Dear Lord God, O my Jesus Your message “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” as always rang true to me, so as the words of Paul about dying to myself each day. Today’s reflection paints a clear picture between Your death and resurrection and how we must being willing to die to ourselves to rise again in service to You and others putting ourselves behind the service of others and You. Lord You know my heart, You hear my thoughts, You know how weary I grow at times, not because of You, not because of serving others, the little that I do, but because of the fight against myself, my pride, my selfishness, my self centeredness – why Lord? Do I lack the faith to step out? Am I afraid of failure? Is it just Your fires purifying and refining me for greater service? O how I wish! Or is it me just being weak, lacking in faith and hope and love? For You teach me if I love, love cures and overcomes all. I know it is not the humiliation. I know it is not the idea of being of service. I know it is not the need to be first. So what is it Lord? Help me to know Your will. For my hope is in You, that through the fulfillment of Your will, I can die to myself without questions; knowing that I am fulfilling Your purpose for me. For through this time with You and the moments You have giving me to speak on Your behalf that I feel most whole. So it is with me that I fight, not You or Your ways. For with You I am at peace, in You I find rest; it is only when I allow my thoughts to be of me that the cloud of darkness begins to surround me with worry, fear, anger, doubt and hate. Feelings I despise, yet even more cannot believe come from within me, but there they are within me roaming like the lion waiting to come out a devour me. Help me Jesus to be the man You want me to be and not the man I can be. Take my hand and pull me out of this cloud and if need be out of this place I am in and put my feet on solid ground so we may continue the work You have begun in me, In Your name Jesus I pray and cry out for Your help, mercy and grace. Amen.
What was the life of Christ but a perpetual humiliation?
— St. Vincent de Paul
1 My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for temptation. 2 Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be hasty in time of calamity. 3 Cleave to him and do not depart, that you may be honored at the end of your life. 4 Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be patient. 5 For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. 6 Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him. 7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; and turn not aside, lest you fall. 8 You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail; 9 you who fear the Lord, hope for good things, for everlasting joy and mercy. 10 Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked? 11 For the Lord is compassionate and merciful; he forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.
Bible Study: [1-11] Serving God is not without its trials (Sirach 2:1); moreover, it must be done with sincerity, steadfastness and fidelity (Sirach 2:2-3). Misfortune and humiliation merely purify man and prove his worth (Sirach 2:4-5). Patience and unwavering trust in God are always rewarded with the benefits of God’s mercy and of lasting joy (Sirach 2:6-11).
Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide for ever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; so shall you abide for ever. 28 For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. The righteous shall be preserved for ever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him
Bible Study: [Psalm 37] Of David. The psalm responds to the problem of evil, which the Old Testament often expresses as a question: why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer? The psalm answers that the situation is only temporary. God will reverse things, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked here on earth. The perspective is concrete and earthbound: people’s very actions place them among the ranks of the good or wicked. Each group or “way” has its own inherent dynamism–eventual frustration for the wicked, eventual reward for the just. The psalm is an acrostic, i.e., each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has its own imagery and logic. [3,9,11,22,27,29,34] The land: the promised land, Israel, which became for later interpreters a type or figure of heaven. Cf Hebrews 11:9-10, 13-16. The New Testament Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-26) have been influenced by the psalm, especially their total reversal of the present and their interpretation of the happy future as possession of the land.
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Caper’na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Bible Study: [33-37] Mark probably intends this incident and the sayings that follow as commentary on the disciples’ lack of understanding (Mark 9:32). Their role in Jesus’ work is one of service, especially to the poor and lowly. Children were the symbol Jesus used for the anawim, the poor in spirit, the lowly in the Christian community.
/ raangulo
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