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Theo Tigno•
1/13/2010 10:00 pm
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Thursday, January 14th 2010 |
Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Serge Miot, who was killed in the earthquake in Haiti.
Today's reflection is the continuation of the late Pope John Paul II's audience on 12/9/1987:
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An attentive study of the Gospel texts reveal that no other motive than love for humanity, merciful love, explains the "mighty deeds and signs" of the Son of Man. In the Old Testament, Elijah made use of "fire from heaven" to confirm his power as a prophet and to punish incredulity (cf. 2 Kgs 1:10). When the Apostles James and John sought to induce Jesus to punish with "fire from heaven" a Samaritan village which had refused them hospitality, he definitely forbade them to make such a request. The evangelist mentions categorically that "he turned and rebuked them" (Lk 9:55). (Many codices including the Vulgate add, "You do not know of what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man came not to destroy men's lives but to save them.") Jesus never worked a miracle to punish anyone, not even the guilty.
The detail connected with Jesus' arrest in the garden of Gethsemane is significant in this regard. Peter was ready to defend his Master with the sword, and he even "struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus" (Jn 18:10). But Jesus forbade Peter to use the sword. Indeed, Jesus "touched the servant's ear and healed him" (Lk 22:51). It is a further proof that Jesus did not perform miracles for his own defense. He told his followers that he could call upon his Father for "more than twelve legions of angels" (cf. Mt 26:53) to save him from the enemies who surrounded him. All that he does, even in working miracles, is done in close union with the Father. He does it for the sake of the kingdom of God and of the salvation of mankind. He does it for love.
Thus, at the beginning of his messianic mission, Jesus rejected the devil's suggestions to do "mighty works," for instance, to change stones into loaves of bread (cf. Mt 4:3-4). The power of the Messiah was granted to Jesus not for ostentatious display or vainglory. He who came "to bear witness to the truth" (Jn 18:37), who indeed is "the truth" (cf. Jn 14:6) always worked in absolute conformity with his salvific mission. All his "wonders and signs" expressed this conformity in the framework of the messianic mystery of God which was, as it were, concealed in the nature of a Son of Man, as is shown by the Gospels, especially that of Mark. The miracles nearly always radiated the divine power which the disciples and people sometimes grasped, to the extent that they recognized and exalted Christ as "Son of God." One likewise discovers in them the goodness, sincerity and simplicity which are the most visible qualities of the "Son of Man."
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Take care and God Bless.
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