Esta tarde esbozo en 20 minutos la presentación de Jesús en los evangelios desde el punto de vista de su recorrido de la Palestina. espero suscitar temas para compartir y meditar. Voy a alternar en cada diapositiva entre el inglés y el español: cuando hable en inglés, la diapositiva estará en español, y vice versa;
This evening I will sketch in about 20 minutes the Gospels’ presentation of Jesus Ministry in terms of travels. I hope to stir up some ideas for discussion and meditation; I will switch languages from one slide to the other: whenever I speak in English, the slide will be in Spanish, and vice versa.
En la pantalla se puede ver el mapa de Palestina, la tierra de Jesús. Él vivía en Galilea, al norte, donde se ve el lago de Galilea. En el mapa se ven dos pueblos letrados en blanco: Nazaret y Cafarnaúm. Jericó y la capital, Jerusalén, se encuentran en el sur, en la región de Judea. Norte y sur están ligados por el río Jordán, donde Juan Bautista predicaba la conversión de vida y ofrecía el rito de purificación y renovación que seguimos llamando bautismo. El Jordán baja de norte a sur, desembocando en el Mar Muerto, pero Juan Bautista asentó su ministerio en el sur. La gente sabía dónde ir para verlo. No así Jesús, quien se desplazaba constantemente de Nazaret a Cafarnaúm a Betsaida y a los demás pueblos del norte. La gente lo buscaba y no sabía a dónde iría después. Esta diferencia es notable. Mientras que Juan Bautista se retiró al desierto de Judea, el ministerio de Jesús lo llevó a visitar a la gente donde ella vivía. Jesús entendió que su misión era de salir, de ir al encuentro de la gente y hablar con ella, y atenderla en sus necesidades. Claro que rezaba el sábado en las sinagogas con su gente, pero no se quedaba allí. Jesús no era un predicador o curandero local, más bien un profeta itinerante.
On screen is a well-known map of Jesus’ homeland. Jesus was a Galilean, from the North, where we can see the Sea of Galilee. Nazareth and Capernaum are the two villages we can spot in white letters. The capital, Jerusalem, and Jericho, are both in the Southern region of Judea. North and South are linked by the Jordan river, where John the Baptist preached repentance and performed a ritual of cleansing and renewal we still call baptism. Although the Jordan river runs down from North to South all the way to the Dead Sea, John the Baptist kept his ministry pretty stable in the Southern riverbanks. People knew where to find him. Not so Jesus, who kept moving from Nazareth to Capernaum, Bethsaida and the other Northern villages. People had to look for him and never knew where he was headed next. This is not inconsequential. Contrary to John the Baptist, who retreated into the Judean desert, Jesus’ ministry took him everywhere ordinary people lived. Jesus perceived his mission to be to go out, to reach out, to meet with people and talk with them and tend to their needs. He certainly prayed in the synagogues on the Sabbath with the people, but he was definitely not a resident preacher or healer, rather a wandering prophet.
Esto da qué pensar. Como el Papa Francisco nos lo recuerda, los discípulos de Cristo tenemos que estar en salida, como nuestro maestro. Si la Iglesia pretende ser fiel a Jesús no puede quedarse sentada en el templo. Tiene que salir al encuentro de las personas, donde se le necesita. ¿Hemos estado saliendo últimamente en el nombre de Jesús? ¿Haciendo qué y diciendo qué?
This is food for thought. As Pope Francis pleads today, we Christians, disciples of Jesus, we need to be going out more often, like our Master did. A Church that pretends to be faithful to Jesus has to be dynamic and mobile, out there where it matters most. Have we been going out lately in Jesus’ name? Saying what and doing what?
The Gospels focus on one final journey to Jerusalem, in the South, where Jesus is arrested and executed. The popular prophet from the North met with the resistance from the wealthy, the powerful and the religious authorities. Empire always knows how to quench criticism and thwart any attempt at upheaval: just humiliate, punish and eliminate troublemakers, take them out in the scariest of ways. Hanging up troublemakers in crosses on the road is a pretty efficient deterrent to dissent. Jesus knew what he was up against when he decided nevertheless to travel to Jerusalem. This is also food for thought. As disciples of Jesus, where do we choose to go? Do we leave our comfort zone? Or do we avoid trouble by rehearsing the Gospel where it is safe to proclaim?
Jesus himself has a very direct way to show us what awaits us if we follow on his wake. “Take up your cross and follow me.” This is not just a call to face our personal challenges or to put up with the daily inconveniences in our lives. This is a stern warning on the cost of discipleship. You want to be my disciple? Befriend then the very weapon that the Empire is going to use against you to inflict pain on you and to push you to quit. Again, this is food for thought. Have we not tamed the cross into a comforting religious symbol? What instrument of repression from today’s powerful would be the gruesome equivalent of the cross back then in Jesus’ time?
Cuando Jesús llega a Jericó, cerca de Jerusalén, él sana al ciego Bartimeo. En cuanto ve de nuevo, Bartimeo deja su manto detrás y sigue a Jesús por el camino… que lo lleva a Jerusalén y a la pasión. A través de este relato de sanación particular y a estas alturas del Evangelio, San Marcos claramente nos está tratando de intimar cuál es la respuesta que Dios espera de nosotros al llamado de Jesús. Una vez más, hay materia para reflexionar. Pensando en Bartimeo, ¿Qué estará bloqueando nuestra vista de lo que hay por hacer en nuestro vecindario? ¿Cuál sería el manto al que nos sentimos pegados y que no queremos dejar para seguir a Jesús? ¿De dónde sacar coraje para pedir a Jesús que nos abra los ojos, a pesar de los reproches y las malas miradas de otros, a fin de sanar de nuestra indiferencia o complacencia con la manera en que se conducen las cosas alrededor nuestro?
When Jesus reaches Jericho, nearby Jerusalem, he heals Bartimaeus the blind. As Bartimaeus recovers his sight, he leaves his cloak behind and follows Jesus on the way… to Jerusalem! Through this particular healing story at this particular stage in the Gospel, Saint Mark the Evangelist clearly wishes to convey what is the appropriate and expected response to Jesus’ call. Once more, here is food for thought. What might be blocking our sight from what needs to be done, here in our neighborhood? What kind of cloak might we be fond of and reluctant to let go of? How could we summon the courage to ask Jesus, in spite of others rebuking us or shushing us, to heal from our indifference or complacency with the way things are around us?
La cruz romana no impidió volver a caminar a Jesús, pero de otra manera, misteriosa. Dios lo resucitó para que fuese al encuentro de sus discípulos decepcionados, desilusionados, descorazonados. Ellos ya no creían en la misión, huyendo de Jerusalén. No entendían el sentido de los trágicos eventos. Jesús les da el alcance y camina con ellos, los escucha y les ayuda a entender mejor, gracias a las Escrituras. Nosotros también tendremos la oportunidad en unos minutos, gracias al Pr. Todd Hanneken, de entender de manera muy original e inédita las estaciones de la cruz a la luz del caminar de Abrahán en el Antiguo Testamento.
The Roman cross never stopped Jesus from walking again, with us, although not for our eyes of flesh to see and recognize. That is our faith in the Resurrection of Christ, beautifully told by St. Luke in the Emmaus Road story. Two disciples walk away from Jerusalem: disappointed, disillusioned, disheartened. They thought the mission was over with Jesus’ passing away, they could not grasp the meaning of it all. Notice how they walk away from Jerusalem, instead of walking towards it like Bartimaeus. Jesus joins them and walks along with them, listens to them, and invites them to think again, with the help of the Scriptures of old.
In a few minutes we too will have the chance to rethink the stations of the cross in light of Abraham’s experience, thanks to Pr. Todd Hanneken of St. Mary’s University. The Holy Scriptures are to help us in our discernment of God’s will for our world today; they trigger new understandings of our reality, they shed God’s light into our predicament. Abraham’s story in the book of Genesis, although apparently unrelated to the Passion of Jesus Christ, may help us walk the stations of the cross with a renewed, deeper understanding. If we care to open the Scriptures and listen, everything comes into place, just like it did for those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Welcoming the stranger to stay and share our bread completes the journey. Jesus’ presence is truly felt and with renewed enthusiasm, we can set out again to fulfill our calling as disciples of the wandering Galilean.
Si el ministerio de Jesús consistió en salir al encuentro de la gente y caminar con ella, la Iglesia que se reúne en su nombre reconoce luego un viaje más increíble y trascendente hecho por Jesús fuera de nuestra vista. Al confesar que Jesús no es sólo el Mesías judío tan esperado, sino el Hijo Único que Dios envía al mundo para salvarnos, la Iglesia dice algo mucho más profundo del caminar de Jesús. La semana próxima nos adentraremos más en este caminar de Jesús, del Padre hasta nosotros para luego regresar al Padre y ofrecernos la posibilidad de seguirlo hasta allí.
If Jesus’ Galilean ministry was all about going out and reaching out to people, the Church that gathers in his name has deepened its understanding of a wider, global and far-reaching mission beyond what anyone would have thought possible at first. By confessing Jesus not only as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, but also as God’s Son, the ultimate revelation of God’s will for us, the Church says something more and something bold about this wandering and humble Galilean. The Apostle Paul captures this in a nutshell, when he writes to the Galatians that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to ransom those under the Law, so that we might receive adoption” (Gal 4:4-5.) We thus confess as Christians that Jesus not only walked the roads of Palestine, but that he actually set off from even farther – from heaven – all the way to meet us on earth. We confess that Jesus is not only a wandering Galilean prophet, but the Son of God sent into the world to redeem all of us within it. What a Journey that is! Next week we will go deeper into this unseen part of Jesus’ travels, from the Father to us and then back to the Father.
Ahora a intercambiar unos minutos gracias a las preguntas que aparecen en las separatas, con las personas a su alrededor. Regresamos luego con la ponencia del Pr. Hanneken sobre la Via Dolorosa de Abrahán.
For now, let’s reflect and discuss on what we have seen so far, with the help of the questions in your handouts. We have 10 minutes for this, no need to go through all of them, just pick the ones that speak to you and share your thoughts with the people next to you. We will then proceed to the second half of our evening talks with Dr. Hanneken and Abraham.