FIRST WEEK OF THE YEAR:
Mon. Mrk.1:14-20...a man with a mission. He does not waste time...he gathers a group around himself. The new shall be a community, the new shall be built on these...He proclaims the time of fulfillment...He must bring it about...tell people about it. There is a sense of excitement. They must have known something...they must have been caught up in this excitement...the new has come. They will learn, He will teach them. They are the first to leave all, but not parade of people who have heard that voice within: come after me.
Tues. Mrk.1:21-29...He leaves the water. The voice within leads Him to the desert. The desert. The place of meeting His Father. But it is also the place where He meets the powers He has come to destroy. He defeats the temptations. His people will know that He is one like them and that His power defeated sin. He leaves the desert. The beautiful sea of Galilee lies in front of Him. The new community must begin. He sees the fisherman. “Come after me”. They follow. The dove of His baptism is starting to take on human form.
3He sees the power which He defeated in the desert before Him. A man possessed. “Jesus of Nazareth...the Holy one of God” the evil one uses these words in the hope of by naming in some way will exert power over the Lord. It is a cry of vanity, of pride. He has lost. He knows it but he refuses to let go. “Come out of him”. Evil meets good, and is defeated. The power of light has come into the world. But the light, for a reason known only to Him, is a secret. Only those who believe in Him and the other end of the unclosed circle, the evil ones, know who He is.
The secrets of God are pronounced by instruments which He chooses. The crowds heard what the evil ones professed....
Wed. Mrk 1:29-39...the home is such a holy place. So many marvelous things happen inside a home where there is love. Forgiveness, healing, compassion, joy, tears, laughter ....He enters the home of His friend. The holiness of the place fills Him, and His holiness comes out and touches it. The power of a home where the Master is becomes present. His hand rests gently on the woman. She rises from the bed. Some day His Father’s hand will rest upon Him as He lies in the Tomb and He will arise. Perhaps they will remember this woman when they are asked to believe in His death to life. The rising is only the beginning...she serves. From joy, from h
having found her strength, to share what she has with others.
Good health is something not appreciated until lost. Regained it is looked at as a great gift, given not only for oneself but for others. Those about are not yet ready to see beyond...they are not yet ready to grasp that what He has just done for her body he will do for the hearts of all who lie on the bed of spiritual sickness .
He leaves the house. It is sunset. There is no use in keeping such a great event secret. People are overjoyed that they now have the hope of being healed. With hope they come to Him and their hope is not denied. Once again it is the demons who know who He is...do not tell. People are not ready to receive the type of Messiahship which I offer. Their expectations are for the knight who will defeat the earthly enemy…the second David. They are not ready for the Cross.
The joy of the headings is overshadowed by the words of His friend: everyone is looking for you.....those words, He will hear them again. He will hear them at a Garden. He will hear them not amidst his friends but those who have come to take Him away. The cloud of those words will always be there. But He must go on.
Thurs. Mrk. 1:40-45...What right does this leper have to be here? He has been cast out, he is impure. He should not be among “ordinary” people. His sickness has built a wall between him and them. He is no longer part of the community and should be off in his separate place.
The hope of being healed does away with all of these. There is a courage which is born within him . It is a courage blind to everything except healing. The Master. He looks. He does not say: go away. He does not impose the Law on human suffering.
He touches the leper. His desire to heal has to be shown to those around. It has to be shown sometimes in very heroic ways. The courage of the Lord to come into contact with sickness....almost to welcome it and in welcoming it to heal it....He healed by ignoring the law... having healed He reverts to the law.
It seems like the old and the new come together. He does not forget His roots, His heritage. In bringing the new He fulfills the old. But the old must still be respected and loved , yes, even at times used to show the power of the new. The joy has to be spread. The healed one can not look at his skin cleansed, and not give thanks. The horror is over. He jumps and dances: look the master has made me new.
People come to Him. Curious to see this new wonder worker. More, than this, they are hopeful. The crowds see sickness, pain, they know oppression. They do not know who He is, but they have heard of the wonders He has worked... human suffering has found the Healer.
Fri. Mrk. 2:1-12...He tries to get away...they keep coming. People find him in the deserted places. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. He returns to “his home”, the city He loved so much that just did not understand. The city that saw but did not see, the city that was always amazed at the wonders He worked without every understanding their meaning. Caperrnaum, Capernaum. In you so many things exist...faith, breaking down walls to get to Him, disbelief, who can forgive sins but God alone...there is silence, the sick man says nothing, there is the noise of the crowd....there is warmth, friends taking care of friends....there is the coldness of the righteous and those “who know” what is right....there is sight and blindness. Blindness. Capernaum, Capernaum, you can not see beyond….why don’t you believe me? Why are you closed to my words? Capernaum, who are you?
Sat. Mrk.2:13-17.....The action continues. There is an urgency to what He is doing. He must keep moving and preaching that for which He came. The Sea of Galilee is so beautiful. Yet capable of terrible storms. So peaceful, a mirror. Will the wind and the waves come....Levi the tax collector. “Come follow me” The people standing about were amazed. “Look who He is calling to be a disciple? A tax collector, one who has betrayed his people for gain. There are so many good people, so many who have kept the law...why doesn’t He call them?” Levi stands and follows the master. He doesn’t know why but he does know he must do it. The voice was to strong. There was no time for questions: why me? If he thought about it perhaps he would not do it. It was one of those times when one had to have recourse to a higher way . A way which could not be explained, but was true.
Levi followed and in following led. He led the master to a table. Levi’s friends came to the table.
The Master welcomed them all, it was His table now. Levi opened the door but the Master made the feast. They came. Those like Levi, those who were looked down upon, outcasts, those who could find no consolation except in the company of those like themselves.
10 Is the Master saying to us that He is one like us...that He is despised, and rejected by His people...is He telling us that He knows the pain of loneliness, of rejection. Is He telling us that he understands why we have to act so tough...it is our way of loving .
Tues. Mrk.1:21-29...He leaves the water. The voice within leads Him to the desert. The desert. The place of meeting His Father. But it is also the place where He meets the powers He has come to destroy. He defeats the temptations. His people will know that He is one like them and that His power defeated sin. He leaves the desert. The beautiful sea of Galilee lies in front of Him. The new community must begin. He sees the fisherman. “Come after me”. They follow. The dove of His baptism is starting to take on human form.
3He sees the power which He defeated in the desert before Him. A man possessed. “Jesus of Nazareth...the Holy one of God” the evil one uses these words in the hope of by naming in some way will exert power over the Lord. It is a cry of vanity, of pride. He has lost. He knows it but he refuses to let go. “Come out of him”. Evil meets good, and is defeated. The power of light has come into the world. But the light, for a reason known only to Him, is a secret. Only those who believe in Him and the other end of the unclosed circle, the evil ones, know who He is.
The secrets of God are pronounced by instruments which He chooses. The crowds heard what the evil ones professed....
Wed. Mrk 1:29-39...the home is such a holy place. So many marvelous things happen inside a home where there is love. Forgiveness, healing, compassion, joy, tears, laughter ....He enters the home of His friend. The holiness of the place fills Him, and His holiness comes out and touches it. The power of a home where the Master is becomes present. His hand rests gently on the woman. She rises from the bed. Some day His Father’s hand will rest upon Him as He lies in the Tomb and He will arise. Perhaps they will remember this woman when they are asked to believe in His death to life. The rising is only the beginning...she serves. From joy, from h
having found her strength, to share what she has with others.
Good health is something not appreciated until lost. Regained it is looked at as a great gift, given not only for oneself but for others. Those about are not yet ready to see beyond...they are not yet ready to grasp that what He has just done for her body he will do for the hearts of all who lie on the bed of spiritual sickness .
He leaves the house. It is sunset. There is no use in keeping such a great event secret. People are overjoyed that they now have the hope of being healed. With hope they come to Him and their hope is not denied. Once again it is the demons who know who He is...do not tell. People are not ready to receive the type of Messiahship which I offer. Their expectations are for the knight who will defeat the earthly enemy…the second David. They are not ready for the Cross.
The joy of the headings is overshadowed by the words of His friend: everyone is looking for you.....those words, He will hear them again. He will hear them at a Garden. He will hear them not amidst his friends but those who have come to take Him away. The cloud of those words will always be there. But He must go on.
Thurs. Mrk. 1:40-45...What right does this leper have to be here? He has been cast out, he is impure. He should not be among “ordinary” people. His sickness has built a wall between him and them. He is no longer part of the community and should be off in his separate place.
The hope of being healed does away with all of these. There is a courage which is born within him . It is a courage blind to everything except healing. The Master. He looks. He does not say: go away. He does not impose the Law on human suffering.
He touches the leper. His desire to heal has to be shown to those around. It has to be shown sometimes in very heroic ways. The courage of the Lord to come into contact with sickness....almost to welcome it and in welcoming it to heal it....He healed by ignoring the law... having healed He reverts to the law.
It seems like the old and the new come together. He does not forget His roots, His heritage. In bringing the new He fulfills the old. But the old must still be respected and loved , yes, even at times used to show the power of the new. The joy has to be spread. The healed one can not look at his skin cleansed, and not give thanks. The horror is over. He jumps and dances: look the master has made me new.
People come to Him. Curious to see this new wonder worker. More, than this, they are hopeful. The crowds see sickness, pain, they know oppression. They do not know who He is, but they have heard of the wonders He has worked... human suffering has found the Healer.
Fri. Mrk. 2:1-12...He tries to get away...they keep coming. People find him in the deserted places. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. He returns to “his home”, the city He loved so much that just did not understand. The city that saw but did not see, the city that was always amazed at the wonders He worked without every understanding their meaning. Caperrnaum, Capernaum. In you so many things exist...faith, breaking down walls to get to Him, disbelief, who can forgive sins but God alone...there is silence, the sick man says nothing, there is the noise of the crowd....there is warmth, friends taking care of friends....there is the coldness of the righteous and those “who know” what is right....there is sight and blindness. Blindness. Capernaum, Capernaum, you can not see beyond….why don’t you believe me? Why are you closed to my words? Capernaum, who are you?
Sat. Mrk.2:13-17.....The action continues. There is an urgency to what He is doing. He must keep moving and preaching that for which He came. The Sea of Galilee is so beautiful. Yet capable of terrible storms. So peaceful, a mirror. Will the wind and the waves come....Levi the tax collector. “Come follow me” The people standing about were amazed. “Look who He is calling to be a disciple? A tax collector, one who has betrayed his people for gain. There are so many good people, so many who have kept the law...why doesn’t He call them?” Levi stands and follows the master. He doesn’t know why but he does know he must do it. The voice was to strong. There was no time for questions: why me? If he thought about it perhaps he would not do it. It was one of those times when one had to have recourse to a higher way . A way which could not be explained, but was true.
Levi followed and in following led. He led the master to a table. Levi’s friends came to the table.
The Master welcomed them all, it was His table now. Levi opened the door but the Master made the feast. They came. Those like Levi, those who were looked down upon, outcasts, those who could find no consolation except in the company of those like themselves.
10 Is the Master saying to us that He is one like us...that He is despised, and rejected by His people...is He telling us that He knows the pain of loneliness, of rejection. Is He telling us that he understands why we have to act so tough...it is our way of loving .
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