NOTES for Mar 8:34-9:1

Having revealed to the disciples the mystery of His path, Jesus begins a conversation essential for each of us: what part does a person have in God's design?

It is very important not to forget that our salvation was bought at just such a high price, the death of the Son of God on the cross, and this places very serious obligations on us. In the abstract this looks beautiful, but what does it mean in practice? In the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 25:31-46), Christ gives a very clear practical interpretation of it: what we do to someone else, we do to Him Himself.

And this is already very difficult. When we see suffering -- a poor person asking for alms, a gravely ill child or adult, a person without a roof over his head -- the first and simplest reaction is fear. We are afraid to be near a suffering person because we cannot shut ourselves off from it, because we begin to suffer with him. All the more so because such situations very often seem hopeless; sometimes we really cannot change the circumstances. Then the simple way out seems to be guarding our inner well-being, our peace of soul, and fleeing from the suffering of others; and this is very understandable in human terms.

Yet Jesus calls each of us to let what is divine, not merely human, prevail in us: not our common human fear of suffering, but His love and mercy, which can make us ourselves participants in the mystery of the salvation of the world.