Do we really understand?

WORD 2day: Tuesday, Sixth week in Ordinary time

February 13, 2024 - James 1:12-18; Mark 8: 14-21

How agitated Jesus gets today with his disciples! But why? Jesus expects them to rise above the ordinary or the normal. As Jesus warns us repeatedly: if our perfection does not surpass those that of the scribes and the pharisees, that is if we do not rise above the 'usual' way the world looks at reality, we will not be considered fit for the Reign of God! 

The so-called normal attitudes of the world, the value systems propagated as "normal" by the world, the life style of the so called successful that stands counter to what the Gospel teaches... these are the temptations that we have today! Of course, they do not come from God, reiterates St. James. Our desires, temptations, sin and resultant death: this is the cycle that Jesus wants us to understand, resist, surpass, and triumph over. 

None of us can ever say after an act of unrighteousness, that we were not aware at all, of its nature! Let us not deceive ourselves! We know what we are surrounded by, we know what we go through on a daily basis and we know what is appreciable and what is not worthy of our call to be children of God. Inspite of all the graces that we have received and the gratuitous gifts that we have received from the Lord, if we still insist on giving up on our call to commitment and righteous living, we will soon hear that question addressed to us by Jesus: do you still not understand?