Reading
Mark 9:41-50
41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Meditation
Jesus considers the acts of solicitude towards his disciples as if they were done to him (v. 41). The value of hospitality, already present in the Old Testament, becomes even more important when it refers to the acceptance of the word of God, preached by his ministers.
At the same time, it resolutely condemns those who scandalize "the little ones", that is, those who have humbly accepted the word of the Gospel. Death by drowning (v. 42) was considered a great misfortune because it deprived the deceased of a decent burial.
The name gehenna - from the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom, the valley of Hinnom, located south of Jerusalem, where waste was continually burned - indicates the place where the wicked will be thrown on the day of judgment. Gehenna, therefore, calls hell.
With various figurative expressions, Jesus shows the gravity of sin and the need to mortify one's senses and passions in order to prevent it.
The reference to the worm that does not die and to fire - the repetitions are only in some manuscripts - is a quotation from the book of Isaiah, with some modification: "“And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”" (Is 66,24). The worm is a symbol of remorse.
Salt was associated with the sacrifice by the Levitical law: "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings." (Lv 2:13). The preservative use of salt for food and the purifying action of fire are symbolically referred to by Jesus in their effects on the spiritual life: the disciple must preserve his own integrity and accept trials and sacrifices.
In some texts of the rabbinic tradition, salt symbolically indicates patience and the tolerance of wrongs, which are fundamental for maintaining peace. Being salted with fire can also be interpreted as the necessary passage for God's judgment.
After a few years, the preserving power of salt is lost due to humidity and in this sense, the salt becomes "tasteless". Hence the call of Jesus to always keep within us the true spirit of the disciples: that which, like a salt that does not lose flavor, always makes testimony alive and effective.
Self-sacrifice as a spiritual cult is recalled by Paul in his letter to the Romans: "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God" (Rom 12:1 ). Made sapid by grace, let us share it to the world and let us be consumed by the fire of charity.
Prayer
We give you, o Lord, our souls, and our bodies, so that our entire life, sanctified by your grace, can become a sacrifice pleasing to you. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
