24th Sunday in Ordinary Time year B 16/09/12 Theme: Meaning of Suffering.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time year B 16/09/12 Theme: Meaning of Suffering. 1st Reading Is. 50:5-9Yahweh helps his suffering servant. 2nd Reading: James 2:14-18 good works are result of genuine faith. Gospel Mk 8:27-35 Jesus sees himself in the suffering servant of Isaiah. To ‘suffer’ means to undergo, to endure something that is not under our power; and that ‘something’ often bears the mark of discomfort, loss or pain. When we suffer illness we lose a most precious gift of life, health, and find ourselves in a very vulnerable place filled with fear, uncertainty. The responsorial psalm shows how a man cries in praise when saved from death. psalm tells that the psalmist will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living…… The media uses sensational news to make money. This will help them for a time. Helpless children used for pleasure become the lead stories of media. There are People who try to cover such stories to use, helpless children as the source of their sleazy news. We hear so much of bonded labor but not one case comes to light. People who suffer are still being used to gain power and wealth. The suffering helpless people go on suffering. What is the solution to such evil in the midst of society? We are followers of Jesus who is the one who has over come all the suffering in this world. He told us he came to free us from all evil. Now we are in this world. Surrounded by so many opportunities, in our own country though we have religious persecution in the national anthem we are called Christians meek. These opportunities are a stepping stone to make our life a better source for our future. Our surroundings are constantly challenging us to face the reality of life. Often we try to find solutions from our friends who are also misguided by other misguided sources. It is high time we turned our eyes towards one teacher who would never lead us astray, i.e.; Jesus the Lord and savior. He tells us his identity is not hidden from us. He is the one who understands nature and its beauty, He asks us the same question he asked his disciples. “who am I” With Peter we have to confidently say you are Christ the son of the living God. Once this reality becomes clear to us then the meaning of the savior becomes clear to us. All around us we find so much of suffering, pain and misery about which we have already seen at the beginning of this reflection. Christ has given meaning to all the suffering. Every suffering is geared to the salvation of the human beings. Often it is not easy to find this meaning because of our limited vision. There are crosses that keep us bogged down. Crosses like bad habits, bad language, bad company, which constantly keep us off the target. Once we become aware of these situations we will be able to overcome these limitations. The first reading where the prophet Isaiah confidently able to face all hardships, his confidence is in the defending savior. Saint James gives us a reason for belief. Faith he says depends of the good activities. Helping people in need is a character of a good faithful. In the Gospel, Jesus is very clear about his mission. Though he has some doubt about his followers. His own future leader openly confesses this and say Jesus is the Christ. This confession gives Peter the position of first among the equals “Primus inter Pares”. Christ says he is not only Christ but he is the suffering Christ. Hearing this Peter tells him he does not like this suffering person. Jesus tells Peter to be out of his sight. Because Jesus knew such attitude will hinder him from his mission. In our lives too there are opportunities which will not come as sources of deepening our faith. Let this Sunday give us sufficient knowledge of our mission in life. To be a source of grace to our fellow traveler on the way to heavenly kingdom. Yours ever in the divine word, Fr. Juze Vas svd