THE WORD
2 Sm 1,1-4.11-12.19.23-27 / Mk 3, 20-21
[Jesus] came home. Again (the) crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
IN OTHER WORDS
On the morning of January 25, 2015, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force were killed in an ambush by Muslim ghters. It was a tragic and horrible incident. Those who might be blamed and be made accountable for the massacre cavalierly dismissed the tragedy as a “misencounter”. Forty-four policemen were killed and it was just a “misencounter?” What a Pilate-way of washing one’s hands. It is indeed very easy to simply dismiss the whole incident as a misencounter. And it is very diffi cult to admit that it was a botched operation attended by breach of protocol, lack of coordination and communication, treachery, perfidy, distrust, a wild grab for fame and glory, miscalculation, inadequate intelligence service, poor military strategy and tactics.
This kind of response to the massacre that labels it as a misencounter, is akin to the response of those who heard the preaching of Jesus but did not want to change their way of life, beliefs, and principles. They heard Him but they refused to listen. They refused discipleship to Jesus and rationalized their refusal by saying that Jesus was“out of his mind.” It is easier to say that Jesus is a crazy guy than to accept His teaching that we should forgive others
seventy times seven times. It is simpler to say that Jesus is a mental case than to internalize His teachings that we must love others – Jews or Gentiles, Caucasians, Africans or Orientals.
How we respond to the teachings of Jesus is shaped and colored by our own biases and prejudices. Just as a prism makes light that passes through it come out in many colors, so does our perceptual field of reference filter that which is perceived by our senses. Hence, we must clean our minds, free our hearts from prejudices, and be open to the guidance and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit for us to be able to see the truth and to be open to change. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us extricate ourselves from our comfort zones where familiar lifestyle and rules bend to our temptations, cater to our whims and caprices. If we nd His teachings hard to accept and difficult to practice, let us be humble enough to admit that. If we reject His teachings because we do not want to change our life, let us admit that. But we should not take the easy way out of simply dismissing Him as someone crazy and His teachings as crazy as he is. There is no easy way to the Father: there is no expressway to His kingdom of peace, justice and love – there is only the less travelled road.
- Fr. Ernie M. Lagura, SVD | USC, Cebu City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
