Monday 17 February 2025

Today is Monday the 17th of February in the 6th week of Ordinary Time.

Eliza King sings, ‘A Thousand Different Ways’. As you listen, bring to mind the ways Jesus has met with you over the years…

Nothing is unseen
For You have walked the worst of it with me
At times I almost didn't make it through
Jesus if it hadn't been for You
Still only You and I know all the places
You've met me in Your mercy, in Your kindness
You've saved my life a thousand times
In a thousand different ways
And I've never been the same
Nothing is a waste
For every pain and every broken place
Has led me to the safety of Your hands
Where I find the wounds that make me whole again
Still only You and I know all the places
You've pulled me from the grip of death and darkness
Lord I know, You've saved my life a thousand times
In a thousand different ways
And I've never been the same
Forever I am marked by the hands of a healer
He has it written across my face
Still greater's been the work of Your Holy Spirt
By Your mercy I am born again
By Your mercy I am born again
Still only You and I know all the places
You've pulled me from the grip of death and darkness
Only You and I know all of the places
You've met me in Your mercy, in Your kindness
Lord I know, You've saved my life a thousand times
In a thousand different ways
And I've never been the same
I never knew that I could be this free
Till Jesus started healing me
Didn't know I could feel so alive
Till Jesus came and washed me white




Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

The Pharisees come to Jesus after they’ve made up their minds that it was their duty to test him. They must have spent some time talking this over … people were beginning to look more interested in Jesus than in them… can you imagine what this conversation might have been like? What did they say?

In a way, there’s nothing wrong with looking for a sign, with looking for evidence, is there? It’s part of the way we operate as human beings. Where in your life do you find yourself looking for a sign? Where do you accept things ‘on faith’?

As you listen again to the reading, try and imagine it happening – the mood of the Pharisees, the looks on their faces, the tone of voice they use, the exasperation, perhaps, in Jesus’s voice….

It’s probably true that most people’s attitude towards God, and their relationship with God, involves a mixture of evidence and faith. At times we may want ‘signs’. And, at times, we may get them. Is this true for you? Spend some time talking to God about this now, as one friend speaks to another…

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.