The Good Word

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Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time IJanuary 20, 2023Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time.A reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to MarkJesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.The gospel of the Lord.HomilyIn the today’s gospel reading Mark tells how Jesus chose the Twelve Apostles. They must have felt special to be singled out by Jesus; but as each one looked around, they were a pretty motley crew. About half were fishermen, one was a tax collector and we really don’t know the occupations of many of them. There wasn’t a single civil or religious leader among them. But these were the ones Jesus chose to send out to preach the coming of the kingdom of God, drive out demons and heal the sick.I suspect they had no idea of what they were getting themselves into. They had heard Jesus’ preaching and teaching; they had seen his miracles of curing and freeing from evil; but they had also witnessed the growing opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus’ interpretation of being faithful to God. And they shared their countrymen’s ideas about establishing God’s kingdom here on earth. They had to wonder how Jesus was going to bring this about in the face of growing opposition, but they had come to place their faith in Jesus and wanted to be part of his mission.The fact that Jesus chose Twelve Apostles was a sign that he was reestablishing the People of God by referencing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. This reference is made explicit in the gospels of Matthew and Luke where Jesus tells the apostles that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, they will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. At the time they did not understand that while the Kingdom of God was in the world it was not of the world. Still, with the exception of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, all the apostles would remain faithful, and after experiencing Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, and after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, they would spread the gospel and build communities of believers throughout the known world.The author of the letter to the Hebrews takes pains to explain that God’s promise through the prophet Jeremiah: “I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” had come true in Jesus. No longer would people have to follow all the precepts and customs of the Mosaic law to become the People of God, they would only have to unite themselves to Christ Jesus through faith and baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.Today, we who have been baptized are called to live this new covenant relationship with Jesus and with one another. Through Confirmation we have received the gift of the Spirit and are sent to take Jesus’ teaching, healing and freedom from evil into the world. Although the teaching of Jesus does not change, cultures and customs do change, and the Kingdom of God must be proclaimed in new ways. This can bring about conflict, because of different visions. Jesus did not choose sides in the culture wars of his day, but called all to a radical living of God’s love and mercy. If we are true disciples of Jesus, we cannot respond to new situations with the customs of the past, but like the apostles we need to learn from Jesus the essentials of our covenant relationship with God and relate to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsRBasilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

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The new James Webb Telescope has peered as deeply into space as humans have ever looked. Instead of revolving around the earth like the Hubble Telescope, the Webb Telescope is one million miles away from earth and revolves around the sun. Current findings have revealed that in our Milky Way galaxy, the stars we see from our backyards number 200 billion - and counting. In our universe, there are an estimated 2.1 trillion galaxies - and counting. There are more stars in our universe than grains of sand on our sea shores. And there may be more universes!The question that comes to mind on this Feast of the Epiphany is whether our understanding of God is too small. Does it need to be stretched along with our new understanding of our vast and mysterious cosmos? St. Paul must have had a sense of this when he sings, “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How inscrutable are God’s judgments and unsearchable God’s ways.” God is not a bystander who wound up the universe like a clock, but a power within creation, the source and life of a process that is constantly urging creation to go beyond itself. God actually invites us to be co-creators in this process. We, too, have a deep intrinsic capacity to go beyond ourselves. There is a strong call within each of us to connect with our True Self, to become the person that God means us to be. Our unique gifts allow us to grow in integrity and wholeness. If this process is wasted or thwarted, the universe will be less. In the Pope Francis’s Epiphany address last year, he famously said, “Don’t get stuck in a spiritual parking lot.” The Magi’s faith kept them moving forward. Although they had excellent reasons not to depart, they accepted the insecurities of being migrants in the world. They let themselves become unsettled. As Benedict XVI said, “the Magi were men with a restless heart.” Their restlessness was born of a desire that drove them to look beyond what is immediate and visible. Vincent van Gogh once said that his need for God drove him to go outside at night and paint the stars. The Magi’s story should mirror our own in three important ways. First, they were restless. They did not allow their hearts to retreat into caves of apathy and distrust. They continued their forward movement toward God. Secondly, they questioned. “Where is the Child to be found,” they asked Herod. While this question froze Herod’s heart, the Magi were openly curious and not afraid to seek after something they did not fully understand. Finally, they returned to their homes by another way. They tried new paths. What a wonderful reminder to us that 2023 can be the best year by far.New Year Blessings, Fr. Kevin MacDonald, C.Ss.R.