During this liturgical year we have the opportunity to allow ourselves to be accompanied by the Gospel of Mark. It is interesting to note that we seem to think that all the Gospels are the same. Each Gospel has its own message that complements each of the others. In the end, the goal is that the Good News reach everyone’s heart and life. Interestingly enough, it is in the Gospel of Mark that we are introduced to the word gospel, the good news of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We begin the reading of the Gospel of Mark once the Christmas liturgical season comes to an end and we enter into ordinary time. There is nothing whatsoever “ordinary” about ordinary time”. This is another way of saying, “it’s in the everydayness of life that we construct discipleship”. With fine spiritual precision, the question that guides us is: how do we go about living the gift of Christmas? – we receive the truth that God became one of us. In the divine incarnation, all persons become participants in God’s divine life. How do we put this into practice?
The Gospel of Mark gathers all of this and guides us through a sequence of quick and powerful scenes. This Gospel wants to insist that in order to put into practice the truth of God, of Emmanuel, of that loving presence that defines us, we need to come to know Jesus. We need to come to know Jesus, as he reveals himself to us, not as we imagine him to be. This is why we find in the Gospel those mysterious words, “do not let anyone know”. The person will not be able to understand if the person has not come to know him, as he is, as he reveals himself to be.
What follows, is the necessary next step to come to the intimate knowledge of the absolute love of the Lord. This is the secret, this is the most profound truth that needs to be discovered. Once this truth is discovered, then we discover how we are called to live. If we come to this intimate knowledge of the absoluteness of the Love of the Lord, our way of life is defined, becomes specific, has a mission. This way of life is called a life “in the reign of God”, this is the substance of what it means to be Church and a Catholic.
Now, we have to note the place where this revelation of the absolute love of the Lord takes place is on the Cross. Our lives, our calling to follow the Lord along the path of loving as he has loved us, will take us constantly in that direction, the place where our love for others becomes absolute.
Father Francisco Gómez, S.T.