There is a very great dissonance
in today's Gospel reading, because, in the first part of the reading, Our Lord
Jesus Christ speaks about His future suffering in great detail, but in the
second part, the apostles James and John behave as if they did not hear the
Lord's words. The Lord speaks about
pain, trouble and humiliation, and, in the end, He foretells His resurrection,
but the apostles come to Him with expectations of a glorious, heavenly kingdom.
Thus, we must conclude that they did not listen to His words, since their
response is beyond logic. The Lord speaks about pain, and they ask for a share
in a kingdom.
Perhaps
the key to understanding this strange
behavior is at the beginning of the reading. There, we find these enigmatic
words: "Jesus went ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who
followed after Him were afraid." Here the evangelist reveals the different
minds of the apostles, first, and second, those, who follow the Lord less
intimately. When we study the text of the Gospel of St. Mark, we see that,
before this prophecy concerning His suffering, the Lord Jesus worked the
miracle of the healing of the demon-possessed youth, which we heard last
Sunday. The Apostles saw the unlimited power of the Lord even over the demons,
and therefore, with great enthusiasm they expect the inauguration of the
Messianic Kingdom. But God had a different plan, which the Lord tried to
explain, but the ears of the apostles were not open to hear the truth.
In this case, the people, who
followed the Lord Jesus less intimately than the apostles were, in fact, wiser,
because instead of being filled with the expectation of imminent glory, they
are full of fear, since they admit that they do not understand the strange
occurrences and circumstances, which surround the Lord Jesus. They are not
blinded by expectation the way the apostles are, but their eyes are open and
their hearts are full of terror, because they never experienced the presence of
God in this powerful way. Of course
these people were wiser, and we are able to witness similar circumstances in
our life, because we approach the Lord with expectation-- we expect that our
spiritual life in the Lord will proceed in a certain way. Often, we expect
blessings from the Lord and a share in the Messianic, heavenly kingdom, but the
Lord has willed for us temptation and suffering for His own compassionate
reasons.
Who were these people who were
wiser than the apostles? They were, for example, the women, who became His
disciples in Galilee very early in His preaching ministry, and many other
people besides, who left their homes to follow the course of the Lord's
ministry and to hear His teaching. Among
these were very many tax-collectors and sinners, who were outcasts from their
community, but who had found mercy in the Lord Jesus. Although these people
loved Jesus on account of His great mercy, they considered themselves unworthy
of the Messianic kingdom. Therefore, they regarded the approach of this kingdom
with great fear. Thus, when we should follow the path of these wiser people,
we, instead, follow the example of the apostles. We become attached to our
expectations, and so we become disheartened when we receive temptation and
suffering. The Church teaches us that temptation and suffering are signs of God's
love for us. They show us that God has chosen us to inherit the heavenly
kingdom. In paradise, every tree bore fruit, because the world was perfect. Our
ancestors, Adam and Eve, received nothing but blessings from the Lord. But, on
account of sin, the world is no longer perfect, however, God desires that we be
perfect. The only way to grow to perfection in communion with God is through
temptation and suffering. But, very often, we do not recognize this sign of
God's election, and we believe that God is punishing us. All these evils are the results of our
attachment to expectations, since, when we should wait with humble fear to
learn the Lord's will for us, we open the door of our souls to the spirit of
frustration that destroys our confidence in God.
Therefore, what is the remedy for
this attachment to our expectations? Purity of heart. We can achieve purity of
heart through serious reflection on the life of the Lord, since there we learn
the true and holy way to respond to the circumstances of our life. The life of
the Lord teaches us to conform our will to the will of God, and to accept
temptation and suffering as an expression of love. For this reason, the holy Rosary has always
been a form of prayer that is very recommended, because it contains this
reflection on the life of the Lord and also on the life of the Mother of God.
This persevering reflection slowly purifies our heart.
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