Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9, 41-50
Jesus said to his disciples:”Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drinkbecause you belong to Christ,amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.”Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,it would be better for him if a great millstonewere put around his neckand he were thrown into the sea.If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.It is better for you to enter into life maimedthan with two hands to go into Gehenna,into the unquenchable fire.And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.It is better for you to enter into life crippledthan with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eyethan with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”Everyone will be salted with fire.Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid,with what will you restore its flavor?Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”
Salt your life
1. Reward. When you work for God, you receive more than you imagine and I’m sure you can testify to that! It is important for every Christian to be able to carry out his apostleship, perhaps visiting a sick person, listening to someone, or getting together with others and cooking for people in need. I can assure it will warm your heart and more importantly, doing something to help others will make them feel they’re not alone. Remember that there is nothing that you do for someone else that goes without reward.
2. Scandal. I know we are living hard times in the Church. Every now and then there is a scandal. We cannot be indifferent to this, and we cannot say: “nothing has happened here.” In every family there are problems and things that hurt, and our family, the Church, is just like any other family in that respect. The problem is that as this family is so large, there are many problems and they become known very quickly. Also, there are times, you and I are tempted to scandalize others by what we say or do. We are incoherent. Let’s ask God for forgiveness for the times we’ve scandalized and hurt others with our words or actions. Let’s pray for the Church as well. Jesus told us that no one will destroy it, but we must pray for those of us who are part of it so that we may be strong in these difficult times and for those who are not part of it and attack it. Difficult times, times of saints.
3. Peace. This is how today’s gospel ends, reminding us that there are two things that we have to work towards in this life: salting our life to give it flavor and finding peace through that flavor. Ask yourself if what you are doing fills you with peace. If so, I can assure you you’re walking on the right road to holiness.
Remember something good is on the way.
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
