Monday of the third week of Ordinary Time – Odd Year

Go into the whole world to proclaim the Gospel

 

# Jansenism stems from a theological current within the framework of the Catholic Reformation, which emerged in the years following the Council of Trent but which draws its sources from older debates. Although it takes its name from Cornelius Jansen, it is linked to a long tradition of Augustinian thought. Jansenius, then a university student and later a professor, undertook the task of writing a theological summation aimed at solving the problem of grace by synthesising the thought of St Augustine.

This work, a manuscript of almost one thousand three hundred pages entitled « Augustinus », was almost completed when its author, who had become Bishop of Ypres, died suddenly in 1638. In it he states, in accordance with the Augustinian doctrine of Sola gratia, that since original sin, the will of man without divine help is capable only of evil. Only effective grace can make him prefer heavenly delight to earthly delight, that is to say, divine will rather than human satisfaction. This grace is irresistible, but it is not granted to all men. Here Jansen joins the predestination theory of John Calvin, himself a very Augustinian.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

At that time, the resurrected Jesus said to the eleven Apostles : « Go into all the world. Proclaim the Gospel to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who refuses to believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will accompany those who will become believers: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will take serpents in their hands, and if they drink deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and the sick will be well. » (Mk 16, 15-18)

Faith as a condition of salvation

Faith, the condition of salvation: unbelief, the cause of condemnation, is the great principle of the whole Gospel in its application to all men: « He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. « (Jn 3, 36)

If Mark added baptism to faith, it is because this word would replace the command to baptize reported by Matthew : « Go ! Make disciples of all nations : baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit » (Mt 28, 19). This symbol, however, will only contribute to salvation if it is administered to the one who believes.

« They shall take up serpents, and though they drink any deadly drink, it shall not harm them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall be healed. « The enumeration of these signs or gifts of miracles, promised to those who believed, is not found elsewhere in Jesus’ speeches.

Many of these miracles even seem foreign to the sobriety that distinguishes the Gospels. Nothing proves this better than the need for some exegetes to explain in a spiritual sense those gifts which they could not hear to the letter. Jesus gave them this power : « And when he had called his twelve disciples, he gave them power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal every disease and every infirmity » (Mt 10, 1).

Speaking new languages means speaking languages not learned in a natural way. It is not the gift of speaking in tongues in a state of ecstasy : « All were filled with the Holy Spirit: they began to speak in other tongues, and each one spoke according to the gift of the Spirit. « (Acts 2, 4)

Seizing snakes could have been a repetition of Jesus’ promise, which was fulfilled for Paul in Malta; unless one prefers to give these words a figurative meaning: Jesus would have given his people the power to brave all dangers. The ability to take a deadly drink without suffering any harm can be understood in both directions.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian websites

◊ Faith Equip : click here to read the paper →   The Condition of Salvation

◊ Fr. Josep GASSÓ i Lécera  click here to read the paper → Homily for Monday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary time

♥ Fr. Rudolf V. D’Souza : « Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel. »