The Cross was the Christian mystery.

“Those who do not love the cross of Christ, do not love Christ.” 

     

 St. Peter Damian, bishop and doctor

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Genesis 11:1-9

The whole world had one language

And a common speech. As people moved from east, they found a plain in the country of Shinar where they settled.

They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them in fire." They used brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.

They said also, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching heaven;

so that we may become a great people and not be scattered over the face of the earth!"

 

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of man were building, and the Lord said,

"They are one people and they have one language. If they carry this through, nothing they decide to do from now on will be impossible.

Come! Let us go down and confuse their language so that they will no longer understand each other."

So the Lord scattered them over all the earth and they stopped building the city.

That is why it was called Babel,

because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth and from there the Lord scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

 

Ps 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15

Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Mark 8:34-9:1

Then Jesus called the people and his disciples, and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me.

For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, you will save it.

What good is it, to gain the whole world, while destroying your soul? There is nothing more precious than your soul. I tell you,

if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, among this adulterous and sinful people,

the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

And he went on to say, "Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power."

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"To focus on God and others."

The Tower of Babel at first seems to be a story of great cooperation and industry,

but in fact it is one of the great scenes of human pride and ambition,

and this is why God intervenes and confuses the people's ideas. The plan is to build a great city and a tower up to heaven.

 

They called the place Bab-el: The Gate of God. The underlying desire is the same as that of Adam and Eve,

though on a much greater scale, that is, to invade the heavenly realm and to take God's place.

The fundamental human temptation is to want to be the centre of everything, to replace God with self.

 

But this does not lead to life. Jesus teaches us that the way to eternal life is to focus on God and others and not on self.

It is an imitation of Christ, a way of loving sacrifice and self-giving in which we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.

We save our life by losing it, that is, by offering it for others and to God. Thus, Christ places the way of humility before us in place of the path of pride.