‘Mission in Mark: marks of mission’
HOMILY: I don’t know if you are anything like me but talk of the mission of the church makes me profoundly uneasy. I feel this uneasiness in my body. It feels unsafe. It feels like I might be walking into a trap …
‘Whose hands?’
HOMILY: There are two types of resurrection icon. The Latin or Western tradition favours depiction of Christ’s exit from the tomb – images of Christ the Victor, soaring into the air, often carrying a banner or flag symbolising victory over the grave; soldiers and others cowering in fear and defeat below. Think El Greco or Rubens. Resurrection as rising away from others …
‘Failure redressed’
HOMILY: Back in chapter 14 of Mark’s gospel, an account of the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane, we read: “Following Jesus was a youth wearing nothing but a linen cloth, whom [the authorities] also tried to arrest but who fled naked, leaving the cloth behind.”
‘The Word of the Cross’
HOMILY: The Cross is ugly, terrible – an instrument of torture. It symbolises the frightening might of empire – as threat, weight, trauma.
‘The story of Jesus and friends’
HOMILY: Our mosaic image shows Jesus washing the feet of disciples (a scene from John’s gospel). It’s about being kind (even amid difficulty and under stress). It’s about mutual service. It’s about equality – “encouraging, comforting and urging … lives worthy of God” (as the Apostle Paul says [1 Thessalonians 2:9-20]). It’s about bare feet and holy ground, hard traveling and “walking the walk”.
‘Growing into resistance’
HOMILY: Our Orthodox icon for today is called Entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is depicted at the centre, sitting upon a donkey. His invisible glory is represented by a halo and the scroll in his hand means Holy Wisdom.
‘Action and reflection’
HOMILY: In chapter 1 of John’s gospel we read about two of John the Baptiser’s disciples choosing to follow Jesus. “When Jesus turned around and noticed them following, he asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They replied, ‘Rabbi’ – which means ‘Teacher’ – ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come and see,’ Jesus answered” …
‘Love’s great themes’
HOMILY: “Even if I can speak in all the tongues of earth – and those of the angels too – but do not have love, I am just a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal …” (1 Corinthians 13:1ff.).
‘An icon of snake and seraph’
HOMILY: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Chosen One must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in the Chosen One might have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
‘Let’s overturn these tables’
HOMILY: What does Jesus discern?
That the temple has been made a market, a place to buy and sell (consume) religion at the expense of those in real need of support, help and healing.
That collusion among the wealthy and entitled – and frequently frightened – leads to corruption – of institutions, individuals and values.
