Breaking the Word

6^th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday – 18^th February 2022 — Gospel: Mark 8,34-9,1

Denying One’s Self

The sayings that are addressed are not merely to the twelve but to the crowds. The denial of self that Jesus calls the crowd to is an absolute requirement if one desires to follow him. The reason for this is that as long as the self remains, following Jesus will be half-hearted and incomplete. It will always come in the way of following. This denial, thus, is not limited to situations of persecutions alone but also to those situations in which personal likes and dislikes will get in the way of the proclamation of the Gospel. The sayings are difficult to put into practice but Jesus never said that following him in mission would be easy. Our ego often comes in the way of our discipleship. Too much importance to the self leaves one unable to follow, as one ought to.

6^th Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 17^th February 2022 — Gospel: Mark 8,27-33

From Vague Opening to Intensive Understanding

For the first time, in the name of the disciples, Peter displays a clear recognition of who Jesus really is. Peter’s response is a breakthrough, a burst of light, symbolized by the healing of the blind man recounted previously (8,22-26). The eyes of Peter’s heart have finally been opened to see the significance of all that Jesus has said and done so far. Yet like the blind man of Bethsaida, the disciples are beginning to see, but not clearly. To grasp that Jesus is the Messiah is not the same as understanding what it means to be the Messiah. Now begins a period of intensive instruction in which Jesus will unveil the mystery of his vocation to be a suffering Messiah who will lay down his life for his people – and the disciples’ vocation to follow in his footsteps. Three times along the way Jesus will prophesy his passion, with increasing openness and detail (8,31; 9,31; 10,33-34). Each prediction will be followed by an incompetent, clumsy response on the part of the disciples (8,32; 9,43; 10,37), which in turn will become an occasion for further teaching on discipleship (8,34-38; 9,35-37; 10,42-45).