GOSPEL
I will not tell you my authority for acting like this
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 11:27-33
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.’
The Gospel of the Lord
The Rest is His.
It is clear that we cannot comprehend the things of God. It is indeed wonderful that we do not know everything, and that despite not understanding many things, we still follow Him. Mary delighted in not understanding many things, which she kept in Her Heart, because this way she knew they were from God. If we understood everything, they couldn’t be from God, who is beyond the grasp of our small human minds. Because there is mystery, there is faith, and “blessed are those who believe without seeing.”
Applied to Married Life:
Claire: I don’t understand why, after all that I am giving of myself, this trial has come my way. I don’t understand why it has to come through you. If it were someone else causing me pain, it would be one thing, but that it is you—I just don’t understand. Do you know what I mean?
Peter: I’m sorry, Claire, please forgive me. I know I am a sinner and still have much to purify in my heart. I was caught off guard and reacted poorly, saying things I shouldn’t have said, and that I don’t even mean. I do the wrong I don’t want to do and not the good I want to do.
Claire: Yes… And who understands that God became man, took on your sins and mine, and gave Himself up, and is there before us, enclosed in a monstrance? Now I understand that I don’t understand. This is something from God, set before me so that I may learn to be merciful like Him. Thank you, Lord, continue to place me in these situations as often as You wish. Next time, I ask that You help me live through them in You. Forgive me, Peter. I understand your fragility. I know you want to love me more than you do, and that is more than enough for me. Peter: Praise be to God.
Mother,
We are too small to know everything. Grant us the gift of understanding, just enough to be faithful to God’s will. The rest is His. Praise be to the Lord.