Reflection for SATURDAY 8th Week in Ordinary Time

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Assistant Parish Priest,Manjeshwar,Kasargod

Reflection after Meditative Reading of  WORD of GOD 


 Mark 11: 27 - 33 

I will not tell you my authority for acting like this

Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, and as Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? Or who gave you authority to do these things?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you a question, only one; answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me that.’ And they argued it out this way among themselves: ‘If we say from heaven, he will say, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?” But dare we say from man?’ – they had the people to fear, for everyone held that John was a real prophet. So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’

Reflection on the Readings of the day 

Willing to Grow

The Writer Ben-Sirach is Calm & Confident. His Fidelity over the Years to the Ancestral Wisdom of His People has Brought Its Own Kind of Peace, & a Joyful Feeling Within His heart. Wisdom Offers Us Life in Its Fullness. But We must be Honest With Ourselves & With Others, & let GOD Set the Agenda & the Questions.

Dishonesty Sets Up a Higher Barrier to GOD'S Presence with Us than Any Other Sin. All can be Forgiven by GOD'S Excelling Mercy, but only if We Honestly Admit what Needs to be Forgiven.

JESUS Makes a Similar Demand, when Religious Leaders Feel that Their Monopoly of Truth & Holiness Dispenses Them from Ordinary Justice. To Protect Their Status They are Prepared to be Devious. 

In the Early CHURCH, Some People Felt so Spiritually Sanctified that They Neglected the Integral Unity between Body & Soul, the Physical & the Spiritual.

Sirach was Practical & Down to Earth, while Every so Often Flashes of Profound Mysticism Shine through His Lines. 

He Says, “I will Cultivate Her Until the End,” Meaning This Wisdom that is GOD'S Gift. “I Became Preoccupied with Her, Never Weary of Extolling Her.” 

If the Text Asks Us to Meditate Today on Honesty Before GOD & Before Our Neighbour, We are Not only Led Along the Path of Reality, with Our Feet Firmly on This Earth, but We are also Being Guided into a Heavenly Mystery, a Mystery of Transcendent Wonder, Kindness & Eternal Life. If We are Honest, We Pursue This Journey with JESUS, who will then Answer Every One of Our Questions.

By What Authority?

Today’s Gospel Comes just after JESUS Cleansed the Temple, which was a Very Daring Thing to Do. There were People In Charge of the Temple & JESUS certainly had Not Been Authorized by Them to Do what HE Did. 

The Question the Religious Authorities Responsible for the Temple Put to JESUS is Very Understandable, “What Authority have U for Acting like This? Who Gave U This Authority?" 

This Happened Towards the End of JESUS' Ministry. The People were All Amazed, Mark Says, & Kept Asking One Another, “What is This? A New Teaching, With Authority.”

Our LORD Spoke & Acted with the Authority of GOD. For Those who had Eyes to See & Ears to Hear, It was a Liberating Authority. We All Need an Authority of Some Sort as a Reference Point in Life. The Real Issue is *Who or What will We Take as Our Authority? *

The Gospels Assure that JESUS Embodies the Authentic Authority of GOD, an Authority that Empowers Us to Become Fully Human & Fully Alive. 

 Saints of the day 

 Memorial of Charles Lwanga and Companions 

One of 22 Ugandan martyrs, Charles Lwanga is the patron of youth and Catholic action in most of tropical Africa. He protected his fellow pages, aged 13 to 30, from the homosexual demands of the Bagandan ruler, Mwanga, and encouraged and instructed them in the Catholic faith during their imprisonment for refusing the ruler’s demands.

Charles first learned of Christ’s teachings from two retainers in the court of Chief Mawulugungu. While a catechumen, he entered the royal household as assistant to Joseph Mukaso, head of the court pages.

On the night of Mukaso’s martyrdom for encouraging the African youths to resist Mwanga, Charles requested and received baptism. Imprisoned with his friends, Charles’s courage and belief in God inspired them to remain chaste and faithful.

For his own unwillingness to submit to the immoral acts and his efforts to safeguard the faith of his friends, Charles was burned to death at Namugongo on June 3, 1886, by Mwanga’s order.

When Pope Paul VI canonized these 22 martyrs on October 18, 1964, he also made reference to the Anglican pages martyred for the same reason.

📌Twenty-two (22) Ugandan converts martyred in the persecutions of King Mwanga. They are

Achileo Kiwanuka

Adolofu Mukasa Ludigo

Ambrosio Kibuuka

Anatoli Kiriggwajjo

Anderea Kaggwa

Antanansio Bazzekuketta

Bruno Sserunkuuma

Charles Lwanga

Denis Ssebuggwawo

Gonzaga Gonza

Gyavire

James Buzabaliao

John Maria Muzeyi

Joseph Mukasa

Kizito

Lukka Baanabakintu

Matiya Mulumba

Mbaga Tuzinde

Mugagga

Mukasa Kiriwawanvu

Nowa Mawaggali

Ponsiano Ngondwe


Pray for us. 🙏

Good morning

Have a pleasant day and a wonderful weekend

Let's uphold Manipur and Wrestlers in our prayers so that peace and justice prevail