Wis 2:12, 17-20
The wicked say:
Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.
Gospel
Mk 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”
A few random thoughts:
ReplyDeleteIn the first reading, the just one not only accuses the wicked of "transgressions of the law" but also with "violations of our training". It seems to me the second is far more damning. Not only are they doing wrong, but they know it.
In the same reading, I think it interesting the way the wicked speak truth: "Let us see whether his words be true." And what sort of words are these? Well, in the Gospel we hear Jesus say, "three days after his death the Son of Man will rise". Moreover, everything else the wicked say thereafter in the reading from Wisdom is true. Like Pilate, who speaks profound truth when he says, "Behold, the Man."
I also like that the Messianic Secret continues in our Sunday Gospel.
Finally, I think it interesting that here Christ says that anyone who welcomes a child in His name welcomes Him, whereas elsewhere He says we must have the faith of a little child. Whether these were two separate events, two aspects of the same event, or a confusion in the minds of the Gospel writers, the result is the Word of the Holy Spirit. Still, I wonder if there is any connection between welcoming children in Christ' name and having the faith of a child...