Sunday Reflections

Twenty-Fifth Sunday of the year – September 19, 2021

Readings: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37

 

(image courtesy: Google)

Have you ever heard of “the younger child motif?” The Biblical scholars have found that in the stories of the Bible, the younger one always emerging as the hero. This is inspiring and touching to know. Starting from the story of Cain and Abel, through those of Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, David and his brothers, Adonijah and Solomon, Leah and Rachel, the prodigal son and his elder brother, to that of Mary and Martha, we find it is usually the younger sibling who ends up more at peace with God and people.

The Gospel passage begins with the His Passion Prediction. It is a tragedy of his warning is even more poignant. If we compare it with the previous passage in which he foretold his death (Mark 8:31), we see that one phrase is added, "The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men." There was a traitor in the little band, and Jesus knew it. He could see the way in which the mind of Judas was working. Maybe he could see it better than Judas could himself. And when he said, "The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men."

On the other had the disciples did not understand what kind of mission that Jesus is going to accomplish. By this time they were aware of the atmosphere of tragedy, but to the end of the day they never grasped the certainty of the Resurrection. That was a wonder that was too great for them, a wonder that they grasped only when it became an accomplished fact.

Sometimes we are amazed that they did not grasp what was so plainly spoken. The human mind has an amazing faculty for rejecting what it does not wish to see. Are we so very different? Over and over again we have heard the Christian message. We know the glory of accepting it and the tragedy of rejecting it, but many of us are just as far off as ever we were from giving it our full allegiance and moulding our lives to fit it. We still accept the parts of the Christian message which we like and which suit us, and refuse to understand the rest.

To explain all that Jesus was speaking, Jesus had to use a metaphor – Child.

 “Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me’” (Mark 9:36-37).

I remember seeing some children with their parents. You too surely might have observed the same. When a chocolate is presented to the child, the child looks at the mother for a short time and waits for the mother to make some gestures in order to receive the chocolate or to reject it. Only then the child is confident to act on the situation. If the mother approves of it, the child accepts it, and if not the child steps back. It is because the child is so well connected to the mother, that the child understands completely what mother feels and tells.

In this context we read the passage we understand that unless we are well connected with the Lord we too might not understand what the Lord is trying to tell us. We may get lost in this world who among is the greatest and the least.

We pray for the grace that we may be that child who is well connected with the Lord and His mission.

 

(You are most welcome to add your comments and reflections in the comment section below.)

 

Happy Sunday