4/11/12 - Why Do You Fear?

Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, “Let us cross to the other side.
36 Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him.
37 A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.
38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.
40 Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
---------

Had this passage for Lectio this morning. I've read it many times and when I meditate over it, I typically think about Christ's power over nature and the message that sent to his disciples.

For whatever reason, verse 40 really struck me today. There's a huge storm going on, and the disciples have reason to be afraid. Christ -- so UN-bothered that he'd slept through it -- asks the disciples why they were even afraid.

The didn't yet understand that they had HIM. That there is no reason for anyone who has HIM to be afraid.

Psst --- we have HIM too!

1/23/12 - Making The Path Straight

Mark 1:1-8


The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
"Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”
John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey.
And this is what he proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”
-----

Every day I read and meditate (Lectio Divina) over a small passage from the gospels. Last week I finished Matthew's gospel, and started Mark. I've read it many times, but after I read it this time, I was struck by how intimate and immediate John the Baptist's message really is.

Repentance and forgiveness of sins isn't something you do just once, or need just once, in your Christian life. It isn't something you need once a year, or twice a year, or once a month. We need it constantly to retain our connection to Christ.

Jesus desires a true and contrite heart. HIS heart never fails. But our hearts fail repeatedly. We are fallen. We wander off the path, over and over and over again -- almost on a daily basis. We need repentance and forgiveness to reconnect with him. Not just in general, and not just once. We need it repeatedly.

Continuously.

1/19/12 - The Messianic Secret

Mark 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, "You are the Son of God."
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

----

Christ has just finished the first confrontation with the Pharisees that we see in Mark, concluding with the healing of the crippled man. He withdraws from the Pharisees and continues his mission of healing.

People came from all over. I’m not diligent enough in my study to pull out a map and determine where all these cities are, but others do. Jerusalem is more than a hundred miles from Galilee, Idumea is on the southern border between Palestine and Arabia, and Tyre and Sidon are on the Mediterranean coast. Considering the times, and how long it must have taken to travel these distances, this is amazing.

In the gospels, we see several accounts of confrontation with the Pharisees, followed by Christ leaving the scene. Clearly Jesus didn’t need to run away, but he didn’t go to the final confrontation because he had more work to do. We also see Jesus on several occasions to warn those who confess he is the Christ to not make him known. In this reading, he rebukes the unclean spirits that recognize him.

This is known as the "Messianic Secret." Rather than try and explain why, I'll defer to someone smarter.

-----
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2009 (http://www.zenit.org/article-24971?l=english).- Christ knew that to fulfill his mission he had to suffer and die on the cross. For this reason, he took great strides to keep his identity hidden, says Benedict XVI.

Reflecting on today's Gospel (Mark 1:21-28) before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about the "so-called 'Messianic secret.'"

"For the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of his disciples to know that he is the Christ, the Son of God," the Pontiff explained. "This is why he often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom he heals to not reveal his identity to anyone."

"Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery, but he prohibits the demons themselves from revealing his identity," he added.

The Holy Father said Christ insisted on this secret "because the fulfillment of his mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends."

"He knows in fact that to liberate humanity from the dominion of sin he must be sacrificed on the cross as the true paschal lamb," Benedict XVI explained. "The devil, for his part, tries to divert his attention and direct it instead toward a human logic of a powerful and successful messiah."

The Pope continued: "The cross of Christ will be the demon’s ruin, and this is why Jesus does not cease to teach his disciples that in order to enter into his glory he must suffer much, be rejected, condemned and crucified. Suffering is an integral part of his mission."

"Jesus suffers and dies on the cross for love," he added. "When we consider this, we see that it is in this way that he gave meaning to our suffering, a meaning that many men and women of every age understood and made their own, experiencing profound serenity even in the bitterness of difficult physical and moral trials."
-----

PS - if anyone is reading, this is a repeat message from last year on this passage.

1/17/12 - The Sabbath Was Not Made For Man

Mark 2: 23-28

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
"Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?"
He said to them,
"Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?"
Then he said to them,
"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

------

Yesterday we saw the Pharisees question Jesus regarding fasting. Today we see them questioning him on how He treated the Sabbath. His response is pretty interesting and shows the disconnect that the Pharisees had worked themselves into.

I've often struggled a bit with this passage, trying to understand what it actually means. Apparently I'm not the only one. If you enter "Sabbath was made for man" into Google you'll find a lot of discussion of all sorts of issues, many of them conflicting with each other. Actually it's an interesting snapshot of how well-meaning people can attach differing meanings to the same message.

When that happens, I go to the Church. Here's what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) has to say:

------

2173 The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God. "The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

------

As the CCC says ... the sabbath was made for honoring God, and for doing good rather than harm. It was made for man's benefit, to set aside time to worship God away from the daily labors that exist. It was not meant to enslave man or to be hurdle between man and God. Man wasn't made for the purpose of observing the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to man to help him remain with God.

PS - I got to this CCC reference by going to this website and typing in "Mark 2:23-28". This is an excellent resource.

http://www.catholiccrossreference.com/bible/catechism.cgi

1/16/12 - Fasting, Wine, and Wineskins

Mark 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
"Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them,
"Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."
---------

There are two teachings going on here. In the first, Christ is saying that there is no need for fasting while HE is there. The purpose of fasting is ultimately self-denial, so that people can learn to turn away from the desires and wants of the world and turn toward God, who is the source of all good. The disciples didn't need to fast, because they were experiencing God in the flesh minute by minute, in a way that no fasting could produce. The time for fasting will come after he -- "the bridegroom" -- is physically gone.

Jesus isn't saying that people shouldn't fast. In fact he's saying that we should. He's saying that they shouldn't leave the greater (his presence) for the lesser (fasting, which is meant to ultimately bring about ... HIS PRESENCE). This is very similar to how he treated Mary and Martha. Martha worked and prepared, and Mary sat at His feet. Mary chose the better part.

On to wine and wineskins ....

The more times I read this, the more I take this very personally. I'm the wineskin. Bit by bit, God is transforming me from the old wineskin to the new. The old wineskin isn't strong enough to contain the wine that God has to offer. It needs to be replaced by something new. Something stronger. Something suitable to contain the wine of the Divine.

1/12/12 - I Do Will It -- Be Made Clean!

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
-----

Last year when I wrote about this passage, I focused on the fact that Christ touched the leper, and how significant that was for a Jew in that day and age. Prior to that, I'd written about Christ's instruction to keep his miracles secret, and why that was important.

What strikes me today, though, is very simple:

"I do will it. Be made clean."

Christ DOES will to heal us. And we all need healing, every single day. As the passages this week, this healing is the purpose for which he came. He is the Divine Physician, and he has the ability to heal us. Any time. Anywhere.

It's our responsibility to come to Him. Come to Him in prayer. Come to Him in the Eucharist. And frequently come to him in Reconciliation, where our sins are forgiven.

Come to Him, on little things and big. Ask Him for healing. Give yourself over to Him, so He can heal our brokenness. And have faith that he will do it!

1/11/12 - People Gathered at the Door

Mark 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come."
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee.
---------

Mark's gospel just jumps right into things. This picks up immediately after yesterday's passage, and it's full of action. It is the sabbath, and Christ has just cast out an unclean spirit. The same day he heals Simon's mother in law, and that evening he heals many. Word spreads like wildfire, and the whole town is waiting at the door.

We also see the first example in Mark's gospel of another example of Christ withdrawing to solitude to pray. I've been writing this email list for almost four years now, and I've written about this point at least half a dozen times over that period. Still, as of today -- I don't withdraw to pray as frequently as I should. I want to become a man who relies on Christ over and over, throughout the day. Every once and a while I get there, but I still drift in and out.

The example is right here in black and white - rise early, before dawn Pray in a deserted place where you won't be interrupted. Fiill up with the grace you need to get through the day. Then go to work.

Peace!

1/10/12 - He Commands The Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:20-28

Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are'the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!"
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
"What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

-----

According to the Gospels, at the time of Christ unclean spirits existed, and they had great influence on people's lives. Those witnessing this event were certainly shocked. It's interesting to consider WHY, though. They don't appear to be shocked at all that an unclean spirit influencing a person. They were shocked by Christ's authority over the spirit.

So ... how real is this episode to us today? Was this something that occurred during a specific time and place, or do we have this problem now? Do unclean spirits impact our lives?

In today's world, if I believe in unclean spirits (ie, demons), I'm crazy. Flat out nuts. But the testimony of the Church, both in the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition, is that they are indeed out there, and that they try to prevent us from having a relationship with God. In Christ, we have the ultimate weapon against them, but we need to be able to recognize the enemy at work in our daily lives to fully use that weapon.

4/1/11 - The First of the Commandments

Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
-----

I like this passage for a couple of reasons.

First - it boils down Christ's teaching extremely well. If we focus our efforts on loving God and loving others, everything else will fall into place. Note the depth of Christ's command, though. Love God with everything -- mind, heart, soul, and body. Then, love others as we love ourselves. We typically put ourselves first in this world, Christ is saying put others in front of us.

Note a couple of things about this.

a. It is a call to action. Christ is commanding us to do these things, not just hear and "believe".

b. Don't know about you, but I can't do either of these things on my own. Really, I can't even start doing these things on my own. We need to turn ourselves over to God to be transformed. We need the Holy Spirit. We need the transforming power of the Eucharist.

Second, this passage reinforces to us that there were Jews from the ruling class (in this case a scribe) who "got it." This scribe could understand exactly what Christ was saying, how important it was, and how it summarized the Ten Commandments perfectly. He opened his eyes, ears, and heart to the Lord, and received his teaching.

3/7/11 - Parable of the Vineyard

 

 

Mark 12:1-12

 

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,
and the elders in parables.
“A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.
At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants
to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him,
and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent them another servant.
And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.
He sent yet another whom they killed.
So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.
He had one other to send, a beloved son.
He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
So they seized him and killed him,
and threw him out of the vineyard.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do?
He will come, put the tenants to death,
and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not read this Scripture passage:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,
for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them.
So they left him and went away.

----

 

In the parable, God is the owner, the tenant farmers are the Jewish leaders, the servants are the prophets, and the heir is Jesus.  It's interesting because we can see immediate fulfillment of the story - the chief priests, scribes, and elders realize that they are the tenants, and they immediately desire to arrest the heir.

 

I look at this passage and am thankful that I wasn't one of those guys.

 

But ... there is a lesson in here for all of us.  As individuals, we make conscious choices to follow Christ or not throughout each and every day, in big ways and small ways.  In fact, in nearly all situations, we are faced with a basic choice:  am I going to do things my way, or Christ's way? 

 

I'm not saying these are all life and death choices.  However, at times we might approach them in a manner that is closer to how the Jewish leaders thought than we might want to admit.  Choosing Christ means giving up some comfort and making some sacrifices.  It means letting go of things that we can see and and that we hold dear, for other things that we can't see.  The Jewish leaders, in the end, couldn't do that.  They were too attached to their own positions of power and authority that Jesus ultimately became too much of a threat to them.  They had to act.

 

I can think of times where I have avoided making a choice for Christ because I was too attached to my life the way it was.  Hopefully, as they come up in the future, I'll choose to follow the heir, rather than to covet the Father's ground. 

3/3/11 - I Want To See

 

 

Mark 10:46-52

 

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.--------

 

I can relate to Bartimaeus.  I may not be blind, but there are a lot of things that I don't see.  I want to see the world the way Jesus wants me to see it. 

 

I want to see Christ more in my daily life.  I want to see Him in people I meet. In my friends, and "not so much" friends.  In my wife.  In my kids.

 

I want to see Him in my work.  I want to view my work as a way to serve Him, to use what He has given me for His glory.

 

I want to see the spiritual world around me.  Maybe I can't visually see it, but I want to be aware of it.  What we physically can see is only part of what is really going on.  There is a whole invisible world with saints, angels, and demons.  I don't want to be obsessed with things like demons, but I definitely don't want to be blind to them.  I want to see them for what they are, and react as God wants me to react.

 

I want to see Jesus in creation, because through Him all things were made.  I want to see Him in sunrises and sunsets.  In the green of spring.  In the trees, birds, and flowers.  I want to recognize that when I see something beautiful, that it all exists because of Him.

 

I want to see!

3/2/11 - Am I A Servant?

 

 

Mark 10:32-45

 

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, ‘What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, ‘We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

--------

 

This is at least the fourth time in the last three years that I've written a message on this passage.  Every single time, I've identified that I am not a very good servant.  That is still true today.

 

So ... here I am, staring right at a passage that repeatedly has reminded me of a major spiritual weakness.  I need to be the one receiving encouragement, not writing it.

 

Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.  I think that's where I am.  

 

I'm proven to myself that left to my own devices, I'm not a good servant.  For a long time, I had no intention of being a servant.  These days, I generally have that intention, but when it comes down to me determining specifically what I will do and how I will do it over the course of a day, I don't begin with the thought "be a servant." That has to change.   

 

One lesson that God has driven home to me lately is that I really can't do anything spiritually on my own, at least not anything positive.  That means that if I realize I have to change, I have to understand that I need God's help, and ask for it while I do my best.  I have to lay down my pride completely, trust in God completely, and allow him to transform me, so that I can become the person he wants me to be.  Repeatedly.

 

Then I need to look at the results.  As of this evening, when I do my daily examination of conscience and look back in reflection on my day, I will ask myself both where I'd been a servant, and where I've missed the opportunity to be one.  I will ask God to shine his light on me and show me what I need to do different.

 

Hopefully, next time this passage comes around, I'll have made some advancement. 

3/1/11 - For Christ's Sake

 

 

Mark 10:28-31

 

Peter began to say to Jesus,
‘We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

----------

 

The rewards of giving up something of significance for Christ's sake and for the sake of the Gospel are great indeed.

 

In God's economy, though, there is a difference between giving up something because HE asks us to, versus giving something up because WE want to.  The "giving up" needs to be for Christ, because he asks.  Not to get the hundredfold gifts mentioned above.  Not to prove how much you can suffer.  Not for some side benefit, like losing weight.  It needs to be out of love and trust and reverence to Christ.  If there's any other reason, he'll know.

 

For OUR sake, Christ was crucified.  He didn't do this to get some type of reward from God, or be recognized.  He did it because the Father asked Him to.

 

That's what he did for us.  What are we willing to do for Him? 

2/25/11 - Accept The Kingdom of God Like A Child

Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it.”
Then he embraced the children and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.

-------

When we were children, we have full faith in our parents. We depended on our parents for everything, down to the most basic of needs. We trusted them completely. We knew they were always looking out for us, even when they disciplined us.

That's how we're supposed to look at the Kingdom of God. Complete dependence and complete trust. Even when we don't understand.

2/24/11 - Delay Not Your Conversion

From today's first reading (Sirach 5:1-8)

Of forgiveness be not overconfident,

adding sin upon sin.
Say not: “Great is his mercy;
my many sins he will forgive.”
For mercy and anger alike are with him;
upon the wicked alights his wrath.
Delay not your conversion to the LORD,
put it not off from day to day.
For suddenly his wrath flames forth;
at the time of vengeance you will be destroyed.
Rely not upon deceitful wrath,
for it will be no help on the day of wrath.

From today's gospel (Mark 9:42-48)

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,

it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

-----------

This is a great message to consider as we march toward Lent.

God's mercy is beyond our comprehension.  But presuming his mercy is a dangerous game indeed.  This passage warns us about two things -- leading other people into sin, and continuing a life of sin ourselves.

Time after time in the gospels, Jesus concludes a meeting with an individual with "Go and sin no more."  He didn't say that just for the fun of it.  We haven't been redeemed so that we can just continue in our old ways, confident that no matter what we do God will forgive us because we "believe."  We have been redeemed so that we can change.  So that we can conform to God's will.  So that we begin glorifying Him by doing the work He has planned for us.  So that we can "go and sin no more."

Presuming that we CAN'T do that ultimately sells Christ short.  It is true that we can't avoid sin on our own.  But Christ can, and He shares His Divinity with us.  Delay not your conversion.  With Him, all is possible! 

2/23/11 - Whoever Is Not Against Us Is For Us

Mark 9:38-40

 

John said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”
Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.”

------

 

I didn't quite know what to do with this passage.  It's clear to me that Christ is saying that authentic Christian works can be done by anyone, regardless of what group he is from.  But how do I balance that with my belief that the Catholic Church contains the full richness of the faith that other denominations lack?  I found a nice reflection on this passage at ParishWorld.net, written by Fr. Jim Kirstein from the Philippines. 

 

"The real challenge of the gospel is whether we accept that the Spirit of God works wherever he wishes and through whomsoever he wishes. It is necessary to remember that the truth is always bigger than anyone’s understanding of it. No one can possibly grasp all truth. We simply must be open to the Spirit’s working in our world.

This call for tolerance is not a lazy acceptance of anything that goes. It does mean respecting the freedom of conscience of another as the documents of the Second Vatican Council tell us. But if groups putting forward doctrines calculated to destroy morality and to remove the foundations from all civilized and Christian society then they are to be combated. "

 

Link:  ParishWorld.net Reflection 

2/18/11 - Deny Yourself, Pick Up The Cross, and Follow Me

Mark 8:34 - 9:1

Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

He also said to them,
“Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.”

-------

This passage is absolutely critical to spiritual growth.  It also can be very difficult to accept and truly understand. 

I spent years and years trying to talk myself into believing that self-denial really wasn't necessary.  What was important was that I had faith.  I believed.  I believed in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  I believe that Christ came to save what was lost.  I believed that the penalty for MY sins was death, and that He came personally to atone for them.  I believed all of this.

All that mattered was this belief.  After all, St. Paul said that we are saved by grace, through faith, and not through works.  He said that all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  That means that there's nothing I can do to earn my way into heaven.  So I should relax, rejoice in God, and be assured that I am saved.  I should strive to live as Christ taught, but it was impossible, and he'd understand as long as I tried.

Here's the problem with that line of thinking:  THAT'S NOT WHAT CHRIST SAID.  Christ said deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.

Why are these things necessary?   It has to do with walking away from our will, and giving ourselves over to God's will.  I could try and explain, but I'll defer to Pope John Paul 2:

Jesus does not ask us to give up living, but to accept a newness and a fullness of life that only He can give. The human being has a deep-rooted tendency to "think only of self", to regard one's own person as the centre of interest and to see oneself as the standard against which to gauge everything. One who chooses to follow Christ, on the other hand, avoids being wrapped up in himself and does not evaluate things according to self interest. He looks on life in terms of gift and gratuitousness, not in terms of conquest and possession. Life in its fullness is only lived in self-giving, and that is the fruit of the grace of Christ: an existence that is free and in communion with God and neighbor.

If to live as a follower of the Lord becomes the highest value, then all other values are given their rightful rank and importance. Whoever depends solely on worldly goods will end up by losing, even though there might seem to be an appearance of success. Death will find that person with an abundance of possessions but having lived a wasted life (cf. Lk 12:13-21). Therefore, the choice is between being and having, between a full life and an empty existence, between truth and falsehood.

As the cross can be reduced to being an ornament, "to carry the cross" can become just a manner of speaking. In the teaching of Jesus, however, it does not imply the pre-eminence of mortification and denial. It does not refer primarily to the need to endure patiently the great and small tribulations of life, or, even less, to the exaltation of pain as a means of pleasing God. It is not suffering for its own sake that a Christian seeks, but love. When the cross is embraced it becomes a sign of love and of total self-giving. To carry it behind Christ means to be united with him in offering the greatest proof of love.

Excerpted from Pope John Paul II's MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD,

THE XVI WORLD YOUTH DAY, 14 February 2001.

Link to more:

http://oldarchive.godspy.com/meditations/Deny-yourself-pick-up-your-cross-and-follow-Me-Meditation-by-Pope-John-Paul-II.cfm.html

2/15/11 - The Leaven of the Pharisees

Mark 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod.”
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
“Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?”
They answered him, “Twelve.”
“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?”
They answered him, “Seven.”
He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
-------

This reading provides a great lesson of how easy it is to take your eyes off the spirit.

Christ uses leavened bread as a metaphor for the dangers presented by the Pharisees, and of Herod. That type of leaven -- the leaven of the world that rejects Him -- will poison the bread that they are trying to make.

The disciples hear this teaching and completely miss it. Sitting here now, it seems amazing that they could miss it. They think Christ is worried about food, even though they have watched him feed 9,000 people with a total of twelve loaves of bread. They've seen him walk on water, and calm the sea. They've seen him heal a leper and a deaf man. It must have left Christ shaking His head.

On the other hand, I completely understand. It is so easy for me to allow the flesh to interfere with what the spirit is trying to teach me.  This is why it is so necessary to commit to putting the flesh to death in your life -- the flesh prevents you from understanding what God is truly saying to you.  You can't advance very far spiritually without taking that step.  Christ told us that we need to do it.  Paul told us that we need to do it.  Over the last 2,000 years, Saint after Saint after Saint has told us that we need to do it.

The testimony is strong and unanimous!

2/3/11 - His Power Is Inside Me

Mark 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

-------

I'd love to have witnessed what the Twelve were able to do when Christ sent them out. Can you imagine being given the power to heal the sick? How about power over demons? I can only imagine how it would feel to be just handed a gift with that kind of power.

Oh wait ... I have been.  The power is a "He", and He lives inside of me.    :)

1/20/11 - The Messianic Secret

Mark 3:7-12

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

--------

 

Christ has just finished the first confrontation with the Pharisees that we see in Mark, concluding with the healing of the crippled man. He withdraws from the Pharisees and continues his mission of healing.

People came from all over.  I’m not diligent enough in my study to pull out a map and determine where all these cities are, but others do. Jerusalem is more than a hundred miles from Galilee, Idumea is on the southern border between Palestine and Arabia, and Tyre and Sidon are on the Mediterranean coast. Considering the times, and how long it must have taken to travel these distances, this is amazing.

In the gospels, we see several accounts of confrontation with the Pharisees, followed by Christ leaving the scene. Clearly Jesus didn’t need to run away, but he didn’t go to the final confrontation because he had more work to do. We also see Jesus on several occasions to warn those who confess he is the Christ to not make him known. In this reading, he rebukes the unclean spirits that recognize him.

This is known as the "Messianic Secret."  Rather than try and explain why, I'll defer to someone smarter.

 

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2009 (http://www.zenit.org/article-24971?l=english).- Christ knew that to fulfill his mission he had to suffer and die on the cross. For this reason, he took great strides to keep his identity hidden, says Benedict XVI.

Reflecting on today's Gospel (Mark 1:21-28) before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about the "so-called 'Messianic secret.'"

"For the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of his disciples to know that he is the Christ, the Son of God," the Pontiff explained. "This is why he often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom he heals to not reveal his identity to anyone."

"Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery, but he prohibits the demons themselves from revealing his identity," he added.

The Holy Father said Christ insisted on this secret "because the fulfillment of his mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends."

"He knows in fact that to liberate humanity from the dominion of sin he must be sacrificed on the cross as the true paschal lamb," Benedict XVI explained. "The devil, for his part, tries to divert his attention and direct it instead toward a human logic of a powerful and successful messiah."

The Pope continued: "The cross of Christ will be the demon’s ruin, and this is why Jesus does not cease to teach his disciples that in order to enter into his glory he must suffer much, be rejected, condemned and crucified. Suffering is an integral part of his mission."

"Jesus suffers and dies on the cross for love," he added. "When we consider this, we see that it is in this way that he gave meaning to our suffering, a meaning that many men and women of every age understood and made their own, experiencing profound serenity even in the bitterness of difficult physical and moral trials."