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— Read the Gospel Passage slowly and prayerfully, perhaps several times over a few days.
— Let the Story speak to you in your own life, and don’t try to force a meaning, eg, the Story has always meant only such-and-such.
— Ask “What are you trying to say to me?” in your own life here and now, with whatever is going on in your life.
— Be ready to be surprised.
— If you feel comfortable please write your thoughts as a reply using the “submit” button below.
Gospel
Mk 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”“Too often I decide what my
life should be and whetherthere is room in it for You
while You sit in a deeperplace within me, wondering
what it will take for me tomake more of all the things
in my life — the good andthe bad — and so learn to
break through to find Youin all that is and let You
take form in me in all thatI was and am and will be.”
Paraphrase of Meister Eckhart, 13 cent German Mystic.
For some reason I feel like there are so many stories where Jesus becomes the “dad” of the group. “What are you arguing about”? I think when Jesus explains what needs to happen, He lets the apostles talk amount themselves, not interrupting their argument but fully aware. I almost feel as the the they kids arguing well your the “greatest” you ask, he likes you better, your His favorite! Reminds me again of my own kids afraid to be the one to ask a question where they are “supposed” to know the answer.
When Jesus picks up a child and tells them by tevieving a child you recieve him as well as the one who sends Him. Maybe the child is the best way for Jesus to explain, (especially in those days) the uncertainty of when somebody’s gets pregnant. They receive it and don’t ask questions. And that is what he is trying to explain. Receive what God gives you. Very much as Mary did the same. She accepted and received Christ!
Sherri, what you wrote above and the way you wrote it is a good argument for women giving homilies and being ordained. No male could have discerned your insight or said it with the wisdom and class that you did.
In the Story Jesus is trying to get his disciples to understand that following him is not a matter of prestige or power, but one of openness and compassion, of being with folks in their difficult times, of knowing God in our own lives so we can help folks be aware of God in their lives.The openness is to the Spirit who continuously offers us insight to what it means for us to love as Jesus’ followers in our lives here and now.
Pope Francis is trying to move the church in the direction of being pastoral instead of law enforcement, and he is getting a lot of push back from bishops in the United States. The role of any who would be Jesus’ followers is to walk with folks as they make their difficult decisions, not beat them up with the rule book. He is not changing doctrine, but moving the Church to pastoral accompaniment.
Following Jesus is not an exclusive club. Jesus spent time with any who came to him, and helped them see God loving them in their life. As happens today, some folks just could not accept this. As it was with Jesus, the Holy Spirit has no boundaries or limits.
As we go through life we are constantly changing how we see things, adjusting to our reality whatever it is. Yet many of us still hold on to the idea of God being a judge and punisher that we learned as children. Trusting in the Spirit is frightening to some.
Just came across these this morning from Meister Eckhart:
A Soul Digests —
Each of us has a soul
made to grasp the One
who made every one,
body and soul.
Slowly and deliberately,
as bodies digest, the soul’s powers
move and nourish us.
As the body grows, the soul’s powers
grow inside us.
As my eyes learn to see,
in light and all detail, the soul
finds its power to think and see.The Way Love Is —
You are love in everything
that is, and it belongs tothe perfection of Your greatness
that not even my nothingnessis far from You, for You
meet me in my imperfectionand You act on me not from
the distance of my failingsbut from the presence
of Your perfection whichis the way love is.
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