Fr Agustinus Sutiono O.Carm

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources. Imagining the activities done by Jesus we can think about the togetherness among Jesus, his disciples, his followers and the people who received the news of of the Kingdom of God. It can be useful for us to gain some insight about  christianity because the Church grew from this seed.

At the centre of attention is Jesus Christ himself. When we reflect on Jesus, we find another centre of attention, that is the preaching and the proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom of God. That was the only preoccupation that he had. All his words, deeds and sacrifice should be understood in this context. There were no buildings, no offices. There was no institutionalised organisastion. All happened in the open air. The spirit of compassion and mercy  flew freely, easily and directly and found dwelling places: the sinners, the sick, those who possessed ny evil spirits, the overburdened, those who lived in the shadow of death and those who needed God´s pardon. All were welcomed and all were loved.

The realm of the Kingdom of God was explained using many ways and descriptions. And in the point of view of Jesus, the Kingdom of God was a true good news, meaning news that brought good things to the ears and life of the listeners, that made and changed everything into its good for those who loved God. The presence of Jesus Christ manifested in Works and words that were capable of restoring, healing, forgiving, enlightening the mind, enkindling the spirit, strengthening the hope and helping others to see and experience the presence of God. The people of God, represented by the disciples, the women and those who supported the journey of Jesus worked together with Jesus. They welcame and helped those who wanted to see Jesus, accomodated their needs and problems. The awareness on becoming disciples of Jesus was very strong and shaped their characters.

Now, we believe that the same spirit of Jesus Christ still exists and the Church is its apt container. It means that the Church is supposed to always have a great awareness of discipleship to Jesus Christ, channeling his spirit mercy and compassion. By doing so, The Church lives out a call to maintain that her actual presence in this world is to become a presence that reconciles, restores, cures, forgives, enlightens the heart and soul, enkindles every good spirit. Everyone lives as brothers, not being clericalised. The community of the believers is a a community of discipleship, not an institutionalised organisation.  It is the bearer of the spirit of Jesus Christ.

Fr Agustinus Sutiono O.Carm

Meditating on the story about Jesus who invited him to dine is fascinating. We know that the Pharisees always tried to trap Jesus with many things to wrong him. Although Jesus knew their thoughts and plots, he wellcomed his invitation. So, instead of avoiding him, he made himself in the close range of his observation. Probably, Jesus saw him as a sinful person who deserved his presence. Any act of kindness is a sign of love. Jesus appreciated his hospitality. In doing so, Jesus did not underline the enmity of the Pharisees towards him nor mix a possible personal sentiment with his salvific mission. It means that everyone, including the Pharisees, is called to experience the same grace of God. Jesus did not exclude nor judge him.

However, when it came for this Pharisee to see that Jesus also welcomed in the same way the kindness of a woman known as a sinner, he thought in his heart, discrediting Jesus as a prophet. He assured himself with his own definition and criteria and applied them to Jesus. Probably it was true that the woman who came to and annointed Jesus was a sinner. However, when he said to himself in his heart: “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner,” he was mercilessly judging her. That attitude is completely different from that of Jesus. Jesus wanted to save both the Pharisee who invited him to dine and the woman who annointed him. Both of them offered an act of kindness to Jesus. Regardless the form of kindness that they offered, Jesus concentrated on their actual interior disposition. This woman was more grateful to Jesus who welcome her good intention more than this Pharisee who offered him to dine in his house.

In the eyes of Jesus, there can be many act of kindness. Compared with that of the Pharisees, the content of love that intrinsicly exists in the kindness of that sinful woman who annointed him was greater and more meaningful. Jesus explained it plainly to the one who invited him to dine, saying: “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Love is creative. This sinful woman has a greater love to Jesus and creatively showed it to him. Her concrete manifestation of her love to Jesus was genuine and sincere. God knows what is in the heart.

Fr Agustinus Sutiono O.Carm

The context of Jesus’s saying in the gospel Reading today is the attitude of the people towards John the Baptist and Jesus. Many of them, including the tax collector, welcomed John as a prophet and let themselves being baptised by him. They amended the testimony of Jesus about him as his herald and prophet and acknowledged that God’s way was right. However, a different attitude was displayed by the Pharisees and the experts in the law. They rejected God’s purpose for themselves, rejected and criticised John for living in austerity, neither eating bread nor drinking wine.  They said: ‘He has a demon”. Then Jesus came. He ate and drank like nomally others. However, he did not receive their welcome either. Instead of believing in him, they criticised him, saying: ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

Focusing on this demeaning attitude of the Pharisees and the scribes, Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’” So, any attitude towards others is counted before the eyes of Jesus. Whatever action we do to others, we do it to God, and therefore, God counts it. That’s why Jesus needed to comment on their attitude which refers to a disengagement or disconnectivity or pointlessness of their religious deeds or practices. They rechased Jesus and John for logically unreasonable and unclear reason, not on the basis of good knowledge and reasoning, but on ignorance and a sentiment of dislike.

Jesus equalises these experts of scripture and religious rules as children. It signifies that in the point of view of Jesus, they were persons who did not know yet the maturity of spiritual life. They did not have the perception about the essence of religión or becoming a religious person. As a consequence, they did not either grasp the practical knowledge of these matters nor knowing what was the most important thing to do before the eyes of God. Ironically, when Jesus and John introduced the right way, they inconsiderately rejected both Jesus and John.

When Jesus called them as children who “sit in the marketplace and called to one another”, He made his point that the Pharisees and the scribes who criticised Him and John were no more than children who did not know what they were doing, far from being meaningful, only uttering words of insignificance. The expression ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep’ showed that what they did to Jesus and John did not bring effect for living righteously before the Lord nor showed connection to the ultimate end end of being a religious person. The practice of religión which loses its essence will only créate an ignorant religious. It is a tragedy, an utter sadness. And we know very well how high it is the cost of ignorance. Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

Fr Agustinus Sutiono O.Carm

Nain was a small Arab village, 13 kilometers southeast of Nazareth. The story about Jesus who awoke a dead young man, the only son of a widow, is interesting. Saint Luke wrote that Jesus was accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. On the other side, there were also a large crowd of people from the city accompanying this widow for the burial of her son. The large crowd which followed Jesus moved with a conscience that Jesus was a person whose words and works brought life, enkindled the spirit, strengthened every hope for the better. There is life in Him. Meanwhile, the other crowd concentrated on a deep sadness, frustration and were immersed in a conscience of the absence of life. There was no life in that dead Young man. The encounter of Jesus and him brought life back to him, dispelled the sadness of all, and reawoke the hope and restored the spirit of his widowed mother.

Luke wrote: “When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother”. Wherever Jesus is, there, life is restored, conserved, promoted and protected. His movement is like that of the flowing water described in the book of Ezekiel: “The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple. It flows toward the eastern región, goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea.Wherever the river goes, everything, every living creature that swarms will live, and the waters of the seamay become fresh. On both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, They will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” Jesus is that flowing living water.

The presence of Jesus is a model of the presence of the Church because the Church is a continuation of His presence. It means that the Church is to be like that living wáter whose flows are capable of bringing life. As we know that the Church is not the clergy but the whole believers in Christ, we are made aware that our presence too is expected to be a presence that promotes, protects, restores, and conserves life.  No more priest or clerical centricism, and no more clergy-laity polarisation or enmities among them, no more scapegoating each other for the existing problems. The whole member of the Church shall participate in the growth of the Church, in finding wise and Christian solutions for the actual challenges faced by the Church. Only by doing so, the Church will be faithfully representing her profound call to become the continuation of the presence of Christ.