Theme: “Misled”
1. Lectio
Gospel: Mark 12:18-27
«Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?… You are greatly misled.”»
The Sadducees approached Jesus with confidence. They possessed learning, status, and a carefully constructed argument. Yet Jesus does not fault them for lacking intelligence. He faults them for lacking faith in the power of God. They knew the letter of Scripture but had confined God to the limits of their own imagination.
Their mistake was not merely theological. It was spiritual. They assumed that resurrection must operate according to the rules of this world. Because they could not imagine God’s future, they denied it.
The greatest danger is not ignorance but certainty that leaves no room for God.
—
2. Meditatio
Is “Pride” something I need to celebrate?
I find myself living in a world where I am increasingly told that Pride is a virtue. Yet whenever the word is invoked, the object of that pride is often left undefined, as though the mere act of affirming oneself were sufficient justification. If I hesitate, I risk being viewed as intolerant. If I ask questions, I risk being misunderstood.
The paradox is that Christianity has always regarded pride as spiritually dangerous. Pride is not simply feeling good about oneself; it is the temptation to place oneself at the center of reality. It is the ancient temptation of Babel: “Let us make a name for ourselves.”
The Sadducees in today’s Gospel were proud of their reasoning. They took pride in their mastery of the law. Yet Jesus tells them they are misled because they neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God. Their confidence had become a barrier to wonder.
Perhaps the Holy Spirit is asking me a similar question today.
The challenge is not only about spirituality. It is also about sexuality, technology, politics, ideology, and every human project that promises salvation apart from God. Artificial intelligence, like every powerful tool, can serve human flourishing or human vanity. It can help build Jerusalem or help construct Babel.
Technology itself is neither angel nor demon. Pride itself is not merely a slogan but a spiritual temptation that can attach itself to any cause, including religious ones. I can become just as prideful defending truth as someone else can become celebrating autonomy.
The real question is not whether I carry a rainbow flag or a crucifix. The real question is whether I carry either one with humility.
The Holy Spirit seems to whisper that the opposite of pride is not shame but gratitude. Gratitude acknowledges that everything I possess—including my intelligence, my convictions, my faith, and my very existence—is received rather than manufactured.
Perhaps what the world needs is not a Humility Month as a replacement for Pride Month, but a renewed recognition that every month belongs to God and that every person is called to discover his or her dignity not in self-creation but in being lovingly created.
Whenever I begin to think I possess the answers, I should hear Jesus asking me the same question He asked the Sadducees:
“Are you not misled?”
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3. Oratio
Lord Jesus,
Save me from being greatly misled.
Protect me from the pride that disguises itself as certainty. Protect me equally from the fear that disguises itself as silence.
Teach me to know the Scriptures not merely as words upon a page but as a living encounter with You. Teach me to trust not merely in human reasoning but in the power of God.
Grant me the humility to examine my own heart before judging the hearts of others. Help me to speak truth with charity, conviction with gentleness, and courage with mercy.
Through the intercession of Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, give me the grace to remain faithful when the world demands compromise and to remain charitable when the world demands hostility.
May I never be ashamed of the Gospel, nor proud of myself for proclaiming it.
Amen.
—
4. Contemplatio (Chestertonian Synthesis)
There is something wonderfully comic about the Sadducees. They were so clever that they managed to argue themselves out of believing in miracles. They possessed the sort of intelligence that can explain everything except the thing that matters.
A modern man may spend years proving that resurrection is impossible. God spends one Easter morning proving that it is inevitable.
Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions understood this. The king who condemned them believed he possessed power. The martyrs believed God possessed eternity. History has rendered its verdict. We remember the martyrs. Few remember the king.
The world is forever producing new reasons why holiness cannot survive, why faith cannot endure, why truth cannot prevail. Every age manufactures its own version of the Sadducees.
Yet Christianity remains delightfully unreasonable. It insists that death is defeated, that humility triumphs over pride, and that a crucified man governs the universe.
The greatest mistake is not believing too much in God. It is believing too little about what God can do.
A person becomes misled whenever he reduces God to the size of his own expectations. The saint becomes free when he discovers that God is infinitely larger than his fears, his politics, his technology, and even his theology.
The Sadducees looked at a tomb and saw an ending.
The saints look at a tomb and see a doorway.
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5. Actio
Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’:
«”The experience of the Babylonian captivity provoked a spiritual crisis which led to deeper faith in God. Now his creative omnipot»
Lectio Divina for the Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
