Monday, June 29 Anniversary of the IPR in San Antonio de los Baños WHAT KIND OF TEACHER IS THIS? MARK 1: 16-20

Monday,  June 29

                                 Anniversary of the IPR in San Antonio de los Baños

                                                 WHAT KIND OF TEACHER IS THIS?  

                                                              MARK 1: 16-20

                                        As He was passing along by the sea of Galilee, 

                                              he saw Simon and his brother Andrew

                                                      casting a net into the sea - for

                                                             they were fishermen.               Mark 1: 16

In antiquity it was a custom that a teacher surrounded himself with disciples who would provide for the continuity of his school. At first glance, Jesus would seem to be one of the many teachers of his era, except that…his disciples were just the opposite of what any other teacher would have wanted: Rough men and coarse fishermen, uneducated and lacking “the right family names”. Who would want such men as disciples? What sort of teacher was this Jesus, whose criteria for selecting his followers were so perverse?

Jesus’ behavior was exemplary from the beginning; and in gestures such as this, of choosing the excluded or social outcasts, “the preferential option for the poor”— a central concept in liberation theology— becomes evident. In parallel to this idea, I recall the lyrics from a song by Silvio Rodríguez: “To have is not a sign of sin, and neither is not to have a proof that accompanies virtue. But he who is high borne, in securing his dreams, needn’t invert well-being”.

Jesus is that special teacher who is capable of discovering those who really represent the seed of hope of God’s kingdom. . It doesn’t matter that his criteria was scandalous or absurd to human eyes.

Prayer:  Gracious God, may we always see ourselves as your humble disciples. Amen.

Translated by John Walter

Aniversario de la IPR de San Antonio de los Baños

¿Qué maestro es este?

Marcos 1:16-20

Andando junto al mar de Galilea, vio a Simón y a Andrés su hermano, que echaban la red en el mar; porque eran pescadores.

Marcos 1:16

Era costumbre de la antigüedad el que un maestro se hiciera rodear de discípulos que fueran continuadores de su escuela. Jesús, a primera vista, sería uno de los tantos maestros de su época, excepto que… sus discípulos eran exactamente lo contrario a lo que cualquier maestro hubiera deseado. Hombres rudos, burdos pescadores, sin enlace bien para educación ni “apellidos” ¿quién iba a desear a tales como discípulos? ¿Qué maestro era ese tal Jesús, con ese criterio de selección de sus seguidores? La conducta de Jesús fue ejemplar desde su mismo comienzo. En gestos como este de escoger como discípulos a los excluidos y desclasados es en los que se hace evidente la “opción preferencial por los pobres,” un concepto central en la teología de la liberación. Con esto también recuerdo la letra de una de las canciones de Silvio Rodríguez: “tener no es signo de pecado, y no tener tampoco es prueba de que acompañe la virtud. Pero el que nace bien parado, en procurarse lo que anhela no tiene que invertir salud”.

Jesús es ese maestro especial que es capaz de descubrir como discípulos a los que realmente significaban la semilla de esperanza del reino de Dios en la historia. No importa que su criterio fuera escandaloso o absurdo a ojos humanos.

Oración: Dios bueno, que siempre nos veamos a nosotros mismos como humildes discípulos tuyos. Amén.