THEY WERE ASTONISHED

PRAYER PAUSE

Monday 23 May 2016   

THEY WERE ASTONISHED

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “The disciples were more astonished than ever. ‘In that case,’ they said to one another, ‘who can be saved?’” (Mark 10:17-27)  

Reflection. Does the gospel still have the power to astonish us? There is always the hazard of taming it. It was not like that at the beginning. The disciples were often shocked by Jesus’ words. Mark almost delights in telling us how they kept missing the point. It is a hard a lesson even today. The rich young man feels he is doing OK: he keeps the commandments. But the kingdom, the transformation of our world today, calls for more than that. Jesus set out his teaching in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). He called for a radical freedom from being tied to the normal ways of the world so as to reach out to the “poor” who came in many different ways.

Prayer. Lord, give us a free spirit so that we are not tied to our “possessions” but become free to respond to you in the different ways you come to us. Amen.