SATURDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
- Dn. Prosper (Njoroge)
- Jan 22, 2022
- 3 min read
22ND JANUARY 2022
PASSION OF CHRIST FOR HIS MISSION
Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
A passion is a strong feeling or enthusiasm or excitement for something one is convinced with. It is a force and a power that pushes one to act firmly, consciously and consistently until the end, no matter how difficult the obstacles and struggles he or she meets on the way. Passion sometimes brings about critics, judgments danger from others. This was what happened to Jesus. His mission and work on earth led and brought about his crucifixion and death. That was the Passion of Christ.
Jesus knew very well and convinced about his Vision and Mission his Father gave Him to do. But this was not clear for people surrounded Him, including his family members. That was happened in the Gospel of today.
The gospel today is very short, actually the shortest Gospel in our liturgical calendar, just two verses, but it is very important and rich in message and teachings. In this gospel account, Jesus’ relatives are somewhat upset with Jesus. Jesus is accused of being “out of His mind”. He is claimed to be out of His mind just because He often behaves very different from the rest of his mates. He missed His meals very often, rested hardly after hard work. As a Young man, full of energy and bright future, His work and carrier looked uncompressible for many. He was just moving everywhere and teaching people without and interest. He was just helping people for free and even calling disciples without and assured future nor hope for business. All these alarm His relatives to react and save him.
Jesus’ relatives just see a one-sided part of Him which is His activity of helping other people rather than helping Himself first. They do not see his relation with God. They do not realize Him late in the evening or in the little hours of the morning, communing with His Father in prayer. These people react very differently because they think they do really know who Jesus was.
All this was not easy for Jesus to bear but since He was very much convinced what He was doing, He just ignored them and proceeded doing His assigned Business.
The same in our life, in whatever we do, we need a passion to succeed. We do not live alone; we live with others. Critics and misunderstanding might come to us on our journey. People might not always appreciate or understand what we do or what we stand for. Therefore, we need to be convinced deeply with what we are doing. We need to know be convinced and know our own vision and mission in life. What is my mission in life? What does God want me to be?
Doing God’s will is not that easy to bear and understand. In following his teaching and commandments, we will meet lots of struggles and problems on the way. Lots of misunderstanding and critics will come to us in our journey towards holiness. And if we are not convinced, if we do not have clear motivation and strong passion, we will just get discouraged on the way. Jesus in the Gospel of today challenges us to be determined enough in following God’s path and plan for us no matter how much sufferings we might face.
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