LECTIONARY READINGS
First reading: Isaiah 50:5-9
Responsorial psalm: Ps 114(116):1-6, 8-9
Second reading: James 2:14-18
Gospel: Mark 8:27-35
Link to readings
The readings this week invite us to reflect on the person of Jesus, the Christ, and the challenges and possible suffering involved in being his follower. In the First Reading, from Isaiah’s third song of the Suffering Servant, we see a description of the ideal disciple. Despite intense suffering and misery, this person never loses hope and trust in the Lord.
The Psalmist, like the Suffering Servant, also calls on the Lord from the depths of his anguish and sorrow. The Lord hears and saves him. However, as James points out in the Second Reading, we cannot call ourselves followers of Christ if we do not do what we can to help the needy, the sick and the poor.
When we come to the Gospel, we are invited, like Peter, to make our own profession of faith. However, proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ also means accepting that hardships will come our way. We may well have to take up our cross to follow him. This week, then, we may want to focus our prayer on all who suffer for their beliefs in the Lord, and for all those who are in need of safety, food and shelter, wherever they may be.
SECOND READING
James 2: 14–18
Take the case, my brothers and sisters, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that they have faith. Will that faith save them? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.
This is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds – now prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show.’
REFLECTION
Even if I only have a few moments to spare, I determine to give the Lord real ‘quality time’. First, I try to come to some inner quiet, taking a few deep breaths; perhaps focusing on a favourite object. I read St James’s words without rushing, until I am familiar with them. In what way do they resonate with my own life?
Perhaps I know personally – or through what I hear or see in the media – of people who are in great need of clothes, of food, of shelter. I pause and ponder. What feelings arise in me: perhaps anger, depression, cynicism . . . or determination and resolve? Whom do I consider responsible for the fate of such people? How far can I help . . . do I help . . . would I like to help . . . in my own everyday life? I turn to the Lord and speak to him from my heart about my faith in him, and my deep desires.
Perhaps I consider James’s challenge to me personally that my faith and deeds need to work in tandem. If I can, I may want to promise to be even more aware of the needs of my less fortunate brothers and sisters, near or far. I end with the Our Father, perhaps focusing particularly on the line: Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses.
GOSPEL
Mark 8: 27–35
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said; ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you’, he asked, ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But turning and seeing his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but as human beings think.’ Jesus called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save their life will lose it; but anyone who loses their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’
REFLECTION
Before turning to today’s familiar text, I try to relax in the way that works best for me and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in my prayer. Then I spend some time reading. I pause, and stay with any phrase that today strikes me particularly. Maybe incidents in my own life come to the surface.
Perhaps I find myself walking with Jesus and his disciples. Then Jesus turns and looks at me, asking that same crucial question: ‘Who do you say I am?’ I try not to give the ‘ready-made’ answer, but say in my own words what Jesus means to me at the moment. Perhaps I go on to explain how my answer has changed over the years. I listen to him.
As we continue on the road, I hear Jesus talking about his impending death. What do I do? Perhaps I join in the conversation. What do I say? Or maybe I remain on the sidelines, reflecting on how I feel. I ponder: Do I want to be a follower of Jesus, and possibly encounter suffering or rejection . . . or is it a challenge I dread? Perhaps I have already taken up my cross for his sake? I speak to the Lord about this. If I can, I conclude my prayer with words of grateful thanks.
Courtesy of St Beuno’s Outreach in the Diocese of Wrexham, UK