Gospel: February 26, 2025
February 26, 2025 (Wednesday)
7th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 3 / (Green)
Ps 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175
O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.
1st Reading: Sirach 4:11-19
Gospel: Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him, because he does not belong to our group.” Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon after speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.
Reflection:
“Submission to God.”
Throughout the history of the Church, the writings of the saints consistently testify to the description of spiritual experience as presented in the Book of Wisdom. At first our desire for God is tested and purified, and then, if we persevere and do not wander from the path, we are helped by the Lord to grow in virtue and grace until there is a close union between the soul and God in peace and joy.
Saint John of the Cross described this challenging experience of purification as a dark night of the soul, where we learn to surrender ourselves to God. The idea of surrender seems counterintuitive, since we fear that we will lose everything, but Saint John and countless other saints teach us that it is only through holding nothing back from God that we gain everything. This submission to God is only possible if we really trust in his providence, if we really believe that he cares for us. Once we accept the truth of God’s loving care, like little children, we will run to him without fear.
