Gospel Reflection For The 6th day of April in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 16:9-15
1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. 2 And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. 3 And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished.
6 Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you. 8 But they going out, fled from the sepulchre. For a trembling and fear had seized them: and they said nothing to any man; for they were afraid. 9 But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 She went and told them that had been with him, who were mourning and weeping.
11 And they hearing that he was alive, and had been seen by her, did not believe. 12 And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country. 13 And they going told it to the rest: neither did they believe them. 14 At length he appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. 15 And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
What an interesting statement, “preach the Gospel to every creature.” Jesus did not say only that they should proclaim the Gospel to every man, woman and child, but to every creature. How odd! After all, what can a dog or a snail understand? What we must understand, and what the Church teaches, is that the Gospel changes everything for everything and not just for mankind. It is not a matter of preaching to animals and plants, but it is that the order of every created thing and its nature was changed by the resurrection of our Lord.
When our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned death, disease, disorder and decomposition entered the world. We might think of this, as I have mentioned before, as a perfectly running clock, made by a master clock maker. Its operations are wonderful and precise, far too complex for anyone but the maker to understand. Suddenly, one tiny gear is damaged by an outside force… the enemy has disrupted the perfect action of this clock. The clock continues to run, but its harmony is changed. It is no longer accurate. Where our analogy fails though, is that in the clock of this universe, the gear that is man has to assent to be fixed by His maker.
The Doctor of the Church, Saint Hildegard von Bingen, who was the greatest herbalist ever lived… a mystic and a visionary who wrote profound books on theology and the nature of the universe, but especially on this issue of sin being the cause of disease and death, often discussed this subject. Her writings from around 1100 AD described many things that modern physicists and scientists are only beginning to understand, especially regarding energy and what we might call the nature of being. In her system of medicine, God made medicinal properties in nature to help correct the physical consequences of sin. In the same way, He gave us religious knowledge and prayer to help correct the effects of sin on our souls. To her, the physical and the spiritual, man and nature, were inextricably connected.
While the Bible speaks of these truth in far less detail than did Saint Hildegard, we still understand that the universe, or all of being was redeemed through the sacrifice of Christ. Eventually, when our Lord comes again, all will be restored to the condition that God intended before sin entered the world. While the Gospel is especially for us as humans, who are the direct agents, Jesus redeemed all creation. As we ponder what it means to “proclaim the Gospel to ever creature,” I think we may do this at least in part, by the kindness and care we give to all and everything. We should treat every person and every animal with due consideration. It is wrong to mistreat either. We should treat each person with the respect we would want for ourselves and see the divinity of God in them. While we eat animals for our sustenance, and keep some as pets, we should ensure that they are well cared for, provided for. We should steward the land, giving respect to what God had created. We should not litter or unnecessarily pollute our environment. Hunters should take care to provide habitat for animals and should acquire the skills necessary to take their game efficiently, in the way that causes no undue suffering. In short, we should care for all that God has created, with proper attitudes of respect and gratitude.
The Gospel, in this regard, is a message that the order intended by God is being restored. We are agents of that order who have the extreme privilege and honor of taking part in the salvific mission of Christ, in our prayers and actions. We do this through love, charity and kindness. The more that the love of God embodies our every action and thought in every aspect of our life, the more we participate in this mission. Whether we show love and care to our families, do charitable acts to others, or even grow a garden and keep a few backyard chickens, the intent and attitude with which we regard such simple aspects of creation can make an incredible difference. Let all we do be for God and in the love of God. Then, the universe will ordered through the Gospel.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.