NOTES for Mar 12:18-27

Every day we manage to talk about everything. We manage to talk with a neighbor, a colleague, relatives; we manage to share our opinion, to argue. And behind the abundance of noise that fills each day, we do not even have time to think properly about the meaning of what we say. If we pay attention, we will see that on almost every question where our opinion is required, we answer based on our principles and ideas. We easily decide what must be done, what must be answered. But we do not always even manage to understand the substance of the question. We trust ourselves very much. And we often make mistakes.

The experience of constant prayer to which Christ calls us is precisely the experience of pauses, the skill of giving God time to say something important at that very moment. And the voice of Christ is precisely the voice of meekness, the voice of infinite patience and mercy. By letting Christ into our life, we acquire reverence before His presence. Through us Christ can answer a person. He can say something more important than the answer itself. We need to learn to have time to pray before giving an important answer, and we will see what meekness He will give us. We will see how, in this brief prayer, He helps us rely on Him and answer a person with His love and His attention.

The Pharisees could not catch Christ in His answers because He always prayed in His heart and stood before the Father. And He answered meekly in such a way as to show the person who asked what mattered most. They could not catch Christ in His answers because in His words there is always a call to look at the works of God. There is always a call to pray and ask for the gift of meekness.