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Read: Mark 3:1-6 |
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This Gospel reading always catches me off guard, but perhaps it shouldn’t. It’s easy to picture the scene. Jesus enters the Temple to pray on the Sabbath and is confronted by the well-off, well-educated and powerful Pharisees. Then Jesus sees the man with the withered hand and weighs the prescription against working on the Sabbath against curing the man. Of course, Jesus chooses the higher good of healing the man and in so doing angers the Pharisees to the point that they begin to plot his death. On the one hand, the reading astonishes me. I have a hard time imagining how human beings seeing such a wondrous sign could retreat behind technical rules and use that as a reason to condemn to death the man who was performing such a sign. But the more I think about it, the less it astonishes me. Of all of the sins that plague us, pride may be one of the most common and among the worst. I know I battle it constantly. It is so easy – almost reflexive – to lash out against someone who criticizes us without bothering to consider whether the other person actually has a point. It’s hard, so very hard, for me to admit that perhaps I was wrong, or that someone else’s idea is better than mine. It’s harder yet when the other person is someone with whom I have a difficult personal relationship. Although an extreme illustration, the Pharisees’ actions were brought on by sinful pride. They were exalted citizens of their time and then along came Jesus of humble origins to upstage and embarrass them. Instead of thinking about the deeper significance of a man who could do such things, they see red because their pride is wounded. It’s easy for us to do the same thing; to ignore the small signs and instead focus on how important we are. It’s a common human mistake, but often a tragic one. |
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We dedicate this website to the Generous Heart of Mother Mary |
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Today’s Bible Reading
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DAILY HIGHLIGHTS |
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"Come up here before us." Mark 3:3 |
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Prayer of St. Gertrude the great dictated by Our Lady to release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extend to include living sinners which would alleviate the indebtedness accrued to them during their lives. “Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.” St. Gertrude the Great was born in Germany in 1263. She was a Benedictine Nun, and meditated on the Passion of Christ, which many times brought floods of tears to her eyes. She did many penances, and Our Lady appeared to her many times. Her holy Soul passed away in 1334. November 16 is her Feast Day. |
