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Commentary on the Gospel for Monday, January 20, 2025
Some people, including Christian believers, insist on making faith in Jesus something sad, difficult, and sacrificial. There are even believers who live as though they are constantly under threat from God. It’s as if eternal condemnation is always looming, ready to strike. It’s as if God, the Father-Abba of Jesus, is playing a game with us—always watching, waiting to catch us in the smallest mistake to punish and condemn us.
People who live their relationship with God this way feel the need to continuously offer sacrifices, fasting, and penance. Who knows how many errors they might have committed without realizing it—offenses that could anger God? And we’ve been told that this God does not forgive easily unless appeased with endless sacrifices, acts of penance, and countless Hail Marys, Our Fathers, rosaries, and devotions.
It seems to me that the Pharisees and John’s disciples mentioned in today’s Gospel belong to this mindset. But that’s not how Jesus sees things. His ways are different. Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is a Kingdom of life. The Abba of Jesus, the Father of all, is not a judge or a policeman. He is not that ever-watchful eye monitoring everything we do (as He is so often depicted in our churches and imagined in our minds). The Abba of Jesus is a Father who wants to gather His children around the table of fellowship. He is a Father always ready to forgive, to welcome, to open the doors of hope, and to give us the opportunity for a fresh start.
This is why fasting and penance don’t hold much meaning among Christians. The best fasting and the best penance are to open your hands to your brothers and sisters, to practice reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. That makes far more sense than striking your back with a discipline or abstaining from this or that food. Jesus is with us, and that is something to celebrate. And there’s no better way to celebrate than to throw a feast with your brothers and sisters, making sure no one is left out. Because in the Kingdom, everyone is invited.