Scandal of division

1. Today's Gospel page is at the end of chapter 9 of Mark's gospel and closes the discourse that Jesus gives to the disciples inviting them to reflect well on their way of behaving towards the "little ones who believe in me" using very decisive tones. He says in fact that it is preferable to be without a hand or a foot or to pluck out an eye than to be a cause of scandal because "it is better to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be cast into hell where their worm does not die and the fire does not extinguish it". This is where the text that the liturgy proposes for our meditation this Sunday stops; but if we continue reading, we find in the last two verses of the chapter this recommendation: 'Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another'.  It seems to me that this concluding invitation gives us an understanding of the meaning and value of the advice and precepts of Jesus that St Mark has collected and which he is keen to point out are addressed precisely to the Twelve.  But let us proceed with order.

2. Last Sunday we paused to contemplate Jesus, who, having arrived in Capernaum with the apostles, discusses the mission that he is about to entrust to them and, hearing them argue about who will be the greatest, he does not say that it is bad to aspire to be the first, but indicates the way to get there: to make himself the last and the servant of all. Unpleasant music to their ears as is immediately apparent from the reply of John, whom Jesus nicknames with his brother James "the sons of thunder": "Master, we saw one casting out demons in your name and we wanted to stop him because he did not follow us". In the third chapter of his gospel, Mark notes that "Jesus called to himself those whom he wanted... he made Twelve of them to be with him and also to send them out to preach and that they might have power to cast out demons" (3:13-19).  The group of apostles is therefore well aware of the authority granted to them and the power they received to cast out demons because of their connection with Jesus. Understandable then is the reaction to the claim of those who are not part of the group but dare to cast out devils even in his name. John reacts like the young Joshua we heard in the first reading. Having grown up from childhood with Moses, he was in good enough confidence to allow himself to point out to him that when he took away part of the spirit that was upon him and placed it over the seventy elders chosen as co-workers, in truth there were two missing, Eldad and Medad, who had remained in the camp and the problem, according to him, was that they too had begun to prophesy.  It was not right that those two, even though they had not responded to the leader's summons, should still act under the influence of the spirit. Moses on the other hand rejoiced and rebuked him for his envy. Jesus does the same thing when he forbids the apostles to cultivate the spirit of exclusion so that to John, who informs him that he had prevented a person who was not of the group from casting out demons, he replies firmly: "Do not prevent him". An extraordinary peace dwells in the heart of Christ: he does not pretend to have everything under control, and when he constitutes the good that is done, he admits that someone can perform miracles in his name even if they are not part of those he has chosen as disciples.  And it is as if he recognises that his own mission is somehow beyond his control because he shares it, without his knowledge, with people he does not even know. He thus invites the Twelve not to keep the door of the heart closed: 'He who is not against us is for us', a way of emphasising that there are people 'of ours' even if they are not on our list. We take here an invitation to broaden our vision as Christians in the world: we do not have exclusivity; God works as he wills far beyond ourselves and uses anyone for his plans of salvation.  I am reminded of the passage in Acts of the Apostles 18:9-11 that tells how in pagan and worldly Corinth, which was the heart of the Roman province of Achaia, St Paul experiences a dramatic break with the Jewish community that rejects his testimony about Jesus Christ. He is sad and discouraged, but during the night, appearing to him in a vision, the Lord says to him: "Do not be afraid; keep speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no one will try to harm you: in this city I have a numerous people". Do we not also sometimes feel the futility of our ministry when we see the number of believers dwindling and notice that some come out of our fold and achieve a success that we pretend should only be of our community? Or does it bother us to notice that there are people or groups within the community who think and do things differently from us? Jesus keeps telling us not to torment ourselves with too many mental crises because he - he assures us - has a 'numerous people' everywhere. Paul's Corinth is well the image of today's pluralist, secularised, libertarian, cosmopolitan, opulent and often desperate society because it struggles to find an answer to life's many 'whys'. 'Corinthian living' at the time meant cultivating full freedom of customs, and today it is no less so. The temptation to become discouraged or the risk of cultivating a certain ill-concealed envy and jealousy that creates divisions in the community could then grow. Jesus does not cease to encourage us: 'Keep talking. God has his people everywhere, not often visible to the human eye, and as the Father of all he spreads the fruitful action of the Spirit in all directions. We are not asked to be in control of the situation, but simply to proclaim/witness the Gospel always. However, the need for sound discernment remains. 

3. In Matthew's gospel Jesus states that one recognises the tree by its fruit: the good tree bears good fruit, while the sick tree bears bad fruit (12:33) and concludes: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. This example is missing from Mark's gospel, even though today's text means exactly the same thing. The link, sometimes not immediately perceptible, between all the statements in Jesus' discourse then becomes clear. He means in the first place that there is good fruit also beyond our communities, which means that there are good trees everywhere and we do not have the copyright of goodness and God, but it is Jesus who is at the heart of the proclamation of Christians.  Mark expresses it with this example: 'whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you are Christ's will not lose his reward.  On the contrary, there can also be bad fruit within our community and Jesus draws this conclusion: if the diseased tree that produces bad fruit is to be eliminated, everything in the community that sows the scandal of division must be resolutely suppressed. And he offers this deliberately exaggerated comparison: "If your hand is a cause of scandal to you, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life with one hand, rather than with both hands going into Gehenna", equal treatment for the foot, and the eye. Geenna, which Jesus evokes, is the well-known chasm surrounding Jerusalem from south to west where rubbish was burnt and in the time of kings Ahaz and Manasseh children were sacrificed, a practice so harshly stigmatised by the prophets to the point that Geenna became the symbol of the greatest possible horror and the sign of the punishment of the wicked on the day of universal judgement.  It is understood that Jesus does not recommend physical mutilation despite using emphatically violent expressions. If he resorts to this, it is so that no one underestimates the gravity of what is at stake, namely the community. Let us remember that the discourse at Capernaum starts precisely from the ambition of the apostles in the discussion on who was to be the greatest (9:34) and in the end it becomes clear that in every Christian community the only concern of its members must be to let themselves be consumed by passion for him and his gospel: nothing else! In this light it becomes easy to understand the recommendation that closes the chapter: 'Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another'.

Happy Sunday! +Giovanni D'Ercole