Faith, Fellowship and Fun

Mark 15:1-39
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark    15:1-39
 
Mark 15:1   As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.  2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”  3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things.  4 Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.”  5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
 
Mark 15:6   Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked.  7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection.  8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.  9 Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”  10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over.  11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.  12 Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”  13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”  14 Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”  15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
 
Mark 15:16   Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.  17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.  18 And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.  20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
 
Mark 15:21   They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.  22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).  23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.  24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
 
Mark 15:25   It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.  26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”  27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.  29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,  30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”  31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.  32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
 
Mark 15:33   When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  34 At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.”  36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”  37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.  38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” 
 
            The gospel of the Lord
KIND OF WRITING
This is a large narrative made up of many scenes. It is very likely that the earliest account of Jesus’ life was precisely the story of his death and resurrection. This was the central faith event which motivated all the other memories of his teaching and ministry. It is very likely that in Mark’s account we have the earliest written version of the last week of Jesus’ life.
Thought for the day
There is a core similarity between the four accounts of the death of Jesus in the New Testament. However, they differ in sequence and in details, allowing various understandings of the cross to unfold. Because the death of Jesus was and is such a deeply mysterious and indeed perplexing event, different dimensions are explored and laid bare by different New Testament writers. None is more stark than Mark’s Gospel: all who knew Jesus have failed him; his only “helper” is a complete outsider, Simon, the unknown passer-by. The only acknowledgment comes from the unnamed Gentile soldier, accidentally present.
KIERAN O’MAHONY OSA—tarsus.ie



Fr. Timothy Radcliffe has spoken of how a brush with death through a cancer diagnosis and major surgery opened a window for him into greater meaning and perspective on his life and faith, and on God’s presence in our complex human experience. ‘Sickness plunges us into the messy confusion of our bodily life, where God embraces us’, he writes. Jesus, born a helpless infant, who reached out to touch the sick, who suffered and dies, is with us in our darkest hour.
Surely the summons is to live now. There is no other preparation for eternal life. Who are the people whose forgiveness I must seek? Who are those whom I love but have never told them? What are the acts of kindness that I must do today? There is no time to lose (Timothy Radcliffe)
As Holy Week unfolds, spend the with Mark’s Passion account. Notice the various characters and the roles they play. A good question to ask is ‘Where do I stand?’ Choose a character to be with and see where it leads you.

TRÍONA DOHERTY & JANE MELLETT - Go Deeper
The account of the passion in Mark is very stark. Jesus is portrayed as alone, abandoned by his closest friends and perhaps even by God. He dies on the cross with a loud cry on his lips and darkness covers the whole earth.
Yet at this precise moment the Roman centurion who was guarding him, having seen how he died, makes the great confession of faith: ‘Truly this man was God’s Son.’
Throughout his ministry Jesus had tried to teach his followers that the way of the kingdom was the way of self-emptying love. They had to become servants, slaves to one another and forget about greatness as the world understands it. Repeatedly they failed to understand him and eventually ran away. So we are left with this foreign outsider to tell us the meaning of Calvary.
Through his faithfulness to the kingdom Jesus finally tears away the veil that separates God and suffering humanity. By his prayer of abandonment Jesus has shown us that, far from abandoning us, God has identified totally with our struggle.

SEAN GOAN—Let the Reader Understand, Year B
Jesus foresaw the possibility of a violent end. He wasn’t naive. He know what the consequences would be if he insisted on continuing with the project of the kingdom of God. It was impossible to seek so radically a life of dignity for the poor and for sinners without provoking a reaction from those who had no interest in any change.
Jesus is certainly not contemplating suicide. He is not seeking to be crucified. He did not want anyone else or himself to suffer. He spent his life fighting suffering wherever he found it: in sickness, in injustice, in sin or in despair. So he does not seek death, but neither does he shrink from it.
He will continue to welcome sinners and the excluded, even though his behaviour causes annoyance in the temple. If they condemn him to death, he will die like a criminal or like anyone they exclude, but his death will confirm what he stood for during his whole life: his trust a God who does not exclude anyone from his forgiveness. He will continue to proclaim the love of God for the ‘least’ by identifying himself with the poorest and most despised people in the empire, even at the risk of being a nuisance to the entourage of the Roman governor.
It is for this reason that we Christians are so powerfully attracted to the cross. We kiss the face of the crucified Lord, we raise our eyes to him, and we listen to his last words, because in his crucifixion we see the final act of service to the project of the Father and the supreme act of God of giving his Son out of love for the whole of humanity.
It is unbecoming to turn Holy Week into a popular show or a tourist attraction. For the followers of Jesus to celebrate the passion and death of the Lord is a demonstration of heartfelt gratitude to and joyful worship of the incredible love of God and a call to live like Jesus in solidarity with all crucified victims.

JOSÉ A PAGOLA—Following in the Footsteps of Jesus, Year B
POINTERS FOR PRAYER

  1. The injustice and brutality of the Passion of Jesus make it a difficult story to read as good news. Yet in the midst of that cruelty the courageous, faithful and self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed for us shines through. Recall moments when the account of the Passion has moved you in a special way. How have you experienced blessing through it?
  2. Human love can also be painful. When have you experienced the courage, fidelity and self-sacrifice of others in their love of you? When have you shown that kind of love to others, as a parent, a spouse, or a friend, or in some other relationship?
  3. We read the Passion story in the light of the resurrection. What seemed a humiliating and shameful failure for Jesus was not the end of the story. Perhaps with hindsight you can look back on something in your own life that seemed like a tragedy at the time but out of that tragedy new life and new possibilities followed for you.
  4. For each of us situations can arise in which we feel things are outside our control and we are utterly helpless and powerless. We are not alone in this experience. In his Passion Jesus is one with us in this human helplessness. When have you found that the presence of another with you helped you through a crisis? When have you been able to help another with your presence?

JOHN BYRNE OSA — Intercom
Mark’s account of the actual crucifixion is extremely simple - almost as if the reality was too painful to dwell on. We can however note some of the details:
v.23: they offered him some wine which he refused; this was surely a powerful symbol that he did not want to be saved from this, his final moment of suffering.
v.24: they shared out his clothing; what we have here is a clear reference to two extracts from the psalms—Psalm 15;9-10, and Psalm 21:15. Jesus is portrayed to us as a reminder that in our present lives we meet plenty of opposition. We can however bring salvation to all and be saved by our present actions.
v.25: they crucified him at around the third hour; this was significant since in fact it was the time when people were traditionally purified from all their sins.
v.26: the inscription with the charge of being the King of the Jews is of course helpful to all—the great King of the Jews was also king of us all. It is very interesting that with this lofty title he was crucified with two thieves.
v.31-32: For the gospel writers, the mocking of Jesus was more significant than the physical pain of the crucifixion. There is no sign of either of the robbers being converted. Both robbers reject Jesus.
vv 33-35: It will be useful to read Psalm 22 so that we can get the deep significance of the cry of Jesus, ‘Eloi, Eloi lama sabachtani - my God, My God, why have you deserted me?’ It was really a moment of total desertion, such as only God’s faithful followers have experienced.
v.39: The act of faith of the centurion is a climax of the whole gospel of Mark. This was clearly intended by the writer. We have been led to expect it right through the gospel ever since Jesus proclaimed the good news from God.
vv.40-41 introduce the faithful women. According to Mark only women remained faithful to Jesus even to the end of his brief but very scarred life. Some of these women were in fact at the tomb on Easter Sunday morning.

Lord, we thank you for the faithful followers of Jesus,
those who like the women in the Gospel, look after him in Galilee where it is safe,
and then come up to Jerusalem with him, where it is dangerous,
and are watching with him as he hangs on the cross.

MICHEL DE VERTEUIL—Lectio Divina on the Sunday Gospels, Year B
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