Mark 11:11-26

​Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.
He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”
And his disciples heard it.

They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.”

The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to death,
yet they feared him
because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.

Early in the morning, as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”

Mark 10:46-52

​As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

Has there ever been something you wanted really bad? I mean REALLY BAD! You would do almost anything for it! That was Bartimaeus in this Gospel passage. He was a known blind man and beggar of the area where Jesus was traveling and teaching. Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus, who he was and the works he had done, and wanted not hing more than the ability to see.

Bartimaeus knew, without a doubt, that Jesus could heal him. So when he heard Jesus was passing by he cried out to Jesus with his deepest desire on his heart. Even though the crowds tried to keep him quiet, Bartimaeus would not be silent in his pursuit for Jesus’s healing.

There is SO much I can relate to and learn from Bartimaeus. For starters, there are many times I feel blind in my life; not physically, but blind to what is coming up in my life. I graduated in May and am preparing to enter the “real world” of being an adult, which brings up so much unknown. Things are starting to fall into place, but there has been several times when I think I have everything together, and then a curveball comes and I am left feeling as blind as ever.

It’s in those times when I am left uncertain about my future or feel blind to what is going on around me, I cry out to Jesus for help. This is where I can learn a lot from Bartimaeus: he was persistent in calling out to Jesus and knew what he wanted. There are times when I don’t know what to do and I cry out to Jesus, but then don’t really know what I want. Then there are times when I know what I want in my deepest heart, but then shy away from actually asking Jesus for that blessing, healing, grace, etc.

I want to strive to have the boldness and confidence of Bartimaeus when asking Jesus for something. I need to work on being persistent in prayer, especially when people tell me to keep quiet or that it is useless to call out to Jesus for help in that situation. Jesus wants the best for you, nothing less. He wants to fulfill the desires of your heart, and we need to be confident that he has the power to do just that.

But here is where we have to check ourselves: is what I am asking really best for me? If it is, what if God doesn’t answer in the way I expect? When we pray and boldly ask Jesus what is on our hearts, we need to be confident that he has the power to answer our prayers. The hard part comes in having that confidence even if the answer is not what we expected or hoped for. Most of the time we won’t get an immediate answer like Bartimaeus did, but we can learn a lot from his boldness and confidence in Jesus.

“Take courage; get up, he is calling you.”

​In what ways do I cray out to God for help?

How can I be more persistent in asking God for help?

When I cry out to God for help, how will I answer the question: what do you want me to do for you?

How can I grow in confidence that God hears my prayers even if he does not answer them in the way I expected?

"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."

"What do you want me to do for you?"

"Go your way; your faith has saved you."

"I will still have faith in God even if _______."

Boldly go into prayer and tell God your deepest desires and longings. Be confident that He hears you, loves you, and will do what is best for you.

Mark 10:32-45

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, 
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

James and John are brothers. Jesus nicknamed them the "Sons of Thunder" (see Mark 3:17). So right away we know that when these two are around, it's never boring. Jesus tells the disciples that He's going to suffer and die. The Sons of Thunder assume He's speaking in metaphors again because right after that they ask Jesus if they could have a special place of honor in His kingdom. Then Jesus face palmed. They clearly didn't get it, so He tries to clear things up for them and explain that a place of glory in His kingdom will come at a great cost and much suffering.

At this point none of the disciples are listening to Jesus any more. Instead, they're all really upset with James and John because those obnoxious Sons of Thunder are sucking up to Jesus, trying to become His favorites. Jesus face palms again.

When will they learn?

​The disciples struggled with something that we struggle a lot with now: community. We want to find a community that fulfills our needs and desires. A place where we don't have to worry about drama. A group of people with whom we always feel at home and never feel out of place.

The problem is, that kind of place doesn't exist.

Authentic community is messy. It can still be many of the things mentioned above. But if you're looking for a perfect utopia to make you feel warm and fuzzy all the time, then you're seeking a fantasy.

Our culture teaches us that we are consumers. We believe the fallacy that being in community is about what we get out of it. This is why we often leave a community the moment we encounter drama, conflict or awkwardness. While we do receive many graces from community, in today's reading, Jesus describes the crucial attitude we must have with one another.

We must not enter community solely for our own sake and to advance only our own cause. Jesus tells us that we are actually supposed to come in with humility and with the attitude that we are there to be community for others. That means when your faith community gets messy and your utopia is spoiled, you don't just leave because "I'm not getting anything out of this any more." Instead, you stay and bring Christ into the mess. Just like Jesus came into the mess of humanity for our salvation.

​When you disagree with someone in your community, you stay and bring understanding. When you encounter drama, you stay and bring peace. When someone in your community hurts you, you stay and bring mercy. When people are discouraged and stressed out, you stay and bring joy. When others give up on community, you stay and bring faithfulness. No matter what happens, you stay and bring love.

​What do you bring to your community?

"Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all."

Think about the faith community you're a part of, and spend some time thanking God for all the graces and blessings you've received from that home-away-from-home.

Talk to the Lord about the struggles you have in your community. The things that bother you and tempt you to leave.

Ask Jesus for His mercy for the times you've contributed to the problems in your community or failed to bring Him into the midst of the trouble.

Ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to bring into that mess. What specific and tangible ways can you start doing that right away?

Pray for the gifts you feel you need most in order to persevere in love with your faith community.

"For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve."

"Lord, help me to stay."

​"Jesus, help me to love."

​"Holy Spirit, help me to embrace the mess."

How can you put aside your own agenda, just for a little while? What can you do to be community to someone else today?

Mark 10:28-31

​Peter began to say to Jesus,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Context is key. 

In today's Gospel, it seems like Jesus almost forgets about the context of something He is promising His disciples. Peter, possibly having a bad day, is making sure Jesus knows how much they've given up for Him when Jesus cuts Peter off rather abruptly. In Jesus' response, we can all find re-assurance: if we give something up for Him and for the Gospel, He says, we will receive a hundred times more in this present age and eternal life to come.

That's super exciting - and should be - because sometimes it's hard to remember why we're giving things up in the moment that we're losing the thing we want that we have to walk away from. When it's a Friday in Lent and our friends are all going to get some delicious chick fil-a, we might not find it super easy to remember why we have to refuse it; we just know that we do. Jesus here is reassuring us - it's worth it! Stand firm, it's all going to be worth it. 

The last thing Jesus says right before promising eternal life, though, is the context we need to remember in order to understand His promise; Jesus tells us that we will receive all of these things "with persecutions." Often, many of us may fall into the trap of thinking that if we follow Jesus, we'll simply get the promises He offers, no questions asked. It is true that we will receive the reward, but it is also true that the reward will come "with persecutions," and sometimes with more than a little bit of suffering.

On that Friday in Lent when our friends go to chick fil-a, we might go with and sip our sweet tea quietly in the corner. Those friends might ask us why we follow those old Church rules instead of having a delicious chicken sandwich, and they might even start making fun of us for believing what we believe. On a small level, these are the persecutions that Jesus promised us; some persecutions will be bigger, others smaller, but at the end of the day we'll be persecuted on the way to receive the reward Jesus promised.

The lesson of this Gospel is to take heart, knowing that Jesus has promised us a great reward, but to prepared for the context in which that reward will come. If we stand firm, accepting whatever reward is offered but also whatever persecution comes our way, then we will receive what we have given up "one hundred fold" and we will receive eternal life.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises us that we will "have trouble" in this world, but then encourages us to "take heart" because He has conquered the world. So today, my friends, let's take heart, even in the face of persecutions, for we know that those persecutions are simply the context in which we receive our reward. 

"Jesus said, 'Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

Lord, what are you asking me to give up for you today?

How can I be more courageous in the face of persecutions? What are the areas of my life in which I've been scared to show my faith for fear of persecution?

I know You've promised a reward for me, Lord, and that You hold true to Your promises. How can work on trusting Your promises more?

When you encounter persecution, repeat the phrase "I have overcome the world" and allow yourself to take heart in God's victory and His promise.