Single-Minded Devotion

He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. Mark 3:9–10

It’s fascinating to ponder the enthusiasm that so many people had toward Jesus. In the passage above, we see Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that He would not be crushed as He taught the crowd. He had been curing many who were sick, and the crowd was pressing upon Him to try to simply touch Him.

This scene provides us with an illustration of what must happen within our interior lives regarding our Lord. The people can be said to have been single-minded in their devotion to Jesus and fervent in their desire for Him. Granted, their desire may have been somewhat selfishly motivated by the desire for physical cures of their ailments and those of their loved ones, but nonetheless, their attraction was real and powerful, driving them to put their complete focus upon our Lord.

Jesus’ choice to get into a boat and distance Himself a bit from the crowd was also an act of love. Why? Because this act allowed Jesus to help them refocus upon His deeper mission. Though He did miracles out of compassion and so as to manifest His almighty power, His primary focus was to teach people and to lead them into the full Truth of the message He was preaching. Therefore, by separating Himself from them, they were invited to listen to Him rather than just try to touch Him for the sake of a physical miracle. For Jesus, the spiritual wholeness He desired to give the crowd was of much greater significance than any physical healing He also gave.

In our own lives, Jesus may “separate” Himself from us in somewhat superficial ways so that we will be more open to the deeper and more transforming purpose of His life. For example, He may remove certain feelings of consolation or permit us to encounter some trial through which He seems to be less present to us. But when this happens, it is always so that we will turn to Him on a deeper level of trust and openness so as to be drawn more deeply into a relationship of love.

Reflect, today, upon how single-minded your devotion is to our Lord. From there, ponder, also, if you are more attached to the good feelings and consolations you seek or if your devotion is deeper, focused more on the transforming message our Lord wants to preach to you. See yourself on that shore, listening to Jesus speak, and allow His holy words to transform your life more deeply.

My saving God, I turn to You, this day, and seek to be single-minded in my love and devotion to You. Help me, first and foremost, to listen to Your transforming Word and to allow that Word to become the central focus of my life. Jesus. Amen

Keeping Holy The Sabbath
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Mark 2:23–24

The Pharisees were greatly concerned about many things that were distortions of the law of God. The Third Commandment calls us to “Keep holy the Sabbath Day.” Furthermore, we read in Exodus 20:8–10 that we are not to do any work on the Sabbath but are to use that day for rest. From this Commandment, the Pharisees developed extensive commentary on what was permitted and what was forbidden to do on the Sabbath. They determined that picking the heads of grain was one of the forbidden actions.

In many countries today, the Sabbath rest has all but disappeared. Sadly, Sunday is rarely set aside any longer for a day of worship and rest with family and friends. For that reason, this hypercritical condemnation of the disciples by the Pharisees is hard to relate to. The deeper spiritual issue seems to be the hyper “nitpicky” approach taken by the Pharisees. They were not so much concerned about honoring God on the Sabbath as they were interested in being judgmental and condemning. And though it may be rare today to find people overly scrupulous and nitpicky about the Sabbath rest, it’s often easy to find ourselves becoming nitpicky about many other things in life.

Consider your family and those who are closest to you. Are there things they do and habits they have formed that leave you constantly criticizing them? Sometimes we criticize others for actions that are clearly contrary to the laws of God. At different times, we criticize others on account of some exaggeration of fact on our part. Though it is important to speak charitably against violations of the external law of God, we must be very careful not to set ourselves up as the judge and jury of others, especially when our criticism is based on a distortion of the truth or an exaggeration of something minor. In other words, we must be careful not to become nitpicky ourselves.

Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have in your relationships with those closest to you toward being excessive and distorted in your criticism. Do you find yourself obsessing over the apparent minor faults of others on a regular basis? Try to step back from criticism today and renew, instead, your practice of mercy toward all. If you do, you may actually discover that your judgments of others do not fully reflect the truth of God’s law.

My merciful Judge, give me a heart of compassion and mercy toward all. Remove from my heart all judgmentalness and criticalness. I leave all judgment to You, dear Lord, and seek only to be an instrument of Your love and mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.

To Fast or Not to Fast
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. Mark 2:19–20

The passage above reveals Jesus’ response to the disciples of John the Baptist and some Pharisees who question Jesus about fasting. They point out that the disciples of John and the Pharisees follow the Jewish laws on fasting, but Jesus’ disciples do not. Jesus’ answer goes to the heart of the new law on fasting.

Fasting is a wonderful spiritual practice. It helps to strengthen the will against disordered fleshly temptations and helps to bring purity to one’s soul. But it needs to be pointed out that fasting is not an eternal reality. One day, when we are face-to-face with God in Heaven, there will no longer be any need to fast or do any form of penance. But while on earth, we will struggle and fall and lose our way, and one of the best spiritual practices to help us return to Christ is prayer and fasting combined.

Fasting becomes necessary “when the bridegroom is taken away.” In other words, fasting is necessary when we sin and our union with Christ begins to fade. It is then that the personal sacrifice of fasting helps open our hearts once again to our Lord. This is especially true when habits of sin form and become deeply ingrained. Fasting adds much power to our prayer and stretches our souls so as to be able to receive the “new wine” of God’s grace where we need it the most.

Reflect, today, upon your approach to fasting and other penitential practices. Do you fast? Do you make regular sacrifices so as to strengthen your will and help you to turn more fully to Christ? Or has this healthy spiritual practice been somewhat neglected in your life? Renew your commitment to this holy endeavor today and God will work powerfully in your life.

Lord, I open my heart to the new wine of grace that You wish to pour forth upon me. Help me to be properly disposed to this grace and to use every means necessary to become more open to You. Help me, especially, to commit to the wonderful spiritual practice of fasting. May this act of mortification in my life bear abundant fruit for Your Kingdom. Amen

They came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Mark 2:3–4

This paralytic man is a symbol of certain people in our lives who seem to be incapable of turning to our Lord by their own effort. It’s clear that the paralytic man wanted healing, but he was unable to come to our Lord by his own effort. Therefore, the friends of this man carried him to Jesus, opened the roof (since there was such a large crowd), and lowered the man down before Jesus.

The paralysis of this man is a symbol of a certain type of sin. It’s a sin that someone desires forgiveness for but is incapable of turning to our Lord by their own effort. For example, a serious addiction is something that can so dominate a person’s life that they cannot overcome this addiction by their own effort. They need the help of others to even be able to turn to our Lord for help.

We each must see ourselves as the friends of this paralytic man. Too often when we see someone who is trapped in a life of sin, we simply judge them and turn away from them. But one of the greatest acts of charity we can offer another is to help provide them with the means they need to overcome their sin. This can be done by our counsel, our unwavering compassion, a listening ear, and by any act of fidelity to that person during their time of need and despair.

How do you treat people who are caught in the cycle of manifest sin? Do you roll your eyes at them and turn away? Or do you firmly determine to be there for them to give them hope and to assist them when they have little or no hope in life to overcome their sin? One of the greatest gifts you can give to another is the gift of hope by being there for them to help them turn fully to our Lord.

Reflect, today, upon a person you know who seems to be not only caught in the cycle of sin but has also lost hope to overcome that sin. Prayerfully surrender yourself over to our Lord and commit yourself to the charitable act of doing anything and everything you can so as to help them fully turn to our divine Lord.

My precious Jesus, fill my heart with charity toward those who need You the most but seem incapable of overcoming the sin in their lives that keep them from You. May my unwavering commitment to them be an act of charity that gives them the hope they need to surrender their life to You. Use me, dear Lord, my life is in Your hands. Jesus, I trust in You.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” Mark 1:40–41

If we come to our divine Lord with faith, kneel down before Him and present our need to Him, then we also will receive the same response given to this leper: “I do will it. Be made clean.” These words should give us hope in the midst of any and every challenge in life.

What is it that our Lord wills for you? And what is it that He desires to make clean in your life? This story of the leper coming to Jesus does not mean that our Lord will grant any and every request we bring to Him. Instead, it reveals that He wills to make us clean of that which afflicts us the most. Leprosy in this story should be seen as a symbol of the spiritual ills that afflict your soul. First and foremost, it should be seen as a symbol of the sin in your life that has become habitual and slowly does great damage to your soul.

At that time, leprosy not only caused grave physical damage to a person, but it also had the effect of isolating them from the community. They had to live apart from others who did not have the disease; and if they came near others, they had to show they were lepers by certain external signs so that people would not come in contact with them. Thus, leprosy had both personal and communal ramifications.

The same is true with many habitual sins. Sin does damage to our souls, but it also affects our relationships. For example, a person who is habitually harsh, judgmental, sarcastic or the like will experience the ill effects of these sins on their relationships.

Returning to the statement of Jesus above, consider that sin which not only affects your soul the most but also your relationships. To that sin, Jesus wishes to say to you, “Be made clean.” He wants to strengthen your relationship by cleansing the sin within your soul. And all it takes for Him to do that is for you to turn to Him on your knees and to present your sin to Him. This is especially true within the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Reflect, today, upon your closest relationships in life. And then consider which of your sins most directly hurts those relationships. Whatever comes to mind, you can be certain that Jesus wants to rid you of that spiritual leprosy within your soul.

My divine Lord, help me to see that which is within me that most harms my relationships with others. Help me to see that which causes isolation and hurt. Give me the humility to see this and the trust I need to turn to You to confess it and seek Your healing. You and You alone can free me from my sin, so I turn to You in confidence and surrender. With faith, I also await Your healing words, “I do will it. Be made clean.” Amen

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Mark 1:32–34

Today we read that Jesus once again “drove out many demons…” The passage then adds, “…not permitting them to speak because they knew him.”

Why would Jesus not permit these demons to speak? Many of the early Church fathers explain that even though the demons had an understanding that Jesus was the promised Messiah, they did not understand fully what that meant and how He would accomplish His ultimate victory. Therefore, Jesus did not want them to speak only half-truths about Him, as the evil one often does, thus misleading the people. So Jesus always forbade these demons from speaking about Him publicly.

It’s important to understand that all of the demonic spirits failed to understand the full truth that it would be Jesus’ death that ultimately destroys death itself and sets all people free. For that reason, we see that these diabolical forces continually conspired against Jesus and tried to attack Him throughout His life. They stirred up Herod when Jesus was a baby, which forced Him into exile in Egypt. Satan himself tempted Jesus just prior to the beginning of His public ministry so as to try to dissuade Jesus from His mission. There were many diabolical forces who continually attacked Jesus throughout His public ministry, especially through the ongoing hostility of the religious leaders at the time. And it can be presumed that these demons may have initially thought they won the battle when they accomplished their goal of having Jesus crucified.

The truth, however, is that Jesus’ wisdom continually confounded these demons and ultimately transformed their evil act of having Him crucified into an ultimate victory over sin and death itself by rising from the dead. Satan and his demons are real, but compared to the truth and wisdom of God, these diabolical forces reveal their complete foolishness and weakness. Just like Jesus, we need to rebuke these tempters in our lives and command that they be silent. Too often we allow their half truths to mislead us and confuse us.

Reflect, today, upon the importance of confidently rebuking the evil one and the many lies he tempts us to believe. Rebuke him with the truth and authority of Christ and pay no attention to what he says.

My precious and all-powerful Lord, I turn to You and You alone as the source of all Truth and the fullness of Truth. May I listen to Your voice alone and reject the many deceptions of the evil one and his demons. In Your precious name, Jesus, I rebuke satan and all evil spirits, their lies and their temptations. I send these spirits to the foot of Your Cross, dear Lord, and open my mind and heart only to You. Jesus, I trust in You.