Daily
Thoughts:
If you Have every had the chance or taken the time to read the Gospel of Mark
straight through, you will notice that the disciples of Jesus come across as
particularly dense, especially in chapters 8 through 10. They simply don’t “get
it.” They are spiritually blind and deaf. “Do you have eyes and not see, ears
and not hear?” Jesus asks at 8:18. Three times in the next two chapters, Jesus
speaks of his coming death and resurrection, and each time the disciples’
response is one of self-centeredness and that of people missing the point. Each
time this happens Jesus tries to teach them that following him requires that
they let go of their efforts to “save themselves” and begin to serve one
another.
Today’s Gospel
gives another example of the disciples’ clumsiness.
Today’s Gospel
reading is about the father with demonized boy and it becomes another story of
a failure for the disciples that Jesus must rescue them from. A distraught
father tells Jesus how he brought his boy to the disciples to drive out a demon
but they were unable to do so. “O faithless generation, how long will I be with
you? How long will I endure you?” And Jesus appears to be saying this about his
disciples. He also confronts the dad when the poor man asks for help: “If you
can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus says to him, “If you
can! Everything is possible to one who has faith.” Then the boy’s father cries
out, “I do believe. Help my unbelief!”
So Jesus with
a command that expels the unclean spirit and then with a simple gesture raises
the boy from what looked like death. When the disciples ask Jesus later, “Why
could we not do it?” Jesus says, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”
It is
pretty clear why Mark includes this episode here. In his picture of the
disciples, he dares to portray them with the characteristics that are, no
doubt, embodied the Christian community he writes for. That would also include
us. In other words, if the shoe fits. Jesus’ message is loud and clear, if our
lives and work are not the life giving and redemptive lives that Jesus
promised, the fault may be in our failure simply to pray.
And if we
wonder how we should pray, the distraught father provides what is probably the perfect
prayer for most of us, most of the time: “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!”
Have a
great Monday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Grant us Lord, to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving, to
praise what delights you most, to value what is precious in your sight, to hate
what is offensive to you. Do not let us judge by what we see, nor pass judgment
according to what we hear, but to judge rightly between things that differ and
above all to search out and to do what pleases you the most. May we do all this
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Adapted
from a prayer by Thomas Á Kempis)
A Runner’s
Thoughts:
“A [person] can fail many times, but he [or she] isn’t a failure until he [or
she] begins to blame somebody else.” (John
Burroughs)
Daily
Blessing:
Monday greetings and blessings to all. I hope your Monday is starting off well.
It looks to be a sunny but cool day here is Pelham I hope that same is true
wherever you are. Well we closed the Easter Season yesterday with the celebration
of Pentecost and today we find ourselves back in Ordinary Time. Perhaps for
some today does feel ordinary but for others this time in life seems anything
but ordinary. Wherever you find yourself may today be a day truly blessed by
the presence of God in some way.
In an
hour or so I head out to the dentist and then I will spend the rest of the day
preparing for the week ahead as this week will be anything but ordinary for me.
Friday will be my first taping day as the new Executive Producer of the Sunday
Mass. I am sure the nervousness and anxiety will build as I make my way towards
Friday. I have watched Fr. Edward hundreds of time introduce and close the
Sunday Mass and it seems like a simple process but once in front of the camera
it is a whole different feeing and experience. I think I will be spending a lot
of time in front of the mirror this week practicing.
My
friends, hopefully your day and week will be less stressful then mind. My
prayer for you today is that God’s blessing will be with you today and always.
May the richness of who you are as a person created in the image and likeness
of God touch the lives of all you meet. May you bring God’s presence to every
experience and each moment of this day. May the world you journey through be a
better place because of you today. And at the end of the day may you smile with
the tired satisfaction that because of you today was a good day! Peace in
Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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