February 1 [media presentation below] GospelThink Saturday, February 1 MARK 4:35-41 My apostles are very afraid during the storm but I was with them. Prayerthoughts Today,
I will read Hebrews, chapter 11, and write |
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Some Thoughts on the Liturgy DO YOU NOT YET HAVE FAITH?+ There are a number of scholars who look at this Gospel from the point of view of an allegory - it may indeed have happened the way Mark describes it - but many look at it as a statement about the way to treat crises and tragedies as a Christian
+ We cannot always prevent crises and tragedies from happening - in fact, an argument can be made that happiness and sorrow are necessary to each other - that one is meaningless without the other - tragedies happen to everyone - and when they do, often God is called into question - some use tragedies as a proof that God does not exist - some use them as a way to get out of any belief so that they can follow their own rules - most are in the situation of the Apostles in the Gospel today: - we simply don’t understand, and we yell at God: - doesn’t it matter to you that we are going to drown? - doesn’t it matter to you that we have done everything right, even followed you completely, and here we are suffering?
+ Where tragedy is really tough is when it comes to the particular circumstances of our lives - and we wonder why Jesus, God, is sound asleep and not aware of what’s happening to us, and so we wake him up and complain - teacher, doesn’t it matter to you that my children are messing up their lives - doesn’t it matter to you that I have prayed for months, years, for this good thing, and I haven’t received any of it - doesn’t it matter to you that our marriage is not as it should be - doesn’t it matter to you that my friend, my family member is dying of cancer - Jesus, God, answers in a calm voice: - don’t you understand, do you not yet have faith –I’m here, that’s all you need
+ A stronger faith is the object of this Gospel passage - the classic definition of faith is given to us in the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” - that is, I place my trust that you, God, will work things out
+ We probably have to work a little harder at what our faith should be doing to the way we live - unfortunately, storms and tragedies are part of life - but fortunately for the person of faith, so is God.
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MEDIA PRESENTATION Song: "Scars to Your Beautiful" -- Alessia Cara WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL The Gospel LUKE 7:44-47 LUKE 7:44-47
Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Gospelthink: The one who has great love will be forgiven. Do I have the love toward all that I should have?
“She just wants to be beautiful. She craves attention, she praises an image. She prays to be sculpted by the sculptor. Oh, she don't see the light that's shining deeper than the eyes can find it. Maybe we have made her blind. She tries to cover her pain, and cut her woes away 'cause covergirls don't cry after their face is made. But there's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark. You should know you're beautiful just the way you are. And you don't have to change a thing; the world could change its heart. No scars to your beautiful; we're stars and we're beautiful.”
In
the Gospels, and his interaction with people, Jesus always
considered the whole person. In this incident of the Gospels,
Jesus knew that the woman in front of him did not have a very
good opinion of herself, no doubt because everyone knew that
she was a "sinner," and therefore someone of little
importance. He asked Simon his Pharisee host whether he "saw"
the woman. His answer would be that he did. But Jesus pointed
out that he really did not. He thought of her only as a
sinner, a person who had many sins, and besides that she was
compounding her sinfulness by breaking the Jewish law,
touching a man without his permission, letting her hair down
in public and actually kissing a man's feet. PRAYER Good and gracious God, one of the most important facts for any one of us human beings is that we are good, indeed, beautiful because You have created us, and given us Your life. Give us the grace to truly understand it in our lives. Be with us, we pray.
©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
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