In a crisis how much faith have we?

 

‘LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.’

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.

Gospel

Mark 4:35-41

'Even the wind and the sea obey him'

1.      With the coming of evening,

2.      Jesus said to his disciples,

3.      ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’

4.      And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat;

5.      and there were other boats with him.

6.      Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped.

7.      But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep.

8.      They woke him and said to him,

9.      ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’

10. And he woke up and rebuked the wind

11. and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’

12. And the wind dropped, and all was calm again.

13. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened?

14. How is it that you have no faith?’

15. They were filled with awe

16. and said to one another,

17. ‘Who can this be?

18. Even the wind and the sea obey him.’

 

This is a real-life parable. It happened and the event burned itself into the memories of the disciples. They thought it was all over and the boat would sink in the middle of the sea and in the darkness of a moonless night. Jesus was there but deep in sleep, somewhat like Jonah. What did they expect Jesus to do when they woke him? At least he would share their anxiety, they thought. He did the one thing they were not expecting. He rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to be calm. And so, it was, just as in Genesis and at the Red Sea.

From the wind and the sea, he turns to his disciples. He has brought the crisis to an end and asks ‘why were you frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’

Do we believe as we look at the host in the Mass, that herein lies the solution to every problem of the world – be it political, economic, social, medical, herein lies the solution to every one of my problems – of whatever kind.

Jesus could sleep so peacefully during such a storm. If we have faith so can we be at peace in the most distressing of situations? Jesus is real and he does care. This we need to learn through experience.

God is always at work

 

‘LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.’

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY

Gospel

Mark 4:26-34

The kingdom of God is a mustard seed growing into the biggest shrub of all

1.      Jesus said to the crowds:

2.      ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like.

3.      A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing;

4.      how, he does not know.

5.      Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

6.      And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’

7.      He also said,

8.      ‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it?

9.      It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;

10.  yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches

11.  so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’

12.  Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them,

13.  so far as they were capable of understanding it.

14.  He would not speak to them except in parables,

15.  but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.

 

God who is our Creator is Master of the universe. He knows what he is doing. We know something. This Jesus revealed to us.  He came into the world to teach us this secret, hidden from the minds of human beings from all ages. God is working out his plan despite and indeed through human weakness and sin. We must cooperate with him like a farmer works in his field, but the growth comes from God. The growth of the Kingdom, like the growth of any form of life is a mystery and not in our hands. We can however thwart it or encourage it. We are to wholeheartedly cooperate with Jesus in being his witnesses.

Likewise, characteristic of all God’s work is that the Kingdom starts in a small, even minute way and grows beyond all expectation.

We do not know fully how God works, nor how his work will be when it is completed. We are only puny human beings, part of the great scheme of God.

We learn the mysteries of creation and God’s plan, not from study but from drawing close to Jesus and listening to him. If we want, for instance, to understand the Scriptures, we must sit at the feet of Jesus and ask him to explain it to us. Then we must listen and ponder ‘these things in our hearts’ as did the Virgin Mary while on earth.

Jesus’ life is the perfect example of the mystery of God’s working. He was a lone figure, misunderstood even by his closest friends, hated by his enemies, and killed at the young age of thirty-three. From a human point of view his life was a tragic failure. Could it have been worse? Yet we know that his life is of infinite worth in the plan of God for the salvation of the whole of creation.

The lesson for us? Keep close to Jesus through prayer and listen to him speaking through his Word and in every way that he speaks to us. We must be open to him speaking in strange and unexpected ways. Then with his help we do what he tells us. The rest we leave to him. After all who are we?

 

 

Have you put thelamp on the lampstand?

 

‘LORD THAT I MAY SEE.’

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.

Gospel

Mark 4:21-25

A lamp is to be put on a lampstand. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given

1.      Jesus said to the crowd,

2.      ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed?

3.      Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand?

4.      For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed,

5.      nothing kept secret except to be brought to light.

 

6.      If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’

 

7.      He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing.

8.      The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides;

9.      for the man who has will be given more;

10. from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’

 

Jesus is the lamp. ‘I am the light of the world.’ He is the God who created the world and everything in it, including you and me. Yet he came in such an insignificant way that many would miss him. In his Passion and Death on the Cross, his Godhead was totally hidden. However, in his Resurrection, his hidden divinity is revealed for all the world to see. Now his disciples must disclose it to the whole world. He alone is the salvation of our world. We are those disciples sent to proclaim him as the light.

‘If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’ We must seriously reflect and meditate on this truth. It must transform our life. The Risen Lord is God and he comes to each with his greeting, ‘Peace be with you.’ Do you make his light shine?

The more you listen, reflect and pray over his Word and Life, the more understanding he will give you and the more fruit you will produce in your life.

If we neglect to listen, reflect and pray, even what little understanding we had will disappear. As a result, our life will produce little if any fruit.

How much is the harvest of your life?

 

‘LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.’

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.

Gospel

Mark 4:1-20

The parable of the sower

1.      Jesus began to teach by the lakeside,

2.      but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge.

3.      He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them,

4.      ‘Listen!

5.      Imagine a sower going out to sow.

6.      Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

7.      Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away.

8.      Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop.

9.      And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’

10. And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

 

11. When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant.

 

12. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise, they might be converted and be forgiven.’

 

He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word.

 

1.      Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them.

2.      Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once.

3.      3. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches, and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing.

4.      And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

This is the key parable which is the foundation for all the parables. ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?’

There are the scribes and Pharisees and the priests and Herodians. They plan to kill him. They have rejected his Word completely. The crowds follow Jesus, but how many really believe? Then, there are those like the rich young man, who desire to follow Jesus but cannot give up their love for money and the things of this world. However, there are those like his own Mother, the apostles and the holy women. They produce a harvest by their faith.

Which category do you fall in?

 

We respond to Jesus according to the condition of our hearts. Blessed are those who respond to his Word with all their hearts. Their lives only bear abundant fruit for God, for themselves, and for others. The seed is in your heart. What are you doing with it?

 

To have a heart that will yield a harvest we must pray earnestly each day. Earnest and constant prayer in the hidden presence of Jesus will give us a new heart (Ezekiel 34). Some such produce thirtyfold, some sixty and some even a hundredfold. It depends on our earnestness in humble prayer in which we rely on Jesus to work His miracles of grace in our hearts. Do you want to yield a hundredfold for God your Creator?

 

The True Family Relationship

 

“LORD THAT I MAY SEE.”

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY

Gospel

Mark 3:31-35

Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God

1.      The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived

2.      and, standing outside,

3.      sent in a message

4.      asking for him.

5.      A crowd was sitting round him

6.      at the time the message was passed to him,

7.      ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’

8.      He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’

9.      And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him,

10. he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.

11. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

 

Now his relatives have arrived, including his Mother. There are so many people there than they cannot get to him and so they send a message. The person who gives Jesus the message and maybe his relatives also, including his Mother, think that since they are close relatives, he would drop everything and come and see them. Jesus doesn’t change, but our understanding of him and his mission does. We must grow in our understanding of him. Mary his Mother had to grow in her understanding of her Son and his mission.

Biological relationships have meaning in this world. But Jesus teaches us that there is a deeper and more real relationship. It is our relationship with God. The true family from every family derives its meaning is the Family God. By Baptism we become the children of God. This is not just a fiction but a reality. We truly are the children of God. We are born of the Holy Spirit. This is a true and lasting relationship. It can never by cancelled. Once his child, always his child.

This passage says nothing about the Mary and her relationship with Jesus, but tells us that if out of love we listen to the Father and does his will then our relationship deepens. It is this faith, love, obedience relationship which is the only relationship of any value in the eyes of God.

From the other Gospels we will see that Mary fulfils these conditions to t he fullest degree.

The saving relationship

 

“LORD THAT I MAY SEE.”

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY

Gospel

Mark 3:31-35

Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God

1.      The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived

2.      and, standing outside,

3.      sent in a message

4.      asking for him.

5.      A crowd was sitting round him

6.      at the time the message was passed to him,

7.      ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’

8.      He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’

9.      And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him,

10. he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.

11. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

 

Now his relatives have arrived, including his Mother. There are so many people there than they cannot get to him and so they send a message. The person who gives Jesus the message and maybe his relatives also, including his Mother, think that since they are close relatives, he would drop everything and come and see them. Jesus doesn’t change, but our understanding of him and his mission does. We must grow in our understanding of him. Mary his Mother had to grow in her understanding of her Son and his mission.

Biological relationships have meaning in this world. But Jesus teaches us that there is a deeper and more real relationship. It is our relationship with God. The true family from every family derives its meaning is the Family God. By Baptism we become the children of God. This is not just a fiction but a reality. We truly are the children of God. We are born of the Holy Spirit. This is a true and lasting relationship. It can never by cancelled. Once his child, always his child.

This passage says nothing about the Mary and her relationship with Jesus, but tells us that if out of love we listen to the Father and does his will then our relationship deepens. It is this faith, love, obedience relationship which is the only relationship of any value in the eyes of God.

From the other Gospels we will see that Mary fulfils these conditions to t he fullest degree.

Satan's Power is Broken

 

“LORD THAT I MAY SEE.2

A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 3: 22-30

It is the end of Satan.

 

1.      The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying: 'Beelzebul is in him' and, 'It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.'

2.      So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables,

3.      'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either - it is the end of him.

4.      But no one can make his way into a strong man's house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first.

5.      Only then can he burgle his house.

6.      'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies;

7.      but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness:

8.      he is guilty of an eternal sin.'

9.      This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him.'

The scribes saw Jesus, but thy were not open to him. Jesus was not a scribe, nor a Pharisee, nor a priest, nor was he educated in the mind of the scribes. He in no way belonged to their group, yet he was preaching and explaining the Torah, just as they did. They didn’t like his interpretation either.

If they accepted that he was without sin and a prophet of God, they would have to listen. That they would never do and so they said his powers come from the head of the devils. 

They heard God speaking through Jesus but they refused to listen and be his disciples. They were too proud to ask for forgiveness. They knowingly rejected Jesus and in doing so rejected salvation.

If we truly open ourselves to Jesus, he can liberate us from all influence of Satan. He is the one who can bind Satan and cast him out of our souls and lives.

We must humbly, sincerely, and wholeheartedly surrender to Jesus. Salvation comes from him alone, not from ourselves.