Center for Action and Contemplation ~ Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation: ”Religious Leaders Can Be the Worst Enemies of the Actual Message” ~ Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
Sixth Theme: The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines (Process).
“Religious Leaders Can Be the Worst Enemies of the Actual Message”
Meditation 34 of 51
Three times in the Gospel of Mark Jesus prophesies his necessary rejection and persecution by “the chief priests, scribes, and teachers of the Law” (8:31). There should be a message there, somehow.
Then the first time Jesus tells the disciples that “The Human One”—as he deliberately calls himself—will suffer grievously and be rejected and put to death (Mark 8:31), Peter totally rejects this path. Jesus strongly rebukes him—and this is the only person that Jesus ever calls a devil (Mark 8:33). For some reason, Roman Catholics are never told that the first “Pope” also got the strongest reprimand and directly rejected the necessary path, and is the only one who later denies Jesus three times.
This is good news for the possibility of conversion, but bad news for those who think that religious authorities are always right. In Mark’s account, they show themselves to be unbelievers until the very end of the Gospel, guardians of their own security and status more than any message of resurrection. Read the closing chapter of Mark (16), which is really rather disappointing.(Adapted from The Four Gospels (CD, MP3) The Daily Meditations for 2013 are now available in Fr. Richard’s new book Yes, And . . . .)
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Center for Action and Contemplation
1705 Five Points Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 (physical)
PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195-2464 (mailing)
(505) 242-9588
cac.org
1705 Five Points Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 (physical)
PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195-2464 (mailing)
(505) 242-9588
cac.org
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