Daily Retreat 09/13/09
2009 Sep 13 SUN:TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Is 50: 5-9a/ Ps 115(116): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6. 8-9 (9)/ Jas 2: 14-18/ Mk 8: 27-35
From today’s readings: “See, the Lord GOD is My help; who will prove Me wrong?... I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.... What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?... Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ”
The Gospel of St. Mark is the shortest (only sixteen chapters) and it also has the simplest structure. Look at the first verse of the Gospel of St. Mark. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. the Son of God.” Now right in the middle of the Gospel of St. Mark is Chapter 8, beginning with verse 27, today’s familiar passage, which leads up to the Lord’s question, “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter’s great confession of faith “You are the Christ!” is also translated “You are the Messiah” - Messiah is the Hebrew word, “Christ” is the Greek word, both meaning “the anointed one.” So Peter declares to Jesus, “You are the Anointed One, You are the Messiah, You are the Christ.” Remember Mark’s first verse: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Now let’s look at the end of the Gospel of St. Mark - not the very end, but very near the end, as Jesus is on the cross praying from Psalm 21, and after that He dies. This is chapter 15 verse 39, when “the centurion who stood guard over Him and had seen the matter of His death declared: Truly, this man was the son of God!”
This was before the resurrection of Jesus and the centurion, a pagan, has this beautiful confession of faith: this man was the son of God! Remember how the Gospel begins: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The first eight chapters lead up to Peter’s declaration “You are the Christ , the Messiah!” The second half of the Gospel of St. Mark lead up to the centurion’s declaration: “Surely this man was the son of God!” So, it’s very clear that the Gospel of St, Mark is structured around the question of “who is Jesus?”
Who is Jesus? Start to read the Gospel of St. Mark and pretend you don’t know who Jesus is and see how Mark methodically takes you through experiences in the life of Jesus that little by little build the pieces for you, for me, and for those who are reading about who Jesus is. That’s why at the middle of the Gospel, at the center, at the focal point, Jesus Himself asks the question, not just to His disciples, but also to us who read the Gospel, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter, as spokesman for all the apostles, but also, at this moment for you and me, declares “Thou art the Christ, You are the Messiah!”
Now it turns out, Peter didn’t understand at that moment fully what he was talking about. Because right after that, Jesus starts to explain to him and to all disciples what that means - being the Christ, being the Messiah, when “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.”
Now Peter, who just had this great insight about "You are the Christ, you are the Messiah!" doesn't get the implication at all and so starts to rebuke Jesus, and so Jesus has to reprove Peter, "Get behind me Satan - you are talking as man talks and not as God!" The first half of the Gospel led to Peter's affirmation, "You are the Christ!" but that wasn't enough, it was a type of faith without works, because Peter and the others didn't really understand the sacrificial mission of the Messiah, in fulfillment of the words of Isaiah and the other prophets. So the second half of the Gospel of St. Mark incarnates and draws out the implications of Peter's insight, which leads to the complementary confession and full recognition of Jesus as the Son of God.
And so the Gospel of St. Mark can be summed up as the answer to that question of: Who is Jesus? That can, in fact, be read as the most important question of our life! How we answer that question sets the course both for how we live our earthly life, and ultimately, what trajectory we give for our eternal life as well!
Is 50: 5-9a/ Ps 115(116): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6. 8-9 (9)/ Jas 2: 14-18/ Mk 8: 27-35
From today’s readings: “See, the Lord GOD is My help; who will prove Me wrong?... I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living.... What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?... Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ”
The Gospel of St. Mark is the shortest (only sixteen chapters) and it also has the simplest structure. Look at the first verse of the Gospel of St. Mark. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. the Son of God.” Now right in the middle of the Gospel of St. Mark is Chapter 8, beginning with verse 27, today’s familiar passage, which leads up to the Lord’s question, “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter’s great confession of faith “You are the Christ!” is also translated “You are the Messiah” - Messiah is the Hebrew word, “Christ” is the Greek word, both meaning “the anointed one.” So Peter declares to Jesus, “You are the Anointed One, You are the Messiah, You are the Christ.” Remember Mark’s first verse: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Now let’s look at the end of the Gospel of St. Mark - not the very end, but very near the end, as Jesus is on the cross praying from Psalm 21, and after that He dies. This is chapter 15 verse 39, when “the centurion who stood guard over Him and had seen the matter of His death declared: Truly, this man was the son of God!”
This was before the resurrection of Jesus and the centurion, a pagan, has this beautiful confession of faith: this man was the son of God! Remember how the Gospel begins: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The first eight chapters lead up to Peter’s declaration “You are the Christ , the Messiah!” The second half of the Gospel of St. Mark lead up to the centurion’s declaration: “Surely this man was the son of God!” So, it’s very clear that the Gospel of St, Mark is structured around the question of “who is Jesus?”
Who is Jesus? Start to read the Gospel of St. Mark and pretend you don’t know who Jesus is and see how Mark methodically takes you through experiences in the life of Jesus that little by little build the pieces for you, for me, and for those who are reading about who Jesus is. That’s why at the middle of the Gospel, at the center, at the focal point, Jesus Himself asks the question, not just to His disciples, but also to us who read the Gospel, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter, as spokesman for all the apostles, but also, at this moment for you and me, declares “Thou art the Christ, You are the Messiah!”
Now it turns out, Peter didn’t understand at that moment fully what he was talking about. Because right after that, Jesus starts to explain to him and to all disciples what that means - being the Christ, being the Messiah, when “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.”
Now Peter, who just had this great insight about "You are the Christ, you are the Messiah!" doesn't get the implication at all and so starts to rebuke Jesus, and so Jesus has to reprove Peter, "Get behind me Satan - you are talking as man talks and not as God!" The first half of the Gospel led to Peter's affirmation, "You are the Christ!" but that wasn't enough, it was a type of faith without works, because Peter and the others didn't really understand the sacrificial mission of the Messiah, in fulfillment of the words of Isaiah and the other prophets. So the second half of the Gospel of St. Mark incarnates and draws out the implications of Peter's insight, which leads to the complementary confession and full recognition of Jesus as the Son of God.
And so the Gospel of St. Mark can be summed up as the answer to that question of: Who is Jesus? That can, in fact, be read as the most important question of our life! How we answer that question sets the course both for how we live our earthly life, and ultimately, what trajectory we give for our eternal life as well!
posted by FrPitstick | 9/12/2009
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