Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

Desire is a deep longing, yearning or craving for something.

Our human desire is what moves us and keeps us going. Just to name a few: our physical desire of hunger and thirst motivates us to work for food and sustenance; our intellectual desire for knowledge inspires countless creations, inventions, innovations and discoveries; our desire for idealism and beauty opens before us the horizon of music, arts, poetry, literature and architecture… Without human desires, the human life as we know it would cease to exist.

However, even though human desire is an integral dimension of human life, it is also a source of human suffering and the root of evil. When our human desire escalates uncontrollably to human greed, it will control us, consume us, and destroy us. When we start to crave for everything, we will be like headless chickens chasing after elusive mirages after mirages, and in the end, we lose our very soul. Jesus has warned us that [Mt 16: 26], “For what will it profit us if we gain the whole world but forfeit our life?” Even the secular Psychology Today echoes the same that we should stop wanting everything and focus on what matters most.

In the Gospel reading of the 16^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Mark the Evangelist tells us what our Christian desire and focus must be – it must be none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians, we must move from desiring everything to desiring Christ. See how the crowd desire for Christ: they saw Jesus leaving with His disciples on a boat, so they hurried on foot to the place where Jesus was heading. Perhaps as Jesus was traveling in the boat, the crowd kept chasing desperately after His boat along the riverbank. They did not just desire for Jesus in their hearts, but their desire was expressed in their concrete action – they did not remain in their comfort zone, instead they hurriedly set out on a journey and an expedition of ‘Jesus chase’ with great sense of urgency.

Examining our own heart:

(1) How much do I desire Christ?

(2) What concrete actions do I take to ‘chase after’ Christ?

(3) Do I have a great sense of urgency in my journey of faith and the salvation of my soul?

As the raging storm continues, let us continue to put in time and effort to ‘chase after’ Jesus and His boat (the Catholic Church). As long as we follow the boat closely (even on foot), we will eventually come to Jesus. And as long as we come to Jesus with sincerity of heart, our merciful Shepherd will never turn us away.

Let our fervent prayer be:

"Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life."