Going to Jerusalem with Jesus

Imagine yourself in the scene of today's Gospel, Mark 10: 32-45: You are on the way with Jesus to Jerusalem. On the way Jesus tells you that He is going to be handed over to the chief priests, to Gentiles--unbelievers--who are going to condemn Him to death, mock Him, spit upon Him, scourge Him, and crucify Him and in three days He will rise from the dead!  JESUS, who has become your best friend. You have fallen in love with Him. For three years you have hung on His every word. You witnessed His healings, His raising people from the dead, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.  You have seen Him cast out demons and challenge those who condemn others. You yourself have been challenged to live a life of service to others, to forgive others, not seven times but seventy times seven times.  You had meals with Jesus. You've seen Him walk on water and calm storms, literal ones and emotional ones!  And He tells you of His impending crucifixion at the hands of unbelievers!  He tells you that His end is near! Life with Him, as you know it, will be over soon!

Imagine your conversation with Jesus following this information. It goes something like this:

No, Jesus! This is not possible.  It will not happen. I will not let it happen.

It will happen.  It is my Father's will.

No! It cannot be Your Father's will. No Father would want this for His Son.

You do not understand.

Yes, I do. It cannot happen. It will not happen! I won't let it happen.

In the midst of my suffering, you will flee out of fright. On the hill of my crucifixion, you will be no where to be found.

Jesus! No, no, no. It cannot be.

It must happen, __(your name),________________. Through my death I will ransom you from eternal death.  Three days after my death, I will rise from the the dead and return to My Father, from where I will send you the Holy Spirit, who will teach you all things.  Then, through the power of the Holy Spirit,  you are to travel throughout the whole world and baptize all peoples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

My Lord and My God! 

Conquerers of this World with, in and for Christ

“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world,”   Jesus says to His disciples before going to Gethsemane to face His betrayer and to us in today’s Gospel, John 16: 29-33.  The trouble we now face in the 21^st century is mind bottling.  Last night at one of the parishes in the area, we listened to a young woman who escaped  human traffickers, recovered from alcohol and drug addiction (used to numb her pain), has now earned a college degree in nursing and has turned her life over to Christ.  She shares her story in the hope that she will alert parents, grandparents and all adults of the dangers children, teens and young people face in the world of today, a dangerous world.  Children, teens and young people are stalked daily by recruiters of the sex industry, a lucrative business earning $32 billion a year. Recruiters of this industry hang around schools, shopping centers, places like Starbucks, looking for at-risk youth,teens and kids with low self-esteem who are easy targets of charmers!  Children and teens using certain online websites are only a click away from pimps seeking a victim  or from those working for the sex trade.

 

We may wonder why Jesus, in the Garden of Olives, sweat beads of blood? Or we may even wonder why Jesus suffered such excruciating torture to save us from the Evil One  when "He was made sin for us" to redeem us from sin; yes, in this case,  from the sin of human trafficking.  

"In the world you will have trouble…” This kind of trouble, Lord? When will we, in your name, Lord, conquer this world of human trafficking?  Please help us bring this issue to the awareness of your flock, to the awareness of persons who take seriously their responsibilities as your disciples to be a Good Samaritan to persons who become victims of human traffickers, are isolated from family and true friends, are told that harm will come to their families if they do not cooperate with their "owners", and  are beaten if they do not reach their quota. Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord, have mercy! Show us the way to rid the world of this scourge, of this abuse of power, of this horrible

sin against humanity!