Cycle B - Year II:  

10 June 2018: Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time  

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Genesis 3:9-15

Second Reading:  2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1

Gospel:Please Read  Mark 3:20-35

The Lord is my light and salvation!

When things get tough and challenging, do we keep faith and persevere, or just give up?  Sometimes, the easiest way to escape difficult situation is to change path or direction; but is that the right way?

In the beginning of our Lord Jesus' public ministry, word of His teachings and miracles started to spread out. But people, and even His friends,  had difficulty understanding His ministry. Because they didn't understand that He is the Son of God. To the people of Nazareth, Jesus was just the son of Mary and Joseph.

The Pharisees, who were the religious "experts" at that  time also didn't understand what Jesus was doing. So they accused our Lord of being possessed by the devil. They wanted to discredit Him in the eyes of the people.

But Jesus pointed out the flaw in the Pharisees' accusation. For how can the devil defeat himself? That is to say, the devil can only be defeated by someone more powerful. Since good is always stronger than evil, good will always defeat evil. And our Lord Jesus Christ is the champion of everything that is good. So He will always defeat evil.

We face the same challenge of disbelief today. Sometimes we can't understand Jesus and His ministry. Sometimes, it is hard for our generation to understand who Jesus really is, what He does, and why He does what He does for us. We question God why He is doing what He is doing in our lives.

So how many people in our time refuse to accept Jesus Christ simply because accepting Him would mean giving up our earthly way of life of ease and comfort, which is important to them? It is much easier to give up believing than to deal with challenging situation and difficult Christian living.

Our Lord Jesus Christ invites us again, in today's liturgy, to believe in Him amidst the worldly temptations that deceive us in believing that His message is outmoded and too difficult to live by. And Holy Mother Church reminds us that the temptation is among us, which tempts us to reject our Lord Jesus as the one sent by the Father to reconcile us with God.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit grant us the grace and the power to witness our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives today, through our authentic Christian living.

For "the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom I shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread?" (Ps 27:1)

A blessed Sunday to us all. and thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!