Introduction: May the Lord Jesus continue to strengthen
you in faith so that you may live a life that proclaims the Good News to others.
What is
faith? Faith is much more than a list of beliefs. Faith implies living out what
one believes. It involves action and reflection. One of the modern examples of faith
is Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta. She had a faith that was deep. She did not
always “feel” the faith she had in the Lord Jesus, but she acted upon her faith.
She reached out to the poor, lowly, and disabled, and she was willing to get involved
in their lives, all because of what she believed about her Lord Jesus. She modeled
her life of service on Jesus’ earthly ministry. She loved others because that is
what she saw was how her GOD acted – in love. She put her faith into action.
The life
of a disciple of the Lord Jesus is to walk the same path as the Master-Teacher.
That will include facing trials, opposition, and even persecution. Yet the disciple
can expect help from the Master-Teacher. The First Reading today is Isaiah’s description
of what he has had to endure as one called by GOD and also his firm stand that GOD
is with him in the midst of his trials. The Responsorial Psalm echoes the confidence
Isaiah has in GOD’s protection even in the midst of adversaries. In the Second Reading,
James demonstrates the link between faith and good works, both attributes that a
disciple must exhibit if one is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. In the Gospel,
Jesus links suffering with being the Messiah – the Christ, the Chosen and Anointed
One of GOD.
First Reading Isaiah 50:5-9; I offered my back to those who
struck me
Commentary:
This
part of the prophecy of Isaiah contains four interrelated poems of a Servant of
the Lord, who willingly undergoes suffering and humiliation for his ministry to
the Lord. Jesus’ own sayings on service and suffering show that he was aware of
these songs, and that he saw himself as this Servant of the Lord: ‘the Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve’. Many details in the story of the Passion correspond
to the songs, in today’s reading the flogging, the mockery and the insult, and also
Jesus’ voluntary failure to resist or to defend himself: at each trial he amazes
the ‘judge’ by his silence. At the same time these songs are marked by a confidence
in the Lord: whatever happens, the Lord will not desert his faithful Servant. Especially
in the fourth song the suffering and humiliation of the Servant lead to his eventual
vindication and the triumph of God.
Responsorial Psalm 116:1-6,8-9; I will walk in the presence
of the Lord in the land of the living.
The psalmist
today also reasserts his confidence in GOD being with him as he is subjected to
mistreatment by those around him. Doing GOD’s will and calling upon the mercy of
GOD will ultimately allow the faith-filled follower of GOD to experience walking
before the LORD in the land of the living. This phrase is taken by many believers
today to refer to being with the Lord Jesus in the heavenly Realm of GOD.
Second Reading James 2:14-18: If good works do not go with
it, faith is quite dead
Commentary:
The
interconnection between faith and good works has been a puzzle from the beginning
of Christianity – and before. At some times people seem to have believed that it
was possible to earn salvation. However, you cannot bargain or negotiate with God.
As the Psalms say, ‘No one can buy his own ransom.’ All we can do is hang on by
our fingertips to God’s promises and put our trust in God’s limitless forgiveness.
Faith is not a matter of believing first one doctrine and then another. Primarily,
it is a matter of where my trust and confidence is lodged. What, then, is the point
of good works? If our faith in God’s generosity and forgiveness does not lead us
to act with similar generosity and forgiveness, it is a strange slap in the face
of God, the demonstration of a strange conception of God! We are made in the image
of God, so that, if we recognize this, we will attempt to carry on God’s work with
at least an echo of divine generosity and forgiveness. When James says that otherwise,
our faith is dead, he really means that it is a withered faith which is not faith
at all.
Gospel Mark 8:27-35: The Son of Man is destined to suffer
grievously
Commentary:
This
is the turning-point of Mark’s gospel. Till now the stories we have heard have all
shown ever-increasing wonder and amazement at Jesus’ personality, his goodness and
his authority. But even his closest disciples do not seem to have seen what this
implies. Then suddenly Peter comes to the realisation that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Anointed of God, for whom everyone was waiting. However, Peter still does not
understand what this implies. Jesus is not a conquering political hero, who will
simply wipe out all opposition by overwhelming force, and make every path smooth
and gentle. Jesus begins to show his disciples that the road to fulfilment is through
suffering. Three times Jesus repeats this prophecy, and three times the disciples
fail to grasp the lesson, first Peter, then the disciples who are arguing about
precedence, then the two sons of Zebedee, who want the best places for themselves.
So three times Jesus repeats that if you want to follow Jesus you must follow him
to the Cross. Nor are we, later followers of Jesus, any quicker than the first disciples
to learn this lesson. We greet with indignation and resistance any suffering that
comes our way.
Reflection:
Who is Jesus for you - and what difference does he make in your life? Many in Israel
recognized Jesus as a mighty man of God, even comparing him with the greatest of
the prophets. Peter, always quick to respond whenever Jesus spoke, professed that
Jesus was truly the "Christ of God" - "the Son of the living God"
(Matthew 16:16). No mortal being could have revealed this to Peter, but only God.
Through the "eyes of faith," Peter discovered who Jesus truly was. Peter
recognized that Jesus was much more than a great teacher, prophet, and miracle worker.
Peter was the first apostle to publicly declare that Jesus was the Anointed One,
consecrated by the Father, and sent into the world to redeem a fallen human race
enslaved to sin and cut off from eternal life with God (Luke 9:20, Acts 2:14-36).
The word for "Christ" in Greek is a translation of the Hebrew word for
"Messiah" - both words literally mean the Anointed One.
Jesus
begins to explain the mission he was sent to accomplish: Why did Jesus
command his disciples to be silent about his identity as the anointed Son of God?
They were, after all, appointed to proclaim the good news to everyone. Jesus knew
that they did not yet fully understand his mission and how he would accomplish it.
Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD), an early church father, explains the reason for
this silence:
There were
things yet unfulfilled which must also be included in their preaching about him.
They must also proclaim the cross, the passion, and the death in the flesh. They
must preach the resurrection of the dead, that great and truly glorious sign by
which testimony is borne him that the Emmanuel is truly God and by nature the Son
of God the Father. He utterly abolished death and wiped out destruction. He robbed
hell and overthrew the tyranny of the enemy. He took away the sin of the world,
opened the gates above to the dwellers upon earth, and united earth to heaven. These
things proved him to be, as I said, in truth God. He commanded them, therefore,
to guard the mystery by a seasonable silence until the whole plan of the dispensation
should arrive at a suitable conclusion.(Commentary on Luke, Homily 49)
God's
Anointed Son must suffer and die to atone for our sins: Jesus told
his disciples that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die in order that
God's work of redemption might be accomplished. How startled the disciples were
when they heard this word. How different are God's thoughts and ways from our thoughts
and ways (Isaiah 55:8). It was through humiliation, suffering, and death on the
cross that Jesus broke the powers of sin and death and won for us eternal life and
freedom from the slavery of sin and from the oppression of our enemy, Satan, the
father of lies and the deceiver of humankind.
We,
too, have a share in the mission and victory of Jesus Christ: If we want
to share in the victory of the Lord Jesus, then we must also take up our cross and
follow where he leads us. What is the "cross" that you and I must take
up each day? When my will crosses (does not align) with God's will, then his will
must be done. To know Jesus Christ is to know the power of his victory on the cross
where he defeated sin and conquered death through his resurrection. The Holy Spirit
gives each of us the gifts and strength we need to live as sons and daughters of
God. The Holy Spirit gives us faith to know the Lord Jesus personally as our Redeemer,
the power to live the Gospel faithfully, and the courage to witness to others the
joy, truth, and freedom of the Gospel. Who do you say that Jesus is?
Lord Jesus,
I believe and profess that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Take my
life, my will, and all that I have, that I may be wholly yours now and forever.
Daily
Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Peter confesses that Jesus is God's Anointed
Son and Savior of all, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD). "You see the skillfulness
of the question. He [Jesus] did not at once say, 'Who do you say that I am?' He
refers to the rumor of those who were outside their company. Then, having rejected
it and shown it unsound, he might bring them back to the true opinion. It happened
that way. When the disciples had said, 'Some, John the Baptist, and others, Elijah,
and others, that some prophet of those in old time has risen up,' he said to them,
'But you, who do you say that I am?' Oh! how full of meaning is that word you! He
separates them from all others, so that they may also avoid the opinions of others.
In this way, they will not conceive an unworthy idea about him or entertain confused
and wavering thoughts. Then they will not also imagine that John had risen again,
or one of the prophets. 'You,' he says, 'who have been chosen,' who by my decree
have been called to the apostleship, who are the witnesses of my miracles. Who do
you say that I am?'"(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 49)
The
privilege of suffering (Phil 1:29): “He began to teach them that the Son of
Man had to suffer much, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
be put to death, and rise three days later. He said these things quite openly.”
—Mark 8:31-32
Jesus is very
open about the fact that we will have to suffer and bear our “share of the hardship
which the gospel entails” (2 Tm 1:8). He bluntly states that we who follow Him must
deny ourselves and take up the cross (Mk 8:34). Suffering is the way of salvation,
necessary for the completion of God’s plan of salvation. We fill up in our own flesh
“what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His body, the Church”
(Col 1:24).
This does not
mean that all suffering is God’s will. Jesus repeatedly took people out of suffering
by healing and delivering them. Every hospital, doctor’s office, and social service
agency exists to alleviate suffering. Yet some sufferings are in the pattern of
Jesus’ death (Phil 3:10). These we should not relieve but accept as our sharing
in the sufferings of Christ (see Rm 8:17).
“See to it
none of you suffers for being a murderer, a thief, a malefactor, or a destroyer
of another’s rights. If anyone suffers for being a Christian, however, he ought
not to be ashamed. He should rather glorify God in virtue of that name” (1 Pt 4:15-16).
Prayer:
King
Jesus, may I be found worthy of Your kingdom and suffer for it (2 Thes 1:5). “The
Lord God is my Help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” —Is 50:7. “We praise You, the Lord God
Almighty, Who is and Who was. You have assumed Your great power, You have begun
Your reign” (Rv 11:17).
Our Lady of Sorrows: For a while, there
were two feasts in honor of the Sorrowful Mother: one going back to the 15th
century, the other to the 17th century. For a while both were celebrated by the
universal Church: one on the Friday before Palm Sunday, the other in September.
The principal biblical references to Mary’s sorrows
are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. The Lucan passage is Simeon’s prediction
about a sword piercing Mary’s soul; the Johannine passage relates Jesus’ words
from the cross to Mary and to the beloved disciple. Many early Church writers
interpreted the sword as Mary’s sorrow, especially as she saw Jesus die on the
cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and
fulfillment.
Saint Ambrose in particular sees Mary as a
sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross
while others fled. Mary looked on her Son’s wounds with pity but saw in them
the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be
killed but offered herself to her persecutors.
John’s account of Jesus’ death is highly symbolic.
When Jesus gives the beloved disciple to Mary, we are invited to appreciate
Mary’s role in the Church: She symbolizes the Church; the beloved disciple
represents all believers. As Mary mothered Jesus, she is now mother to all his
followers. Furthermore, as Jesus died, he handed over his Spirit. Mary and the
Spirit cooperate in begetting new children of God—almost an echo of Luke’s
account of Jesus’ conception. Christians can trust that they will continue to
experience the caring presence of Mary and Jesus’ Spirit throughout their lives
and throughout history.
The
personal action for today: What does it mean to me to be a
person of faith? Is it enough to just say, “I believe!”? How is my faith lived
out in action in my daily life? What is my reaction to the Lord Jesus’
challenge to pick up my cross and carry it as I follow Him? How often am I
willing to get down and get dirty in order to help someone who is stuck in the
mire and muck of his/her life? What does it mean for me to hold firm to the
hand of the Lord Jesus as I reach out to assist others?