14th Sunday Collect Year B

COLLECT SERIES

COLLECT

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

The Collect of the 14th Sunday Year B reads as follows

O God, who in the abasement of Your Son,

have raised up a fallen world,

fill Your faithful with holy joy,

for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin

you bestow eternal gladness.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for during the week the following reflections questions emerged:

1. What does the obedience of Christ as Son mean for my life this week?

2. How will I co-operate with Christ by raising my fallen world this week?

3.  What are the areas of my life that are fallen and need to be raised by Christ?

4. What are the areas of darkness from which I need Christ to free me?

5. How will I live from the freedom of sin? What steps will I take this week?

6. How can I bring the joy that last fro ever into my internal and external world this week.

GOSPEL REFLECTION

Today's Gospel of Mark 1-6, reminds us that a prophet is despised only in his own country. Click on the link to read more about today's Gospel.  The crowds key questioning in their hearts related to the source of His teaching for they saw Him grow up in their own town and to the nature of His wisdom for it comes with a divine power to heal and re-create.

Let us think of ourselves for a moment.  Is there someone perhaps in a work situation or parish situation who is wise and forward thinking and has many great ideas?  What happens?  Instead of the group embracing the wisdom, jealousy and power play take over and inevitably the person is cast out like a leper from the group.  I know, I have had this experience often enough and have tried to stop others from experiencing it.

People generally have a perception of another person and have them in a box. It makes them feel safe and they know how to relate to them.  To a certain extent, this is healthy as we need some boundaries.   Where it becomes a problem is when people do not allow others to grow and blossom. They often do not want to grow themselves out of fear but for the person who steps out and does do the emotional and spiritual work, they may even admire the change but are not prepared to acknowledge it in a crowd situation. They fear that they may lose their status in the group. Sometimes they oppose what they themselves would actually like to do.  For some people, it is easier to tear down than build up.

So how much more would Jesus received this resistance and opposition?   Being different and having this wisdom which had a divine power to heal and recreate would have been a real struggle for people to accept especially when it was in the confines of a box of their making, from which they were not prepared to allow Jesus to emerge.

Perhaps we resist and oppose God in our relationship with Him.  He wants us to be the best version of ourselves- the person He created us to be.  Yet, we through Luke warmness, fear and resistance, bumble along without any signs of real growth in our relationship with God and with others.

So as we hear this gospel today,  let us decide on one area of our lives where we know needs change and ask God to help us not resist or fear the work required to make the change. Ask Jesus to help  us  and to let down our guards.  Give us strength to blossom forth and tap into His divine power to heal and recreate.

We may also resolve to encourage others instead of resisting and opposing them in a group. It takes courage to stand up and be counted but this is what is really required.  Let us check our emotions for negativity, jealousy and power play  and resolve to be what God intends for us.