Word to the Wise
Friday, January 28, 2011 - Thursday in the Third Week in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 10:19-25 and Mark 4:21-25]"Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear." "Take care what you hear."
The Gospel of Mark is, in comparison to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, spare and lean in its language. For that reason, the two lines quoted above from today's passage merit out attention. They are the equivalent of our American English expression: "Listen up, people!" Perhaps another way of saying it would be: "Pay attention, or else!" The "or else" is spelled out in the last couple of lines: "To the one who has, more will be given; to the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." The acceptance of Jesus will mean abundance of life. The rejection of Jesus will mean the loss of everything.
In his own time on earth, Jesus presented himself as something very new. This would cause many to turn away. In our own time, the situation is different. Our failure to hear may be due more to familiarity. We've "heard it all before" and think we know the message. Its very familiarity is comforting. This is where the danger lies - in our self-complacency that we do not have to listen anymore. If we "have" the message, why do we need to continue to "listen?" The reason is that the message cannot be divorced from the "person." Jesus' words are equivalent to his person, and acceptance of him brings life.
The Gospel of Mark confronts us with our listening habits! We had better pay attention, or else! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
85 ms
4
