Scripture:
Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a
Mark 12:18-27
Reflection:
The first three days of this week feature Mark’s gospel following the opposition to the prophecy which Jesus is proclaiming about the kingdom, which will turn this world’s values upside-down and inside out. Confronting greed, manipulation of God, and in today’s Gospel, selfish control of reality by denial of Resurrection, Jesus asks, "Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scripture nor the power of God?" The Passionists have lost a priest, and a prophet in the venerable person of Fr. Thomas Berry, C.P., who knew the scripture and the power of God on Earth by paying attention to the planet. Fr. Berry revealed in dramatic ways how God relates, and, transforms this world to benefit and not destroy all of creation. A reverent and respectful treatment of all life reveals the meaning of the scripture and the ways in which God works for the benefit of all. "In relation to the earth, we have been autistic for centuries. Only now have we begun to listen with some attention and with a willingness to respond to the earth’s demands that we cease our industrial assault, that we abandon our inner rage against the conditions of our earthly existence, that we renew our human participation in the grand liturgy of the universe." (The Dream of the Earth, Sierra Club Books, 1990, p. 215). Do I recognize, respect and cooperate with the power of God on earth, by paying attention to this planet and the universe in which it exists through the lens of the Word?
Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president of Holy Family Cristo Rey High School, Birmingham, Alabama.