Scripture Scribbles: September 22, 2024

the Gospel

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

the scribble

“They had been discussing ... who was the greatest.” Attending cliquish Dover-Sherborn Regional High School, I foolishly obsessed about being among the most popular and beautiful (the greatest). My hopes were quickly shattered when a classmate decided to rank all the girls. “Karen’s about a 7,” he blurted out to my dismay. I wanted to be a perfect 10! “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last...”

So, I (now in my 50s) carried this wound for decades up until about a month ago. After my husband and I spent some time in Eucharistic adoration at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Hampton, we stopped by Home Depot to buy paint. A young girl approached me shyly and said, “I just want you to know that you are very beautiful.” Her mom elaborated, “I told her to tell you directly because I knew it would make your day.” It certainly made my day and erased the previous past poor scores I received over a lifetime.

By the time I had returned home and glanced in the mirror, whatever that beautiful child had seen had worn off. Perhaps this kindhearted child was seeing me as Christ does (without all the filters imposed by our culture). “Whoever receives one child such as this ... receives me.” Perhaps in that instance also, this sweet child was seeing the true beauty of the Eucharistic presence reflected in my face. We are most beautiful when we reflect the face of Christ.

Today’s devotion was written by Karen Molvar