Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 - Tuesday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 and Mark 8:14-21]"Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?" [Mark]
FEBRUARY 14 STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS
In the overall "agenda" of the Gospel According to Mark, the complete revelation of Jesus' identity comes only with his crucifixion and resurrection. This may explain why the disciples struggled to understand the meaning of his miracles and teaching. It also may explain why he did not want those miracles widely advertised. Nevertheless, those miracles and his teaching were signs of his mission, and that mission was headed toward Jerusalem and his death and resurrection! The disciples would only understand when their own faith would challenge them to the same fate that Jesus suffered.
Now, more than 2,000 years later, how do we understand the teachings and miracles of Jesus? Would they be sufficient if he had simply died of old age? It appears that the disciples were initially embarrassed by Jesus' crucifixion because non-believers would point to that as a shameful thing. But a crucifix (or at least a cross) would come to be the enduring symbol of Christian faith! If we find Jesus' teaching a challenge to our way of living, the cross tells us that this teaching must be worth our very life. If we struggle to understand this, we're in good company. The first disciples had the same challenge. AMEN