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Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Revelation 10:8–11
Saint John is told to take the open scroll
from the hand of the angel.
Then he hears a strange command:
Take it and eat it.
The prophet Ezekiel once received the same command.
He ate the scroll,
and it tasted sweet as honey.
Jeremiah also said:
Your words were found,
and I ate them.
They became the joy and delight of my heart.
God’s word is sweet.
It gives light.
It gives meaning.
It gives hope.
It tells us that God is love,
that He gave us His Son,
and that Jesus opened for us
the way to life.
But John is also told:
It will make your stomach bitter.
This is the mystery of prophecy.
God’s word is sweet when we receive it.
But it becomes bitter when we proclaim it
and people refuse to listen.
The prophet speaks to call people back to God.
He calls for repentance.
He calls for conversion.
He calls people to choose life.
But many close their ears.
Many harden their hearts.
This is why the word becomes bitter.
Not because the Gospel is bitter.
The Gospel is Good News.
The bitterness comes from rejection,
indifference,
and persecution.
John is told:
You must prophesy again
about many peoples,
nations,
languages,
and kings.
The message is now for the whole world.
The world must hear that the Kingdom of God is near.
The world must hear the call to repent
and believe in the Gospel.
This is still the mission of the Church.
We cannot keep the scroll closed.
We cannot keep the Gospel only for ourselves.
We must eat it first.
We must let it enter our mind,
our heart,
our life.
Only then can we speak it with truth.
And we must accept the bitterness.
Not everyone will listen.
Some will mock it.
Some will ignore it.
Some will try to silence it.
And yet, we cannot be silent.
Because this word is life.
This word is hope.
This word is Christ.
So today we can ask:
Have I eaten the word of God?
Has it become part of my life?
Am I willing to proclaim it,
even when it becomes bitter?
The scroll is open.
Let us receive it with joy.
Let us carry it with courage.
Let us speak it with love.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Mark
Year of Mark - Get it from Amazon
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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