10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B – Green)
ANTIPHON (cf. Psalm 27(26):1-2)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread? When those who do evil draw near, they stumble and fall.
INTRODUCTION:
Today Jesus invites us to believe in him, even when the world and the people around us tell us that his message is outmoded or too difficult. Holy Mother Church teaches us that the enemy is among us, who tempts us to reject Jesus as the one sent by the Ftaher to restore us to God. Let us pray today that we maty take further steps towards witnessing the Lord in our lives.
FIRST READING (Genesis 3:9-15)
RATIONALE: The first man and woman fall from God’s favor because of their decision to eat of the forbidden tree. But even in disappointment God sees hope for his greatest creatures.
AFTER THE MAN, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me— she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM: (Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Response: 7bc)
R – With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
1. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.(R)
2. If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered. (R)
3. I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD. (R)
4. For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption
and he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities. (R)
SECOND READING (2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1)
RATIONALE: The trials of life only serve to encourage us to believe in Jesus who was raised, that we may be raised as well and dwell with him in God’s glory.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we too believe and therefore we speak, knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
ALLELUIA (John 12:31b-32
R – Alleluia, alleluia.
Now the ruler of the world will be driven out, says the Lord; and when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.
R – Alleluia, alleluia
GOSPEL (Mark 3:20-35)
Jesus came home with his disciples. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder the house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
REFLECTIONS:
When we hear today’s First Reading from the book of Genesis, many images and ideas spontaneously emerge: paradise, first parents, a fruit-tree, the serpent or snake, deception and trickery, human weakness and disobedience, the fall into sin. However, we also recall God’s loving creation of Adam and Eve, his desire for their happiness, God’s fidelity and compassion. We hear God’s promise of a Savior as he predicts enmity between Satan and the offspring of Eve. This prediction in Genesis has long been viewed as the first hint of Christ‘s ultimate victory over Satan.
In Christian theology, the statement about the woman’s offspring crushing the serpent‘s head is referred to as the protoevangelium, the “first gospel.” This is taken to mean that the offspring of Mary—Christ—will ultimately defeat the Serpent, the Devil. Several Church Fathers, such as Justin the Martyr and Irenaeus, view this passage as the first messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. This interpretation provides the background why we often see many paintings and statutes of Mother Mary crushing the serpent under her feet.
A Fresh Pastoral Insight – Recently, Pope Francis has taken some aspects of this passage from Genesis about the events in the garden of paradise and given us a new, insightful, contemporary interpretation. (Pope) Francis focuses on the ‘’conversation” that Eve has with the serpent; the Pope’s reflections are found in his message for the 2018 World Communications Day, entitled: “The Truth will set you free’ (Jn 8:32): Fake News and Journalism for Peace.’ (Pope) Francis asserts that ”the strategy employed by the ‘crafty serpent’ in the Book of Genesis… created the first take news.‘ The deceptive words of the serpent, the devil, called the ‘Father of Lies” (Jn 8:44), trick Eve and result in ‘countless other evils committed against God, neighbor, society and creation.’
Pope Francis sees the clever action and deceptive arguments of the devil as subverting God’s plan. ‘Communication is part of God’s plan for us and an essential way to experience fellowship. Made in the image and likeness of our Creator, we are able to express and share all that is true, good, and beautiful… But when we yield to our own pride and selfishness, we can distort the way we use our ability to communicate… On the other hand, when we are faithful to God’s plan, communication becomes an effective expression of our responsible search for truth and our pursuit of goodness.’
Examining “fake news” – The topic of ‘fake news,” the object of much recent discussion and debate, refers to ”the spreading of disinformation online or in the traditional media. It has to do with false information based on nonexistent or distorted data meant to deceive and manipulate the reader… The tragedy of disinformation is that it discredits others… Fake news is a sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred. That is the end result of untruth.’
Pope Francis is aware of “the difficulty of unmasking and eliminating fake news.” Yet, ‘none of us can feel exempted from the duty of countering these falsehoods.’ As responsible Christians, we need to “create educational programs aimed at helping people to interpret and assess information provided by the media, and teaching them to take an active part in unmasking falsehoods… We need to unmask what could be called the ‘snake-tactics’.”
Difficult Challenges – Pope Francis has given us an important insight from the book of Genesis on the very current topic of ‘fake news.” He challenges us to be truthful in all aspects of our lives as a means of countering falsehoods. We must not become purveyors of ‘fake news” by lies or gossip (which Pope Francis calls ‘terrorism’). He asks us to trust Jesus who proclaims: ‘I am the truth’ (in 14:6) and who also asserts: ‘The truth will set you free” (Jn 8:32). We are invited to be authentic ‘Good News’ Christians in very challenging times!
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Psalm 18(17):3)
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my saving strength.
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The Mass Readings are from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org/bible/readings) and Reflections by Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM is taken from the 10th of June, 2018 edition of Sambuhay Missalette, printed in the Philippines by St. Paul’s Media Pastoral Ministry. The views and opinions in this post are those of the authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the blog site.
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