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Our Lady of Lourdes and St Swithun Parish, Portsmouth

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105 Waverley Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire. PO5 2PL
Telephone 023 9282 8305

Parish Priest	Rev Marcin Drabik
Pastoral Assistant	Sr Marie Elise Tay

Safeguarding Representative	Mo Griffiths	Tel: 023 92 737559
Safeguarding Representative	Anne Worden	Tel: 023 92 817586
Parish Secretary	Ms Kathleen Margaret Jones

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CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio Divina: Mark 8:22-26Wednesday, February 19, 20201) Opening prayerGod our Father,You have promised to remain for everwith those who do what is just and right.Help us to live in Your presence.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 8:22-26When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.” 3) Reflection• The Gospel today gives an account of the cure of a blind man. This episode of a cure constitutes the beginning of a long instruction from Jesus to the disciples (Mk 8:27 to 10:45) and then ends with the cure of another blind man (Mk 10:46-52). In this broader context, Mark suggests to the readers that those who are truly blind are Peter and the other disciples. All of us are blind! They do not understand the proposal of Jesus when He spoke about the suffering and the cross. Peter accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but not as a suffering Messiah (Mk 8:27-33). He was also affected by the belief of the time which only spoke of a messiah as a glorious king. Peter seemed to be blind. He understood nothing, but wanted Jesus to be as he imagined.• The Gospel today indicates how difficult it was to cure the first blind man. Jesus had to cure this man in two different stages. The cure of the disciples was also difficult. Jesus had to give a long explanation concerning the significance of the cross to help them understand, because what really produced blindness in them was the cross.• In the year 70, when Mark was writing, the situation of the communities was not easy. There was much suffering, many crosses. Six years before, in 64, the Emperor Nero had decreed the first great persecution, and many Christians were killed. In the year 70, in Palestine, the Romans were destroying Jerusalem. In the other countries, a great tension between the converted Jews and the non-converted Jews was beginning. The greatest difficulty was the cross of Jesus. The Jews thought that a crucified person could not be the Messiah who was so awaited by the people, because the law affirmed that all those crucified should be considered persons condemned by God (Deut 21:22-23).• Mark 8:22-26: The cure of a blind man. They brought a blind man, asking Jesus to cure him. Jesus cured him, but in a different way. First of all, He took him outside the village. Then He put some spittle on the eyes, He placed His hands on him and asked, “Do you see something?” The man answered, “I see men; in fact, they seem like trees that walk!” He could see only in part. He exchanged trees for people, or people for trees! Only in a second moment does Jesus cure the blind man and forbids him to enter the village. Jesus did not want any easy advertising!• As it has been said, this description of the cure of the blind man acts as an introduction to the long instruction from Jesus to cure the blindness of the disciples, and at the end He finishes with the cure of another blind man, Bartimaeus. In reality the blind man was Peter. We are all blind. Peter did not want the commitment of the Cross! Do we understand the significance of suffering in life?• Between the two cures of the blind men (Mk 8:22-26 and Mk 10:46-52), is found a long instruction on the Cross (Mk 8:27 to 10:45). It seems a catechism, made of sayings from Jesus Himself. He speaks about the Cross in the life of the disciple. The long instruction consists of three announcements regarding the Passion. The first one is Mark 8:27-38. The second is Mark 9:30-37. The third one is in Mark 10:32-45. Between the first one and the second, there is a series of instructions which indicate the type of conversion that should take place in the life of those who accept Jesus, Messiah Servant (Mk 9:38 to 10:31):Mk 8:22-26: the cure of a blind man.Mk 8:27-38: first announcement of the cross.Mk 9:1-29: instructions to the disciples on the Messiah Servant.Mk 9:30-37: second announcement of the cross.Mk 9:38 to 10:31: instructions to the disciples on conversion.Mk 10:32-45: third announcement of the cross.Mk 10:46-52: the cure of the blind man Bartimaeus.The whole of this instruction has as a background the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. From the beginning to the end of this long instruction, Mark tells us that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem where He is going to suffer His death (Mk 8:27; 9: 30,33; 10:1,17,32). The full understanding of following Jesus is not achieved by theoretical ideas, but by practical commitment, walking like Him along the way of service, from Galilee up to Jerusalem. Any one who insists on keeping the idea of Peter, that is, of a glorious Messiah without the cross, will understand nothing and will never be able to have the attitude of a true disciple. He will continue to be blind, exchanging people for trees (Mk 8:24), because without the cross it is impossible to understand who Jesus is and what it means to follow Jesus.The journey of following is a road of the gift of self, of abandonment, of service, of availability, of acceptance of conflict, knowing that there will be resurrection. The cross is not an accident on the way, but forms part of this road. Because in a world organized around egoism, love and service can exist only crucified! Anyone who makes his life a service to others, disturbs and bothers those who live attached to privileges, and therefore suffers. 4) Personal questions• All believe in Jesus. But some understand Him in one way and others in another. Today, which is the most common Jesus according to the way people think? How does popular belief interfere in the way of seeing Jesus? What do I do so as not to be drawn by the deceit of these popular ideas?• What does Jesus ask of people who want to follow Him? Today, what prevents you from recognizing and assuming the plans of Jesus? 5) Concluding prayerLord, who can find a home in Your tent,who can dwell on Your holy mountain?Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly,who speaks the truth from the heart. (Ps 15:1-2)stswithuns.org.uk/newsletter-NL_19022020 ... See MoreSee Less

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CHRISTIAN MORNING MEDITATION:Lectio Divina: Mark 8:14-21Tuesday, February 18, 2020Ordinary Time 1) Opening prayerLord our God,when we do not see clearly in life,when suffering comes our way,we tend to blame You or people.Help us to realize clearlyhow much of the evil around uscomes from within ourselves:from our greed for riches and power,from our self-complacency and selfishness.Speak to us Your word of forgivenessand change us from a silent majority of evilinto solidarity of love,by the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.2) Gospel Reading - Mark 8:14-21The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered Him, "Twelve." "When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered Him, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" 3) ReflectionYesterday’s Gospel spoke of the misunderstanding between Jesus and the Pharisees. Today’s Gospel speaks of the misunderstanding between Jesus and the disciples and shows that the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod (religion and government), had taken possession of the mentality of the disciples to the point of hindering them from listening to the Good News.Mark 8: 14-16: Attention to the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Jesus warns the disciples to look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod. But they do not understand the words of Jesus. They think that He is speaking like that because they forgot to buy bread. Jesus says one thing and they understood another. This clash was the result of the insidious influence of the yeast of the Pharisees on the mentality and on the life of the disciples.Mark 8: 17-18a: Jesus’ question. In the face of this almost total lack of perception in the disciples, Jesus rapidly asks them a series of questions, without waiting for an answer. They are hard questions which express very serious things and reveal the total lack of understanding on the part of the disciples. Even if it seems unbelievable, the disciples reach the point in which there is no difference between them and the enemies of Jesus. First, Jesus had become sad seeing the hardness of heart of the Pharisees and of the Herodians (Mk 3: 5). Now, the disciples themselves have hardened their hearts (Mk 8: 17). First, those outside (Mk 4:11) do not understand the parables because they have eyes and do not see, listen but do not understand (Mk 4:12). Now, the disciples themselves understand nothing, because they have eyes and do not see, listen, but do not understand (Mk 8:18). Besides, the image of the hardened heart evoked the hardness of heart of the people of the Old Testament who always drifted away from the path. It also evoked the hardened heart of Pharaoh who oppressed and persecuted the people (Ex 4: 21; 7: 13; 8: 11, 15, 28; 9: 7 ). The expression “they have eyes and do not see, listen but do not understand” evoked not only the people without faith criticized by Isaiah (Is 6: 9-10), but also the adorers of false gods, of whom the psalm says, “They have eyes and see nothing, have ears and hear nothing” (Ps 115: 5-6).Mark 8: 18b-21: The two questions regarding the bread. The two final questions refer to the multiplication of the loaves: How many baskets did they gather the first time? Twelve! And the second time? Seven! Like the Pharisees, the disciples also, though they had collaborated actively in the multiplication of the loaves, did not succeed in understanding the meaning. Jesus ends by saying, “Do you still not understand?” The way in which Jesus asks these questions, one after the other, almost without waiting for an answer, seems to cut the conversation. It reveals a very big clash. What is the cause of this clash?The cause of the clash between Jesus and the disciples. The cause of the clash between Jesus and the disciples was not due to ill will on their part. The disciples were not like the Pharisees. The Pharisees did not understand, but in them there was malice. They used religion to criticize and to condemn Jesus (Mk 2: 7,16,18,24; 3: 5, 22-30). The disciples were good people. Theirs was not ill will, because even if they were victims of the yeast of the Pharisees and of the Herodians , they were not interested in defending the system of the Pharisees and the Herodians against Jesus. Then, what was the cause? The cause of the clash between Jesus and the disciples had something to do with the Messianic hope. Firstly, among the Jews there was an enormous variety of Messianic expectations. Second, the diverse interpretations of the prophecies: there were people who expected a Messiah King (cf. Mk 15: 9, 32); others, a Messiah Saint or Priest (cf. Mk1:24); others, a Messiah subversive Warrior (cf. Lk 23:5; Mk 15: 6; 13: 6-8); others, a Messiah Doctor (cf. Jn 4: 25; Mk 1: 22-27); still others, a Messiah Judge (cf. Lk 3: 5-9; Mk 1:8); others, a Messiah Prophet (6: 4, 14, 65). It seems that nobody expected a Messiah Servant, announced by the Prophet Isaiah (Is 42: 1; 49: 3; 52: 13). They did not consider the messianic hope as a service of the people of God to humanity. Each group, according to their own interests and according to their social class, awaited the Messiah, but wanted to reduce Him to their own hope. This is why the title Messiah, according to the person or social position, could mean very different things. There was a great confusion of ideas! And precisely in this attitude of Servant is found the key which turns on a light in the disciples’ darkness and helps them toward conversion. It is only in accepting the Messiah as the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, that they will be capable of opening their eyes and understanding the Mystery of God in Jesus. 4) For Personal ConfrontationWhat is for us today the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod? What does it mean today for me to have a hardened heart?The yeast of Herod and the Pharisees prevents the disciples from understanding the Good News. Perhaps, today the propaganda of television prevents us from understanding the Good News of Jesus?5) Concluding PrayerI need only say, “I am slipping,”for Your faithful love, Yahweh, to support me;however great the anxiety of my heart,Your consolations soothe me. (Ps 94:18-19)stswithuns.org.uk/newsletter-NL_18022020 ... See MoreSee Less