Moving Forward - 11 February 2025

TUESDAY, February 11      THEODORA, Empress, c.867/[Consecration of Barbara Clementine Harris]

Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Ouch. This is some of the most painful hyperbole we hear Jesus utter. Jesus sounds like a shock jock, and I’m no fan of that type of radio show or podcast hijinks. Still, shock does have its uses: entertaining, frightening folks, and grabbing attention among them. And who knows? Maybe Jesus is doing a little bit of all three in this passage. Self-maiming? Eternal fire? Jesus is doing some heavy hitting, going to great lengths to spell out the dangers of harming one another. We need to be wary of hands involved in the wrong activities, eyes roaming where they ought not, and feet carrying us where we shouldn’t go.

Jesus doesn’t get much more specific than that, leaving us to fill in the very wide, personal, and communal blanks indicated in the use of these metaphors. We are to watch out for “little ones” new to the faith and anyone we might harm spiritually (including ourselves). What hurts one, hurts us all.

MOVING FORWARD: What is your gut response when you read this verse?

PRAY for the Diocese of Lui (South Sudan)

Psalm 78: Part II * Psalm 78: Part II | Isa. 59:1-15a | 2 Tim. 1:1-14 | Mark 9:42-50

(Source: Forward Day by Day Movement)