Thoughts on Friday's Gospel
Mark 11:11-26
Today's Gospel is full of many difficult passages. Jesus condemns the fig tree even through it was not the time for figs. He tells us that we can command mountains to go into the sea. These things can be troublesome to understand - the first act seems unfair, the second seems impossible. While it might be easy to pull out the old reliance on "mystery", that hardly seems satisfying.
Perhaps, though, these events do have a place in real life. There is much that happens to us that seems to be unfair, we may often feel like the fig tree - punished through no fault of our own. Even in the darkest of times, miracles can take place that seem like mountains being commanded into the sea.
Yet, our relationship with God must be strong enough to survive apparent injustices on the one hand and not be based on the expectations of miracles on the other. Real life is somewhere in between and it is found in our everyday experiences and in everyday prayer to a God who forgives us and loves us everyday.
Today's Gospel is full of many difficult passages. Jesus condemns the fig tree even through it was not the time for figs. He tells us that we can command mountains to go into the sea. These things can be troublesome to understand - the first act seems unfair, the second seems impossible. While it might be easy to pull out the old reliance on "mystery", that hardly seems satisfying.
Perhaps, though, these events do have a place in real life. There is much that happens to us that seems to be unfair, we may often feel like the fig tree - punished through no fault of our own. Even in the darkest of times, miracles can take place that seem like mountains being commanded into the sea.
Yet, our relationship with God must be strong enough to survive apparent injustices on the one hand and not be based on the expectations of miracles on the other. Real life is somewhere in between and it is found in our everyday experiences and in everyday prayer to a God who forgives us and loves us everyday.
posted by Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, TOR | 12:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home