Do You Really Want To Know?
Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem.
As he was walking in the temple area,
the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders
approached him and said to him,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
Or who gave you this authority to do them?”
Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?” –
they feared the crowd,
for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
Then Jesus said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Mk 11:27-33)
I really feel sorry for Jesus when I read these types of Gospel stories.
I feel sorry for Him because I know the kind of people who came to Him. They are the same kind of people who often come to me, asking me questions but not really interested in the answer unless it fits their need.
I am sure that you know the same kinds of people.
We all know people like this.
Sadly, there are many times when we, too, are people like this.
We often go to the Lord in prayer and become extremely frustrated when we ask Him questions. Oftentimes, the reason is because, when we ask the Lord questions, we are waiting for a certain response.
We do not really want to hear from Him unless His answer conforms to our expected response.
That is the perfect solution to being miserable spiritually.
The leaders who came to Jesus in today’s Gospel easily could have taken their cue from the crowds who all regarded John the Baptist as a prophet. However, they rejected John just as they rejected Jesus.
They were not interested in Jesus’ answer. They were merely looking for a means to do away with Him.
When we go to the Lord, are we interested in the answer?
FAITH ACTION: Have you been frustrated because you have been asking the Lord something and you have not gotten an answer? Perhaps it was because you were expecting a certain answer from Him and not open to whatever it was He wanted to tell you. Ask again and, this time, instead of telling Him what you want to hear, let Him speak to you.
PRAYER PETITIONS, PLEASE:
- Kindly remember me in your prayers. Thirty-three years ago today I was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Gary. Pray that I have the graces needed to continue this ministry faithfully.
- Pray, as well, for the eighth graders of our parish school who graduate this morning. May they count on the Lord to be with them in the next stages of their lives.