Sunday:       8 Th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Date:         February 26, 2006
Year:         B
The readings: [Hos. 2:24, 15, 19-20; 2 Cor. 3:1-6; Mk. 2:18-22]
The message:  The relationship of God with His people.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  2261

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What beautiful Readings we have just heard! The First Reading from the Book of Hosea spoke of the relationship that God the Father desires to enjoy with us as His people. The Second Reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians spoke of the relationship that the Holy Spirit enjoys with us today. And the Third Reading from the Gospel of Mark also spoke of a relationship, the one that Jesus enjoys with us. Through these readings from the Holy Scriptures, the fullness of the Divine ministry of the Holy Trinity is seen at work.

Welcome my brothers and sisters in Christ to today's celebration of the Holy Mass. And a special welcome to any visitors who may be present, they having found their way to our lively Church!

During today's First Reading, [Hos. 2:14, 15, 19-20] we heard through the prophet Hosea that God made a promise, that He would take His people into the wilderness and tenderly speak to them. To take the people into the wilderness is symbolic of setting them apart as His own people.

God promised that once He would take His people into the wilderness, He would tenderly speak to them as His children. In return, God's people would respond to Him as in the days of their youth, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Here God's children are compared to young children who show great appreciation for what they have received. When God, through Moses, freed His people from the Pharaoh of Egypt, at first, the people were grateful. They praised God for His power and glory. They were thankful, remembering His goodness. Most children behave in manner. They remember the goodness that is done to them by their parents, their grand-parents, their aunts and uncles, their brothers and sisters, the kind neighbours, etc... They shine in appreciation.

As God continued to speak through the prophet Hosea, He used symbolic language that was prophetic in nature. He said that He would take His people as His wife forever. What does it mean that God would take His people as His wife forever? It means that God portrays His relationship with His people as a marriage. [Hos. 2:16-20; Is. 54:5-6, 62:45; Jer. 2:2; Ez. 16] It is eternally binding as marriage vows are eternally binding.

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist spoke of that relationship with God. When the disciples of John the Baptist were concerned that all were going to Jesus, John said, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms' voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled." [John 3:29]

In other words, those who listen and hear Jesus, they rejoice greatly because they are as the bride who is in the Presence of her husband. They listen and hear the Words of Jesus. In a figure of speech, their status is as if they were married to God. They are God's people. They are the Church, the Body of Christ.

This is further supported by another passage in the Gospel of Matthew and the Reading from today's Gospel of Mark. Earlier, we heard that the disciples of John questioned Jesus as to why the Pharisees and they fasted often, but His disciples did not fast. "And Jesus said to them, 'The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.'" [Mt. 9:15; Mk. 2:18-22; Lk. 5:34] From these Words of Jesus, we heard that He Himself is the Bridegroom. His faithful disciples, the saints of the Church, each and everyone of them, were as a wife to Him.

Another passage from the Book of Revelation speaks of the bride of God, the wife of Christ. "And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." [Rev. 21:2, 9]

As the Holy Bible teaches us, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, is the spiritual Body of Christ, the mystical City of God, the invisible Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that had its origin in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. It is also known as the invisible Kingdom of God that had its beginning on the Day of Pentecost when Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the world. At that moment, Jesus established His Kingdom, He being the Firstfruit of many to follow.

Returning to our First Reading, why did God want a wife, the Church, a spiritual Kingdom that includes all the past, present and future saints? It is because He wants to transform His children in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. It is to make His children shine in the likeness of His Divine nature.

The relationship that God desired from His people in the Old Testament is the same relationship that He desires from us today.

As you heard earlier during the Second Reading from the 2 nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, St. Paul was talking about letters of recommendations. Today, we call those letters, "letters of references."

It is important for us to understand from this reading that St. Paul was emphasizing the spiritual nature of man versus the worldly nature.

St. Paul started by saying that "We do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? [2 Cor. 3:1] Now, why did St. Paul bring this subject up? It was in response to accusations that were made against him by his adversaries, those who like to gossip and make trouble, usually because of jealousy. Now, St. Paul was not condemning the practice of giving letters of references. I am stating this because he must have certainly known that the Church of Ephesus wrote a letter of recommendation on behalf of Apollos when he crossed over to Achaia. [Acts. 18:27]

What St. Paul was emphasizing is that the worldly mind functions at the worldly level, requiring letters of references. But, those who are spiritually minded, they function at the spiritual level, and do not require letters of references. The fruit of the spiritual work is sufficient to testify on behalf of the worker that his work is of God. That is why St. Paul said to the Corinthians, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all." [2 Cor. 3:2] The christian behaviour of the Corinthians, seen and known by all, was sufficient! The Corinthians, they being the fruit of the spirit of St. Paul, their loving actions were spiritual letters of reference. Their actions and words beared witness to him by their conduct.

St. Paul went further by stating the kind of letter of reference that the Corinthians were by their actions. Their wonderful conduct that was worthy of the praise and glory of God was not of human nature. It was of Divine nature. Their conduct was equal to a letter of reference written by Christ Himself. It was not a letter written by man with ink on tablets; it was a spiritual letter written by the Spirit of the living God in the human hearts. [2 Cor. 3:3]

With such a spiritual letter of reference of Divine nature, who needs a letter of reference of human nature? Being spiritually minded, placing their confidence in Christ towards God as children of the Lord, the Corinthians and St. Paul, did not need a worldly letter of reference. [2 Cor. 3:4]

St. Paul proceeded by saying that we cannot take the credit for the fruit of the spiritual work of God. It would not be appropriate to write ourselves a letter of reference when spiritual work results from the fruit of the work of God. It would not be honest for us to take from God the credit that belongs to Him, claiming that it is our work. Here, in St. Paul, we see the true humility of a servant of the Lord.

How often do we pridefully take credit for the spiritual work that is accomplished through us as instruments of the Lord? How often do we forget that it is because of the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Name of Jesus that such spiritual work has been accomplished? Which one of us can assure the salvation of someone? None of us! Which one of us can give faith to one who has no faith? None of us! By ourselves, we are nothing! With God, we are everything!

Next, St. Paul spoke of the process in which the spiritual work of the Holy Spirit is accomplished. He asked, "Who has made us competent, to be ministers of a New Covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life." [2 Cor. 3:6]

Who has made us competent to teach the Word of God as ministers of the New Covenant of grace? It is God Himself! It is by His grace that we have received our living faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This grace of God is not worldly! All worldly things will come to an end! Our competence as ministers of the New Covenant is spiritual. How? Through our Baptism! By the power of the Holy Spirit, each of us became a new creation of the godly seed, receiving a new heart and a new spirit. Our new creation, being from God, belongs to God, longs for God and serves God. It is through the new heart that we become competent as ministers of the New Covenant to become living stones in Christ.

The newly created heart animates the spiritual nature. It is spiritual in nature because it was received from the all powerful and eternal Holy Spirit who is life giving.

From this Second Reading, we see the all-loving and all-giving Divine relationship that the Holy Spirit manifests in our lives. We perceive how, as God's children, the Holy Spirit empowers us through our newly created human spirit to minister to others so we may all share in the eternal glory that awaits all those who have been baptized and who, through the Sacraments, persevere in their living faith in Christ.

During today's Gospel of Mark, Jesus said, "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day." [Mk. 2:20] Indeed, Jesus was taken away from His disciples when He died on the cross. And they mourned His death for a little while. But now, He has resurrected. Through His indwelling Holy Spirit, He is once more with us, Jesus and us being eternally united as bride and Bridegroom. As such, we should rejoice!

Before concluding, I would like to explain the spiritual meaning of the final words of Jesus that we heard from the Gospel of Mark. Jesus said, "No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." [Mk. 2:21-2]

In this parable, Jesus was explaining that the physical and the spiritual natures do not mix. They oppose one another. One will overcome the other. Equally, the spiritual Kingdom of God cannot coexist on earth with the natural laws that call all things to decay.

The wineskins represent our decaying physical bodies that are physical shells through which our souls manifest themselves. The wine is the new heart and spirit that has been bought by the Precious Blood of Christ. In our eternal glory, we cannot count on our physical bodies that will decay. Our eternal glory depends on our new hearts and spirits that embrace the Sacraments of the Holy Catholic Church to sanctify our souls. Once our souls are sanctified, at the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, we will all be changed. [1 Cor. 15:52-3] On that day, as new wine is placed in fresh wineskins, at the twinkle of an eye, our santified souls will be placed in new imperishable bodies.

From today's three readings, we have come to perceive the fulfillment of God's promises that was found in the Old Testament. By the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, we are called to rejoice in our relationship of the Lord Who is forever present with us. The Lord has set us apart and provided us through the Sacrament of Baptism with the means to serve Him in righteousness, in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy towards others. Let us always be thankful to the Lord God for all that He has done for us.

As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us cherish with all our hearts the priceless relationship that we enjoy with the Lord Jesus. Let us ask the Lord Jesus to chain us to Him so we will never lose this loving relationship.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"The Lord says this concerning Israel, his people: 'I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord." [Hos. 2:24, 15, 19-20]

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Second Reading...

"We do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all: and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent, to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." [2 Cor. 3:1-6]

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Gospel Reading...

"One day John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to Jesus, 'Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?'

Jesus said to them, 'The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." [Mk. 2:18-22]

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