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

Thursday 27 May 2021

Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Word of today
The Gospel of Mark 10:17-27

Nothing is impossible

The original Greek text is rigorous and precise; it does not say All things are possible for God, but: all the things are possible in God.  In is the translation of the preposition para, and when it is accompanied by the dative it indicates a place. Parà is to be within a truth, to dwell there stably, to belong to, to persist, to be resistant within, to encompass, to be a part.
The translation all things are possible for God emphasizes the limitless omnipotence of God, but this is an obvious given and foregone conclusion for Jesus and those who believe. The closest translation for the text is all the things are possible in God instead indicates an absolute and splendid innovation, it asserts and reveals that the limitless power of God also belongs to those who lovingly live near to God, to those who live in God, to those who are always close to God, live in God and within God. It is a completely different perspective.
All things are possible for God requires a certain kind of relationship with God implying a certain kind of prayer and supplication. It implies the obligation to cry out to God as a universal substitute for our weaknesses and incompleteness. All things are possible in God calls for a different type of relationship with God and also another type of prayer and supplication. Prayer is no longer a way to remind God of our needs and to obtain from Him what we cannot gain with our own strength, but it is a way to unite ourselves with Him, to love Him, to be in Him, to praise Him, it is a way to stay with Him, in Him, and consequently, without even a thought, a request, or an appeal, everything becomes possible and simple.
All things are possible for God makes God appear as the last resort for man’s desperation and fear.  All things are possible in God tell us that God is the only oasis where man can live in intimate unity and all things are possible in this love.