The Way we respond to Him; Reflection on Mark 3:7-12

 

Breakfast with the Word Thursday Second Week Ordinary Time of the Year.

 

 

The way we respond to someone is enough to reveal the extent we truly care, respect and love the person. The way we respond to somebody’s advice and put it into practice goes a lot to reveal how we truly cherish the person’s advice.

 

In today’s gospel of Mark 3:7-12, immediately Jesus withdrew from the crowd, they continue to follow Him. Many people came from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond Jordan and even from the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon.

 

These people came to Jesus because of what they have heard about Him. In response to this, Jesus also cured many who are sick among them. Unclean Spirits encountered him and trembled, shouted and acknowledged who He is; the beloved Son of God.

 

 

The Pharisees and the Crowd.

 

Today’s reading of Mark 3:7-12 is a continuation of the gospel of yesterday (Mark 3:1-6). In the previous reading, we saw how the Pharisees were unhappy, antagonistic and even plotted to eliminate Jesus because Jesus heals on the Sabbath.

 

 

They met Jesus but their hearts were hardened. The Pharisees refuse to open themselves to hear His word. They do not want him to heal. Instead of focusing their attention on what Jesus does and how He saves, they are focusing their attention on the negative. But today, the crowd were so eager to hear Him, they were even pressing on Him to the extent Jesus had to enter a boat.

 

Many people who came today in this gospel of Mark 3:7-12, came because of what they heard. We can see that the city mentioned above were regions in the vicinity of Capernaum and beyond.

 

Idumea and Jerusalem to Capernaum alone are very long distant journeys, yet these people have to make that effort only to have an encounter with Jesus and Jesus was there for them.

 

 

How Do we respond to Jesus?

 

 

We can ask ourselves; what sincere effort do we make to be close to God? Why do we always become weak even to kneel and have a moment with our Creator? Beloved, are we like the Pharisees or the people?

 

When we hear about Jesus and the things he has done, how do we truly respond to Him? There is no single day we do not hear about Him. What impact have what we heard on us? Do we close our hearts like the Pharisees or do we open our hearts to Him? What have you also believed about Him?

 

 

The efforts of the crowd were somewhat rewarded because Jesus cured many of them. Therefore, the way we respond to God goes a long way to show how truly faithful we are to Him.

 

The more we seek to know Him, the more He comes close to us but when we try to avoid Jesus, we create a gap in our relationship with Him.

 

Today, many live as if God is irrelevant, and hence they have no need for Him. Many people think the notion of God is an illusion and they live their lives anyhow they want, thinking they will live in this world forever and ever.

 

Many people today have baptised evil to be good and want a world where we can do everything without bringing God into it.

 

Even today, we do not care again that the sins we commit also have consequences and hence we have blocked our hearts towards God. When we always find how wasteful we have been all these years, is always at the point of death. We may not know how important God is until we realise how empty and nothing man is at the point of His end.

 

Read More

 

Let Nothing Stop You from Doing This. Reflection on Mark 3:1-6.

 

The Sabbath is for Man. Tuesday Second Week Ordinary Time

 

Jesus Makes Everything New. Second Week Ordinary Time

 

When You Invite the Blessed Virgin Mary. Second Sunday Year C

 

 

 

 

The Encounter with Unclean Spirits.

 

 

The demonic spirits encountered Jesus today (Mark 3;7-12) and began to shout. It shows that only the presence of Jesus made them uncomfortable.

 

The point is that they understand His power. The unclean spirits find themselves in trouble and overpowered just by the simple presence of the Lord. They know what His presence can do. St. Padre Pio says that the devil does not have any power over anyone that walks to His presence every day.

 

 

The one disturbing thing here is that today, many embrace these spirits, seeking power from marine and occultic spirits. These spirits fear Jesus but many today abandon Jesus to embrace these lower creatures because they want quick money and power. At the end, they begin to realise their mistakes.

 

 

 

Therefore, the presence and power of Jesus are higher than any other spirit. It only calls for the openness of hearts towards Him and total faith in what Jesus can do.

 

 

In the gospel (Mark 3:7-12), it looks as if the demons know Jesus more than we do today. They know His power, they understand the anointing power of His presence but today we do not even have the time to seek the presence of the Lord.

 

We become weak at prayers and lose hope at a single challenge and difficulty. So, like the crowds come from far and wide to seek the presence of the lord, let us seek Him wholeheartedly. Jesus does not disappoint.

 

May God bless you dearest and give us the grace to seek Him from the deepest part of our heart. May He never allow us to be defeated by any circumstance. Amen

 

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