Daily Meditation - Friday 16May 2008 --6th Wk Ordinary Time - FREEDOM

[BarbaraTherese]

James 2:14-24, 26
Psalm 112:1-6
Mark 8:34 – 9:1

Meditation
HERE

Mark 8:34–9:

"Whoever wishes to come after me
*** must deny himself, take up his cross,***
*** and follow me." (Mark 8:34)***

• We can hear these words and become overwhelmed by guilt
• —or go overboard with self-denial.
• Given this passage, it can be easy to think
• that the Christian life is harsh and unpleasant
• . It also might be tempting to conceive of extraordinary ways of denying ourselves,
• only to feel guilt-ridden if we don’t accomplish them!

*** It becomes a lose-lose proposition ***
that leaves us feeling we’ll never measure up
*** to Jesus’ expectations.***

Here’s the truth: We have all received the limitless love—

• kindness, forgiveness, mercy, understanding—from the Father. And our Father wants us to believe,
• and to act as if, it really is without limit!
• He wants us not only to take it all in

but to find ways also to give
a lot of it away to those around us.

• We don’t have to give up every material possession we have or live in austere self-denial.
• In fact, the Christian life is meant to be joyful and abundant.
• The more of God’s love we give away,
• the more he pours out on us.

• We all live in circumstances where we can lavish that love on others.
• We all have talents, abilities, interests, or aptitudes for something.
• Every day we face situations in which we can demonstrate our belief in God by our words and actions.
• Do you enjoy people?
• Be the one who makes others feel welcome at school, meetings, or church gatherings.
• Have you experienced God’s patience?
• Bestow it on the harried shopper trying to get through the line at the grocery store.

One of the best ways to become better vessels of God’s love is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

• Nothing blocks the flow of love more than unrepented sin. Nothing clouds our ability to look upon others with compassion more than a guilty conscience
• or the residue of past misdeeds.
• But even more importantly, nothing convinces us of Jesus’ love more fully
• than the experience of his unending mercy.

With hearts set free from sin,
we are lifted up and filled with so much joy
that we simply can’t contain it.
We have to love!

“Father, thank you for loving me! Show me how to follow you today, where to ‘lose’ my life, and where you have prepared real joy for me.”

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Lectio Divina for each day (from Daily Prayer and Liturgy thread) gives always excellent background information to the day’s Gospel:
http://www.ocarm.org/lectio/annoA_eng/141eng.htm

3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel speaks about the conditions necessary to follow Jesus. Peter does not understand the proposal of Jesus when he speaks about suffering and of the cross. Peter accepts Jesus as Messiah, but not a Suffering Messiah. Before this misunderstanding of Peter, Jesus describes the announcement of the Cross and explains the significance of the cross for the life of the disciples (Mk 8, 27 to 9, 1).

• *Historical context of Mark: *In the years 70’s, when Mark writes, the situation of the communities was not easy. There was much suffering, there were many crosses. Six years before, in 64, the Emperor Nero had decreed the first great persecution, killing many Christians. In the year 70, in Palestine, the Romans were destroying Jerusalem. In the other countries an enormous tension between converted Jews and non converted Jews was beginning to arise.

• ***The greatest difficulty was the Cross of Jesus. The Jews thought that a crucified person could not be the Messiah, because the law affirmed that any crucified person should be considered a cursed person by God ***(Dt 21, 22-23).

• Mark 8, 34-37:* Conditions to follow Jesus. *Jesus draws the conclusions which are valid for the disciples, for the Christians of the time of Mark and for us who are living today: If anyone wants to follow me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me!

• At that time the cross was death penalty which the Roman Empire attributed to the marginalized.
• To take up the Cross and follow him meant, definitively, to accept to be marginalized by the unjust system which legitimized injustice.
• The Cross was not the fruit of fatalism of history, nor demanded by the Father. The Cross is the consequence of the freely assumed commitment by Jesus to reveal the Good News of the One who is Father and that, therefore, all have to be accepted and treated as brothers and sisters.
• Because of this revolutionary announcement, he was persecuted and he was not afraid to give his own life. There is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s brother. Immediately, after Mark inserts two separate phrases of the text.

• Mark 8, 38-9, 1: *Two phrases: ***a requirement and an announcement. **The first one (Mk 8, 38) is the requirement not to be ashamed of the Gospel, but to have the courage to profess it.

The second one (Mk 9, 1), is an announcement about the coming or the presence of Jesus in the facts of life. Some thought that Jesus would have come afterwards (1 Th 4, 15-18).

• But in fact, Jesus had already come and was already present in the persons, especially in the poor. But they were not aware of this. Jesus himself had said: “Every time that you helped the poor, the sick, the homeless, the imprisoned, the pilgrim it was me!” (cfr, Mt 25, 34-45).