Gospel Meditation

September 11, 2021

B131OT24 MedArt 21i3 EN 4c 600x375 177d63f

September 12, 2021
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We need to get our bearings straight and properly lay life’s cornerstone. Otherwise, the rest of our journey will be skewed, and our judgment clouded. We can recall Jesus’ famous rebuke of Peter, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Even he, as one of Jesus’ closest friends struggles with understanding things and grasping the big picture. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) a renowned and learned French Jesuit priest often has these words attributed to him: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Whether they were actually from his lips, they certainly mimic his thought. These wise words orient us and capture the essence of who we really are.

Many people consider spirituality an option. It is no wonder that they come to this conclusion when they predominantly define themselves using human terms and concepts. Immersed in this world view, they struggle finding any semblance of God because God does not work according to human expectations! This is especially true when suffering and death enter life’s picture. If we are only human beings having a spiritual experience, then we wrongly expect our spirituality to serve us as we desire. The human expectation is that my spiritual life is something that is useful in avoiding pain, hardship, and death, not something that gives the courage to live through it!

So, when we protest and get upset with God because our journey is becoming difficult, painful, treacherous, disappointing, and even pointing us toward death, Jesus rebukes us as he did Peter and gently reminds us how to see. It is God who inspires and opens hearts to see truth and beauty. In God, the true meaning of things is understood, and we receive a depth of insight and understanding that is not found following purely human paths. It is not our task to understand God, as God is beyond human understanding. Ours is the joyful privilege of simply resting in God’s presence simply because God is God and we are who we are. As spiritual beings having an exciting and adventurous human experience, it is in our DNA to do so. Through prayer we can let go and let be. This is how we lose our lives but then save them.

©LPi

MEDITACIÓN EVANGÉLICO (Gospel Meditation)

B131OT24 MedArt 21i3 SP 4c 600x375 177d63f

12 de septiembre 2021
24º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

Y ustedes, ¿quién dicen que soy yo? Es la pregunta que Jesús hizo a sus discípulos en su tiempo histórico, y ahora nos la hace a nosotros. Es una pregunta muy importante que debe ser respondida individualmente. Con ayuda de la fe, se puede dar una respuesta más efectiva.  Dicho de otro modo, la verdadera fe incluye un compromiso diario de aventurarse en el misterio de la cruz. Es difícil el camino, pero te lleva a la vida. La reflexión del Papa Francisco es de gran ayuda para adentrar en detalle e iluminar a cada uno en el saber dónde está nuestra respuesta ahora.

“Pero el Señor quiere que sus discípulos de ayer y de hoy establezcan con él una relación personal, y así lo acojan en el centro de sus vidas. Por esto los exhorta a ponerse con toda la verdad entre sí mismos y les pregunta. ¿Y ustedes, quién dicen que soy yo? Jesús, hoy, nos vuelve a dirigir esta pregunta tan directa y confidencial a cada uno de nosotros” (9/16/018). Puede ser que contestemos como Pedro, quien, lleno de entusiasmo y quizá sin pensar, da una respuesta inmediata: “Tú eres el Mesías” (Marcos 8:29). Pedro, te has sacado un diez de nota, que buena respuesta has dado. Pero enseguida, te equivocaste al querer decirle lo que debería de hacer con respecto a sus padecimientos en la cruz. El Papa Francisco continúa diciéndonos: “Jesús nos dice que, para seguirle, se necesita negarse a uno mismo, es decir, los pretextos del propio orgullo egoísta, y cargar con la cruz”. Enseguida, el Evangelio nos dice: “¿De qué le sirve a uno si ha ganado el mundo entero, pero se ha destruido a sí mismo?”

©LPi