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Most of us believe in order to feel secure, in order to make our individual lives seem valuable and meaningful. Belief has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one’s own. But you cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it, just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket. . . To have running water you must let go of it
and run. The same is true of life and of God.
- Flannery O’Connor, “The Habit of Being”
(What do you need to let go of into order to move more freely in the Spirit?)
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Acts 12:24—13:5a; Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6 and 8
Jn 12:44-50
Jesus cried out and said,
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life.
So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“I have come to the world as its Light, to keep anyone who believes in Me from remaining in the dark.” —John 12:46
Have you come out of the darkness of the tomb into the light of the resurrection this Easter season? Isn’t that what Easter is all about? For example, John Mark moved from darkness into light. He accompanied Sts. Paul and Barnabas on the relief mission for starving Jerusalem (Acts 12:25). He also accompanied them on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). The first encounter on that first journey was
traumatic. Elymas “the Magician” was struck blind and Sergius Paulus, the governor, was converted to Jesus (Acts 13:11-12). Possibly this was too much for Mark, as he abandoned ship and quit his mission (Acts 13:13; see also Acts 15:38). He was in the darkness of fear and unfaithfulness.
St. Mark eventually returned to missionary work as Barnabas’ partner. He later put together the earliest Gospel. In his Gospel, he highlights Jesus’ healings of the blind (Mk 8:22; 10:46). The very circumstance that may have traumatized him is now lifted up to the glory of God. Mark is an Easter person who went out of the dark tomb of fear into the risen light.
Prayer: Jesus, I’m afraid of difficult circumstances. Bring me out of that tomb.
Promise: “Whoever rejects Me and does not accept My words already has his judge, namely, the Word I have spoken — it is that which will condemn him on the last day.” —Jn 12:48
Presentation Ministries
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Growing in Inner Freedom: A Guide for Today
- by Philip St. Romain. Liguori Publ., 1986.
40. Suffer Gracefully
Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church (Colossians 1:24).
There is a saying that when we die and approach the pearly gates, God will not ask to see what kinds of medals, trophies, or honors we have merited here on earth. He will ask to see the kinds of scars we have acquired.
“Life is suffering.” This is the first of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. As the followers of Jesus, we know that we must take up our crosses (see Matthew 10:38). The real question, then, is not whether or not we will suffer; the question is, “How shall we suffer?”
There are two kinds of suffering: unredemptive and redemptive. Unredemptive suffering is borne with anger and resentment, burdening everyone with emotional turmoil and bitterness. Redemptive suffering is pain accepted while one continues to love. Such suffering deepens one’s capacity to love and to experience joy while it inspires those involved with the sufferer. The most unambiguous example of redemptive suffering is Jesus, who never complained about his pain and who
forgave his enemies from the cross. This inspired the pagan centurion to remark, “Clearly this man was the Son of God!” (See Mark 15:39.)
But there is more, as the opening Scripture quotation asserts. The risen Christ is now at once seated at the right hand of the Father and fully joined with all of humanity. He is still both God and man. Although exalted in glory, he continues to suffer in his people, bringing us the grace we need to suffer redemptively as he did.
Suggested Practices
1. Jesus needs your redemptive suffering to continue to save the
world. Dedicate yourself to that task.
2. If you join yourself with him in times of suffering, he will bring
you to share in his glory.
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