leave behind any frustration that you feel and start fresh today once again. Ask the Lord to show you his mercy in just the place you need it. Let that mercy remind you that it’s never too late to change or to try again.
“Jesus, thank you for your generous mercy.” (Meditation on Mark 10:28-31, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the path for the salvation of souls expressed in 1 Peter that involves suffering and dying may have been distasteful to early Christians. The Wisdom contained in verses, like that of the Suffering Servant, point to being consecrated and set aside so as not to conform to the values of the world. Friar Jude reminds us that Mark is not preaching the Gospel of Plenty but notes the life of Francis of Assisi, who was able to give all for the Kingdom and enjoy and celebrate the entire Creation.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rabbi Sharon Brous who draws on her Jewish tradition to name the dignity of every human being.
The call to awaken to the image of God, to the dignity of every person, has been the driving force of my religious life, the very heart of my faith…. What would it mean to build a society in which every person is treated as an image of the Divine? How would this affect our relationships with our neighbors, our coworkers, the stranger lying beneath the stained blankets and trash outside Starbucks? Wouldn’t it compel us to recast the cultures of our schools, organizations, and faith communities? How would it impact health care, education, public policy?… How would it transform law enforcement and criminal justice systems—where today judgment is too often rendered based on whether a person is Black or white, rich or poor, rather than guilty or innocent? (Rohr, n.d.)
We invoke the gifts of the Spirit for the patience and perseverance to participate in Jesus Way to fullness of life.
References
Cherney, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/052824.html
Meditation on Mark 10:28-31. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/05/28/980172/
1 Peter, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1peter/1?10
Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Knowing Our Neighbors. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/knowing-our-neighbors/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=may28
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