Jesus and his
disciples came down the mountain and began a journey through Galilee, but he
did not want anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples in this
vein: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men who will
put him to death; three days after his death he will rise.” Though they failed
to understand his words, they were afraid to question him.
They returned to
Capernaum and Jesus, once inside the house, began to ask them, “What were you
discussing on the way home?” At this they fell silent, for on the way they had
been arguing about who was the most important. So he sat down and called the
Twelve around him and said, “If anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain the
last one of all and the servant of all.” Then he took a little child, stood him
in their midst, and putting his arms around him, said to hem, “Whoever welcomes
a child such as this for my sake welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes
not me, but him who sent me.”
(Mk 9:30-37)
Prayer: Lord, I want to take these few minutes of silence I have to
pray to open my heart to you and allow you to teach me, to form me, to make me
the apostle you want me to be. Speak to me Lord. I am listening.
Petition: Lord, form me to be a holy and zealous apostle.
1. Jesus wishes to be
with his disciples
Jesus will to be
leaving the Church to his disciples and he wants to make sure they are prepared
for their mission. He wants to be alone with them so that he can speak freely
with them and explain what is going to happen. He puts aside his work with the
big crowds to dedicate time to train his closest collaborators. Jesus also
desires to form me for my mission. He wants to take me aside in moments of
prayer to explain his plans, to teach me how I must speak and act, to prepare
me for what lies ahead.
2. The disciples are
not easy to form
In spite of Jesus’
efforts to enlighten his disciples, they do not understand. Furthermore they
are too embarrassed to ask anything. Perhaps they are hoping that what he is
saying is not all that important. Instead of making the effort to understand
they begin to argue among themselves who is more important. I must not make the
mistake of the disciples. I must not be afraid of confronting Christ with my
doubts and difficulties. I must be attentive to what he is trying to teach me
and not brush it off. I must have confidence that Jesus wants to teach me; that
is why he has given me time for prayer. He is not going to think badly of me if
I tell him I do not understand.
3. Jesus is patient
When the disciples miss the point of what Jesus is trying to
tell them he does not get upset with them. When they arrive at the house and
are enjoying a refreshing glass of water he pops the question, “What were you
talking about on the road?” They are too embarrassed to answer. Jesus knows
what they were talking about and he now uses the situation to instruct them, “If
anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain the last one of all and the servant
of all.” Certainly none of the disciples forgot this lesson. There are many
occasions in my life when Jesus is patiently trying to teach me a lesson and
perhaps I am not listening. I do not want to hear what he is saying. I am
thinking about something else. Still he is patient with me and tries again and
again to get his message across.
Prayer: “Dear Lord, I know that you are trying to form me. There are
many things you would like to teach me but often I do not understand, I miss
the point of your lessons. Please be patient with me the way you were patient
with the disciples. Do not give up on me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment