Daily Reading for Friday, February 21st, 2014

“And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life?” The Gospel for today reminds us of our nothingness. What do we have anyway? What do we own? What do we possess? Our name? Our investments? Our properties? At the end of our journey, there is nothing that we can bring with us to our grave and to the life after. Nothing but our faith, for us who have it anyway. When God told the fishermen to leave everything and follow him, he was telling them there really is nothing we can exchange for our life but our faith. We follow him, we believe him, we leave everything in exchange for eternity.

There are times when I am at the bottom and I wonder why God often leaves me in a place where I become helpless, powerless, without any option, without any hint of the dawn, long nights, long agonizing nights that oftentimes dominate me. I guess it is these moments when God is telling me that indeed, there is nothing that I can offer in exchange for answered prayers. Nothing but my faith.

Reading 1, James 2:14-24, 26

14 How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to have faith?Will that faith bring salvation?

15 If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,

16 and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that?

17 In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.

18 But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith.

19 You believe in the one God -- that is creditable enough, but even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear.

20 Fool! Would you not like to know that faith without deeds is useless?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22 So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.

23 In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'.

24 You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.

26 As a body without a spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds.

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

1 Alleluia! How blessed is anyone who fears Yahweh, who delights in his commandments!

2 His descendants shall be powerful on earth, the race of the honest shall receive blessings:

3 Riches and wealth for his family; his uprightness stands firm for ever.

4 For the honest he shines as a lamp in the dark, generous, tender-hearted, and upright.

5 All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in all his dealing;

6 for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come the upright will be remembered.

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Gospel, Mark 8:34--9:1

34 He called the people and his disciples to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.

35 Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

36 What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life?

37 And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life?

38 For if anyone in this sinful and adulterous generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of manwill also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.'

1 And he said to them, 'In truth I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.'