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 drink
because 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 millstone
were put around his neck
and 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 maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than 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 eye
than 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.””
Cut it off
1. Reward. Your actions always have a consequence. Act kindly and always try to do good, because life is short. And if it is possible for you to help someone, do so, because even if that person doesn’t express his gratitude, I can assure you that it will come from somewhere else. Anyway, never give up doing good. Don’t dwell on what you didn’t do but rather look at the satisfaction of the good you did. And I mean the good you did, not the good they thanked you for, because you must always do good, even if you are not thanked for your deeds.
2. Scandalize. You mustn’t complicate the life of others, and you can’t make the life of others a living hell. You scandalize when you seek to do harm and always get your own way at the expense of the suffering of others. Scandal comes from the Greek ‘skandalon’ which means “cause of moral stumbling”.
3. Cut off. There are things that need to be eliminated from your life, because they do not contribute to it nor to the lives of those around you. There are things that you continue to maintain on a whim or for self-satisfaction that end up hurting you and restricting you in your life. I could give you examples such as pornography or a toxic relationship, or so many others that you know don’t do you any good, but that you don’t break free of either. You are the only one who can cut off the addiction you have. We’re all addicted to something, and we know that it doesn’t help us. Do you know what you have to cut off in your life? Work on it, because it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, it’s a long process.
Never forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
