Wis 1:12.17-20; Ps 53 (54); Jm 3:16-4,3; Mk 9:30-37

Faced with the second announcement of the passion, the disciples misunderstand Jesus: “They did not understand… and were afraid to question him” (Mk 9.32). Their attitude comes as a surprise: someone who does not understand normally asks a question. The disciples, however, are afraid to do so. Perhaps because they sense that the word of Jesus interrogates their lives: they fear to be scrutinised in their hearts. Jesus, revealing the meaning of his path, also reveals what is hidden in our innermost selves, and brings to light those passions and desires that James writes about, the ones that make war in our bodies, opposing true wisdom. As the first reading recalls, the just path is inconvenient: we try to eliminate it from our horizon because, its whole way of being, even before a word is said, reveals our wrong inclinations. This also happens in the Gospel: The path of Jesus, extending as far as the gift of himself, highlights the fact that the disciples are walking in the opposite direction: they are dreaming of grandeur. True wisdom asks us to welcome Jesus’ way like a child. Certainly, a child also wants to become big, but it trusts, not in its own arms, but in the arms of the ones who welcome and hug it.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey