REFLECTION

Gospel

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time

They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,  “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”      Mark 9: 30-37

Reflection

The trusting nature of a child may have been an invitation to them to trust in Jesus even though the future was unknown. In prayer we can ask for the gift of this sort of trust for our own future.Ambition is part of our make-up and no different for some of the apostles. For Jesus, ambition is to be more like him, to serve and suffer for others as he served and suffered. Somebody once told Saint Ignatius that Francis Xavier was a very ambitious young man. Ignatius replied, ‘He is not ambitious enough’. His later ambitions were gospel ambitions. Prayer renews and refreshes our desire to be like and for Jesus in the world.In welcoming Jesus Christ into our lives, we welcome the Father and the Spirit. We welcome the Divine. With him, we are part of a total world, spanning heaven and earth, reaching out to all of humanity. Prayer is part of that mystery. Prayer touches into the links of heaven and earth. It links us also to all of humanity. When we pray we join the whole human race in their prayer to God, and we join Jesus in his prayer for us.

Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader