By Jorge Céspedes

Reflections about the book Mark the Risk of Believing by Elena Rossetti.

“Surprisingly Mark, from the beginning to end, he always shows Jesus going ahead, always in front of.” (introduction XV)

Perhaps this is the most necessary quality of those who want follow Jesus. We always need to go behind Jesus. Ultimately this ministry is not about us, it is about Jesus and his redemptive mission. Go behind “another” always requires humility from us. It is the attitude of those who recognize that without the master we are nothing. It is also required responsibility. We can not change the Gospel of Jesus; we must not add anything to the message of the Kingdom of God. We are responsible to transmit with integrity the Gospel of Jesus.

When the first apostles heard the call of Jesus they left everything and followed Him. Following is the secret to becoming holy. Only those who follow Jesus can go to the Father. He is the way and very soon in this following we learn that we are called to be perfect as the Father is perfect. This following helps us to know Jesus, to understand that he suffered temptations and he had difficult moments. But it also helps us to learn from his relationship with the Father. Following implies carrying the cross and dying with Jesus, but it also implies to rise with Him.

“Only Mark records this episode, which has all the flavor of a personal memory, a boys act of bravado” (page 3)

We are talking here of the night when Jesus was arrested. Everybody fled in panic. Only a young boy was close. The guards made an effort to catch him but he fled away. This is a passage that is recounted with a taste of personal insight. The same situation happens with the rich boy who comes to ask Jesus what is needed in order to obtain eternal life. Only the gospel of Mark puts some personal insights in these histories. Perhaps this is the reason that Mark was very frequently identified as the character of these two histories. It is possible to say that when Mark started following Jesus, he was very young. It comes to my mind the importance of giving the best years of our lives to Jesus. It is important that as soon as we hear the invitation we immediately answer it. We must give our life to Jesus, even our difficulties and defects, and in the following he will transform it.

It is possible that Mark became sad thinking of how he rejected Jesus just because he was rich; But Jesus always gives us second opportunities. It is possible to hear the invitation of Jesus not only one time but many times, and he is patient. When we answer this invitation and if we are faithful it is possible like Mark to travel around the world preaching the good news and being a witness of the love of God.

“The story illustrates a tension between seeing and not seeing” (page 18)

This is the normal tension of those who are commitment in the following of Jesus. Some times his presence in our lives is so evident that Jesus so close that we can go with him until the cross, but others days it seems like God is far from us. The best word that can be uses to describe this situation is tension. Very frequent we use as measure of our faith the feelings. We believed that if we are feeling beautiful things it is because God is with us. Part of our growing in faith is to understand that our faith must not depend on feelings. God is always with us, this presence of God does not depend on how we feel. Faith is an acceptance of the person of Jesus Christ. This acceptance must be unconditional.

One fact that we need to understand is that this tension is part of our process, in some way it can also be a manifestation of our human imperfections. In moments of difficulty it can be hard to believe in the promises of God. I can imagine how difficult it must have been for the apostles to continue believing in the message of Jesus Christ during those days after the crucifixion and before the resurrection. How difficult is believed the Jesus was the messiah when he was killed on the cross.  On the other hand, how easy was to this early Christian community to believe in Jesus when he was risen. God knows that we live in this tension, and he understand us.

“He sees something here and cannot remain silent about it; the truth of things, the strength of love.”

   Jesus was in the temple, and one widower came and deposited as offering just two small coins. Jesus saw in this situation something intrinsically good. Everybody was depositing big offerings, but this widow only owned these two coins. Do we give to God everything we own? Do we interpret offering just in the sense of money? We, human beings, have the tendency to reserve certain things for our selves. Sometimes they are just memories, other times they are our relationships, or even our prestige. If we really want to be true disciples of Christ we must give everything to him. Our offering to God must be that: offerings and not a motive to receive praise from others. It is easy to give what we do not need, but it is difficult to give what we need. It is a big temptation to give an offering and then await praise and recognition as cards or thank you notes. Christ calls us to offer not only material things but our complete lives. We must offer our selves with defects and virtues and he will accept these offerings as beautiful and he will transform us.

“Jesus sees good, no matter where it is coming from” page 20

Very frequently we believe that we are owners of the truth. In the name of God we try to defend this truth and we, Christians, son of the same Father, divided our church, even with good intentions. It is frequent to hear: I do not like him because he is very liberal or I do not like her because she is very conservative. In this Catholic Church we are not called to be conservative or liberals, but true Christians. We are called to work in order to reach of the kingdom of God. To this kingdom everybody is called to be part, even those who do not think or act as we act or think. We are called to love everybody and to recognize the good things that can come from others, even when they think different than us.

“That I may see”

I wan to conclude this reflection with the special petition of the blind to Jesus. IT is perhaps the most necessary prayer in these moments. We are so concerned about defending ideas or attacking others that we forget to ask God for his help to discover his will. Do I really trust in God? Do I believe that He is the savior of the world and that I am not? Do I believe that I am a disciple and not the messiah?

Oh God, how necessary is this insight… It is so important to understand that my call is to follow you, to be with you. You will send me when you believed that it is time. But please God, before being sent, I want to see…