In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.

Sunday 21 February 2021

First Sunday of Lent - Year B

Word for today
The Gospel of Mark 1:12-15

Metanoia Pass

The sun has just come up. A man goes out of his hut, takes his arch and arrows and goes hunting in the area around Metanoia Mountain. He finds an unexpected snowstorm which slows his pace but he continues to go forward towards the pass where he knows that if he is lucky he will find a herd of antelope spending the winter there. After a while he is forced to stop because of the snow then he needs to take a wide, long circle to get to the area of the pass. The day is advancing quickly and the hunter becomes blocked in a kind of natural cave where he stops to let the storm blow over. He does not know what he will do, but in his mind and in his heart there are only thoughts of gratitude and thankfulness for life, for the Lord of life, for being there in any case, to struggle, to feel the cold, to search for food with his eyes, his hands, his heart and his skin. After a while he distinctly hears, even if the sound is muffled by the snow, the movement of animals in a herd. He approaches the entrance of the cave and finds a young antelope nearby which is catching up with the rest of the herd. His arrow hits its target and the antelope collapses. The hunter ties it tightly to his back and begins the descent along the snow covered canyon. Down in the valley the snow is so high that each step is a venture and an exercise in fatigue and balance. He finally arrives unexpectedly at the campsite when darkness has already fallen and all is silent. His woman goes out of the hut. She gives him a look of understanding and happiness for the life of her man and for the food that he is carrying on his back. Others in the huts begin to move about; it is late but  at this time hunger is stronger than sleepiness. The encampment comes to life. The campfire is stoked again. The hunter feels honored and proud of life.
The sun has just come up, a man thinks that it would be a good idea and opportune to get up and to go out hunting, but he considers that someone else could go. He remembers that yesterday the sky promised snow. He recalls that there is still some dried meat in their supplies. He reflects on the fact that he might not find any animals to hunt. He decides not to go and to stay in the encampment hypothesizing that perhaps others would decide to go out hunting. He thinks to himself that perhaps a wounded animal might approach the encampment in search of food. He supposes that with the cold even the animals will probably stay hidden and considers that there is always the risk of getting hurt. In the end he falls asleep and dreams. He dreams of hunting, of catching his prey, of returning victorious with food on his shoulders and then to the arms of his woman to celebrate. But in reality there is no food, fire, arms of his woman, nor is there any celebration. When he gets up he is vaguely sad and during the day he gets angry at his woman over a trifling and towards evening while he is cutting firewood in front of his hut he seriously injured his arm. At the end he thinks that life is miserly with satisfactions and that it is loathsome. Three days later loaded with these feelings, with his arch and arrow, and his injury he sets off to go hunting. In his mind is the fear that he will not find anything and in his heart is the resentment of having to be be there by no will of his own to provide food for his people, in his body are the claws of cold and the pain of his wound. He arrives at Metanoia pass together with a violent snowstorm exhausted and disappointed. His thoughts have not changed, the resentment has not boiled over, the sadness had not boiled over, the fear has not boiled over. And because he is so tense and negative he does not notice a herd of antelope that are moving not far in front of him. They walk away slowly because the snow is falling so heavily. Worn out, he falls to the ground thinking that life is revolting. He will never return to his village.
The greatest temptation is not to believe, it it not to believe that we are accompanied, loved, followed. The greatest temptation is to lose one's faith, to get lost in the labyrinth of one's own dark thoughts. The Metanoia Pass is the mountain pass of life. Changing one's thoughts is the secret of secrets, changing the inner dialogue with words of faith, with Jesus' words  is the key that opens all the doors to peace and to serenity. When the time was fulfilled Jesus begins his mission and his first words of salvation sound like this: Change your mind and believe in the joyous announcement. It is the marvelous invitation to change one's way of thinking, to deflect one's mind from the ordinary processes acquired through training or by our experiences of conflict and of fear. Jus proposes the gospel for our new and regenerating daily interior dialogue. Learn to respond and to talk internally with the gospel. Learn to oppose resistance to annoying judgmental thoughts with Jesus's liberating words. Try to immerse your interior dialogue in one of Jesus' phrases that you like, that you feel your own right at this moment. Try to do this for a couple of days. Your emotions will change, your gestures will change. You will feel happy, different, radiant and serene, If you succeed in reaching Metanoia pass your life will show you its beauty despite its difficulties and this has the power to transform life, every life and the life of the entire world.