Rereading the life of Christ in ordinary time

Take care not to disembody Jesus. That advice is derived from “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis’ widely read 2013 apostolic exhortation.

Feb 06, 2015

By David Gibson
Take care not to disembody Jesus. That advice is derived from “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis’ widely read 2013 apostolic exhortation.

But what is “a disembodied Jesus”? This is Jesus as he might be envisioned by people hoping to satisfy a “thirst for God,” but whose quest stops short, ending with a Lord “who demands nothing of us with regard to others.”

Pope Francis exhorts the church “to respond adequately” to the thirst for God found among so many. He wants them to discover a spirituality in the church that offers “healing and liberation,” filling them “with life and peace.” Otherwise, he fears, their spirituality may be marked by “an unhealthy individualism” and isolation from the faith community.

It is a decidedly embodied Jesus who is met in the church’s worship during the five weeks preceding Lent, one of two periods during every liturgical year known as ordinary time.

In Advent, the church journeys toward Bethlehem. In Lent, another journey proceeds toward Jesus’ death and resurrection. But a journey characterizes ordinary time, too, a journey alongside Jesus as he heals suffering people, invites the crowds drawn to him to a deeper understanding of God’s word or dines with individuals considered unacceptable by many.

In the Scripture readings for Masses during the weeks before Lent, we watch Jesus negotiate his way through large crowds and hear repeatedly how he is “moved with pity” for them.

The ordinary time readings reintroduce the faith community to a Jesus who eats with sinners and tax collectors. He explains that “those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do” (Mk 2:13-17).

Jesus in ordinary time is the compassionate healer of Simon’s mother-in-law (Mk 1:29-31). He is an excellent teacher, too. His thought-provoking parables perplex and challenge listeners, while holding their rapt attention.

The kindness of Jesus is apparent in ordinary time. When a man suffering from leprosy says to him, “If you wish, you can make me clean,” Jesus responds: “I do will it. Be made clean” (Mk 1:40-45).

Jesus’ caring concern for the well-being of the crowds surrounding him is clear, too. After realizing that some 4,000 people, with him “for three days,” have not eaten, he summons his disciples, saying:

“If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.”

Confused, the disciples ask, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” (Mk 8:1-10).What Jesus does next is well-known and constitutes a lasting call to his followers.

The feeding of so many with seven loaves and a few fish is wondrous. Moreover, seeing Jesus act out of concern for the hunger of others invites his followers to follow suit. As Pope Francis once commented, in sharing the little we have, God’s power “comes down into our poverty to transform it.”

In ordinary time, the church focuses intently on the life of Christ. His actions in this world prompt reflection and nourish Christian spirituality.

Pope Francis points out in “The Joy of the Gospel” that “by his words and his actions” Jesus teaches a “way of looking at others” (No. 194). Thus, familiarity with the life of Christ is invaluable for Christians.

“Jesus’ whole life, his way of dealing with the poor, his actions, his integrity, his simple daily acts of generosity and finally his complete self-giving, is precious and reveals the mystery of his divine life,” the pope comments in No. 265 of “Evangelii Gaudium.”

Pope Francis frequently accents the centrality of Jesus for Christian faith. When the pope addressed some 200,000 representatives of Catholic lay movements in June 2013, he complained mildly and in “a brotherly way” about the welcome they accorded him when he entered St. Peter’s Square. He said:

“All of you in the square shouted ‘Francis, Francis, Pope Francis,’ but where was Jesus? I should have preferred to hear you cry: ‘Jesus, Jesus is Lord, and he is in our midst!’ From now on enough of ‘Francis,’ just ‘Jesus!'”

Faith, the pope added, “is an encounter with Jesus, and we must do what Jesus does: encounter others.”

The compelling story of the life of Christ heard during the weeks of ordinary time leading to Ash Wednesday will continue to unfold during the days of Lent that lead to Easter. The seasons of the liturgical year are not isolated from each other or in competition. They are interwoven and often point toward each other.

When Jesus restores a deaf man’s hearing and removes his “speech impediment” in the Gospel reading for Masses five days before Ash Wednesday (Mk 7:31-37), I find it difficult not to recall the Lenten reading when he opens the eyes of a “man blind from birth” (Jn 9:1-39). Jesus opens eyes and ears, along with minds and hearts.

The people who brought the deaf man to Jesus are heard exclaiming afterward that Jesus “has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak” (Mk 7:37).