After a five-week journey through Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel (Sundays 17 to 21 in Ordinary Time), we find ourselves on the first day of Spring taking up Mark’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus from where we left off at the 16th Sunday.
We are also celebrating Fathers’ Day, too – a significant social marker along the road of ordinary life. The importance of ‘fathering well’ we take from our understanding of the guiding role of clearly authentic and compassionate men in whom are found the best characteristics of our heavenly father, and who guide us in the families and institutions that matter to us – particularly, Pope Francis.
In reading Mark’s Gospel for this Sunday, we are faced with the challenge of determining from amongst the quotations and the discourse and the accusations, precisely what lies at the centre of Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees and the scribes. It would seem that he is being unreasonably harsh in referring to them as ‘hypocrites’ – until we notice that at the centre of the conversation Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah, who also said much the same thing to the religious leaders of his day, 750 years before Christ’s birth, that instead of following the whole Torah in sincerity, they had chosen to pay only lip service to its precepts, thus weakening God’s Word of salvation.
Jesus’ dialogue in Mark’s Gospel is closely linked to the first reading from Deuteronomy. Moses, prophetic leader and father, speaking to the people of his day, passes on God’s command: “Observe the Laws and Customs I teach you today. Hold fast to them. Add nothing to what I command you, take nothing away.” From this, we understand that God’s Word is permanent, inviolable, not to be changed or adulterated. Strong words!
Jesus, in his criticism of the lip service paid by the religious leadership of his day to the ideals of the Torah, reminds them of the need for authentic leadership, even to take up the role of a shepherd or father in guiding those to whom much has been entrusted.
The inviolable nature of God’s Word for the Jews and for us, with the emphasis on truth and sincerity, finds its resonance in today’s world where society depends on media platforms for an understanding of how we might respond to world events in a way that leads us forward to maintain harmony and peace. Although truth in reporting is a high value in the media world, the erosion of truth in public life – for example in the political arena – is a rising phenomenon where facts are frequently contested and falsified, often exacerbated by AI assisted technologies, resulting in highly believable fake news and conspiracy theories whose purpose is to deceive for profit or gain. How are ordinary people to rightly discern wherein lies the truth of public statements? ‘Alternate news’ of this sort can never lead humanity to peace and equality.
The Catholic Bishops of Australia, in their Social Justice Statement for 2024-2025, entitled Truth & Peace: A Gospel Word in a Violent World, point us to the truth and peace contained in God’s authentic Word, the Gospel Word which is Jesus Christ. The bishops and archbishops have pointed out that only through engagement with truth-telling initiatives and dialogue with people of good will can peace be attained in a world riven by violence and war. Turning away from fabrication and embracing truth can make peace a realistic and attainable goal, if grounded in the teachings and example of the life and healing ministry of Jesus. Such authenticity is what Jesus is calling leadership to in Mark’s Gospel for this Sunday: not a leadership of lip service, but courageous guidance towards the truth.