What don't You Understand?
Living in Ignorance
A thoughtful reflection on the failure to understand ...
posted by Neil @ 11:02 PM
Monday, February 13, 2006
Living in Ignorance
A thoughtful reflection on the failure to understand ...
"O gracious and Holy Father, give us wisdom to perceive you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you, and a life to proclaim you; through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord." (Prayer of Saint Benedict)
About Me
- Name: Neil
Capricon, Assertive, Adventurer, Opportunist, likes to experience freedom which God promises, Child of God, Guitar Junkie
Previous Posts
- The Eucharist - The Christian Identity
- Playing GOD
- Change of Heart
- Do You Believe In Horoscopes?
- Another New Age Cancer
- Did Jesus Practice Yoga?
- Lord Make Me More Like YOU
- Outcome Based Spirituality
- St Paul's Prayer
- GOD's Infinite Mercy
5 Comments:
A Reflection by Terry Modica
Mark 8:14-21
"Do you still not understand?" Jesus asks in today's Gospel passage. Whenever we sin, or whenever we respond to life in unhealthy ways, it's because we really don't understand what Jesus taught with his words and with his life -- and why he taught it. Thus Jesus said on the cross, "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing." They didn't understand!
We sin when we don't understand the goodness of God's commandments.
We reject Church teachings that we don't like, because we don't understand what the Church is really teaching. But if we research them with a humble heart, we discover the how good and loving they really are.
We sabotage our lives with bad decisions or addictions, setting ourselves up for failure, chasing away the friends God has given us, etc., when we don't understand the damage that we're doing.
We don't want to love everyone unconditionally when we don't understand how God loves us. We run from suffering and we reject those who cause us difficulties when we don't realize the value of embracing our crosses.
We live in non-sacramental marriages, because we don't understand what's missing. Or we live in a valid divorce without an annulment, because we don't know the healing that we'd get in the process.
We're disinterested in ministry when we don't understand what it's like to be God's partner. We go home from Mass unchanged when we don't understand what's happening in the Eucharist.
Understanding is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It's one of the fruits of reading the Word of God. It's the blessing that comes from listening when we pray. It's a harvest yielded from retreats, spiritual seminars, and parish missions. It's a grace shared in good conversation with Christian friends. But true understanding is not achieved unless it's heard in the heart. For that, we have to act upon the truth.
We see the truth and we forget it.
We hear the truth and we remember it.
We DO the truth and finally we understand it.
Are you willing to really understand?
this is what concerned me:
- generally accepted values in society, not in God's eyes, are perceived as the right values.
I guess this is the challenge and the cross for us as a child of God.
yeah... it's too wordy... your blog is more like a bible study type of blog... hahas... not bad though... (:
hey 'abi's fren',
thank you for viewing my blog too. Youre right! My blog is not really about me but about the One who made me and all creation, including you; into being.
I do have occasional youth related articles. Do visit my blog regularly for your own leisure reading and updates. :)
Some inputs: Good to post Questions to ponder.
When we read the Scriptures of the day together that night, Jesus asked "Why don't you understand?",I can feel His closeness to his disciples and also to me. I felt He was looking at me and asked that question to me. I can feel His love to us and it striked me.
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