THE RISK OF SCANDAL

In the Church there are “little ones” who believe in the Lord. Who are they? They are the weakest, least enlightened Christians, whose faith is fragile and subject to scandal (cf. 1Cor 8,7-13). We must not sin against them, that is, we must not hurt – with words and actions – their weak conscience. Whoever sins against them sins against Christ (cf. 1Cor 8,12). We must not forget that scandalizing or leading to error means distancing oneself from faithfulness to the Lord. This is extremely serious. In the passage of today’s liturgy, Jesus does not specify what scandal consists of. However, keeping in mind the context, we can make some hypotheses. We have seen that the Twelve were busy arguing about who was the greatest among them. They will be admonished by Jesus and invited to become servants of all. True greatness lies in service, not in the exercise of power. The search for power, in the Christian community, is a sad reality that unfortunately has always accompanied its history. Now, this causes scandal because it is in clear contradiction with the Gospel. Then there is another risk, which can overwhelm everyone, and not only those in authority. There are conflicts that tear the person apart internally. Hand, foot, eye (to be understood here in a metaphorical sense) are those parts of the body that allow one to know (hand), to determine oneself freely (foot) and (last but not least) to orient oneself (eye). But the sincere Christian realizes that his experience does not always coincide with the Gospel. Hence the emergence of internal conflicts, tensions, and compromises. What to do? Jesus is radical: we must amputate what hinders the following, even if it is considered important. At stake is not only the Kingdom of God, belonging to Christ, communion with the Church but also one’s own Christian fulfilment, the maturity of faith, humanization itself starting from Christ. For Mark, however, there are not only scandals to avoid but also to defend. For example, the scanda in the person of Jesus himself (cf. Mk 6:3) and the scandal of the cross (cf. Mk 14:27). By presenting himself as an evangelical alternative, the disciple will be the light and salt of the world (cf. Mk 9:50).

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey