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Monday, February 13, 2017

Bishop Barron's Daily Gospel Reflection February 13, 2017

Your daily Gospel reflection...
Monday, February 13, 2017
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Mark 8:11-13
Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees demand Jesus give them a sign in order to prove his authority, perhaps a miracle. But I’d like to draw your attention to the final line in the passage: “He left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore.”

Whose boat was this? Well, the previous verses confirm it belonged to his disciples. Him entering the boat calls to mind his first encounter with Peter. One day, Peter was going about his ordinary business, washing his nets and preparing for a catch. Then without warning, without asking permission, Jesus got into his boat. Now the boat was everything for Peter; it was his livelihood, his security. But Jesus just got in and began giving orders.

So it goes in the order of grace. The true God cannot be manipulated, determined by us, or controlled through our efforts. We can’t act like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, demanding that God behave for us. Rather, he comes, often unbidden and unexpected, into our lives and determines us, controls us. His presence is pure grace. Don’t demand signs from God. Instead, do what the disciples did and let him enter your boat.

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