Tuesday, February 25, 2014
7th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: James 4:1-10
Gospel: Mk 9:30–37
Jesus and his disciples made their way through Galilee; but Jesus did not want people to know where he was because he was teaching his disciples. And he told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into human hands. They will kill him, but three days after he has been killed, he will rise.” The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they did not answer because they had been arguing about who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, “If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child, placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me.”
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel is still part of the series of readings introduced by Mark 8:22-26 (healing of a blind man at Bethsaida) spanning until Mark 10:52. The focus is on Jesus’ efforts to explain the value of sufferings in relation to his identity as the Calvary-bound Messiah. The healing of a blind man from Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26) read earlier was a fitting introduction to the series. Today’s Gospel reading shows us once more Jesus’ uphill climb in educating his disciples about the value of suffering.
It wasn’t a case of “easier-said-than-done”. Jesus embraced what he taught by dying at Calvary notwithstanding his earlier request from the Father to take away the “cup of sufferings” from him. His disciples, however, were not interested. In fact, as Jesus was talking to them about how he would be handed over to the hands of the enemies they were busy discussing about who among them was the greatest.
Lest like the apostles we too stand indifferent to the concerns of Jesus let us examine our values. It is hard to understand the standards of heaven when our hearts beat for the standards of earth. The pulse of the heart for earthly concerns can drown the softer groaning of the spirit. To understand the language of God we must make our spirits cry out louder for the things of heaven. This can happen only when one has the spirit of detachment.
This Gospel challenge timely introduces us to the Season of Lent which opens next week with our observance of Ash Wednesday. Let us take seriously the invitation of the Church to practice discipline of the body through fast and abstinence in order to give way to the groaning of the spirit. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: http://www.frdan.org.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY: God our Father, help us cultivate the spirit of detachment so the pulse of our hearts for worldly cares may not drown the groaning of the Spirit. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
CHURCH BULLETIN:
SAINT OF THE DAY: Today is the Feast of St. Tarasius, Bishop. He was a subject of the Byzantine Empire. He lived at the time when Constantinople was separated from the Holy See because of the war between the Emperors. St. Tarasius, then a bishop, became a consul, the highest honors in the Empire. Later he was the secretary to Emperor Constantine and his mother Irene. As patriarch of Constantinople, he was instrumental in resolving the differences between the emperors of Rome and Istanbul and the disputes concerning the veneration of sacred images. However, he earned the hostility of the emperor whose divorce from his lawful wife was not approved by him.
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