Do you still not
understand?
The disciples have been
following Jesus for some time now.
They’ve been eyewitnesses
to many of his miracles.
Healing the sick, driving
out demons, even raising the dead.
They’ve heard his
teaching; seen his wisdom, virtue and compassion.
They’ve seen his unique
knowledge about God, and his special closeness to God.
Twice, they’ve seen him
miraculously feed thousands of people.
Starting with nothing but
a few loaves of bread and a couple fish.
And somehow ending up with
massive quantities left over.
He's an inexhaustible font
of abundance.
Now they're in the boat
with Jesus.
And they're concerned
about not bringing enough bread.
Don't they recognize his absolute
power?
Don't they understand who
he is?
It's enough to frustrate a
Messiah!
Scholars break the Gospel
of Mark into sections.
And here, deep into the
Gospel, in the middle of Chapter 8, they mark the end of Part I.
And they mark it with
Jesus' frustrated exclamation or question.
Do you still not
understand?
We hear Jesus’ words.
And we're struck with how
dense those disciples were.
That is, until we direct those
words as a question to ourselves.
And contemplate on that question—
Looking at the priorities we've
set in our own lives.
Calculating how much of
our lives we might count as serving God and neighbor.
Poking to find the
firmness and depth and strength of our own faith.
Weighing our stores of
inner peace, joy, comfort, gratitude and satisfaction.
Our contemplation is
likely to confirm that we're still works
in progress.
Tomorrow
we begin Part II of Mark's Gospel.
And
things seem to start getting a little better.
Jesus
heals a blind man who slowly begins to see.
And
Peter is inspired to answer Jesus saying, You are the Christ.
But today, each of us is
left at Jesus' big question.
Do you still not
understand?
Tuesday, 6th Week of Ordinary Time
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