May 29, 2026
Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 351
Reading 1
1
Peter 4:7-13
Beloved:
The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore be serious and sober-minded
so that you will be able to pray.
Above all, let your love for one another be intense,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God;
whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies,
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you,
as if something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ,
so that when his glory is revealed
you may also rejoice exultantly.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
96:10, 11-12, 13
R. (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord comes to judge the earth.
Alleluia
See
John 15:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mark
11:11-26
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.
He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”
And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.”
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to death,
yet they feared him
because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.
Early in the morning, as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052926.cfm
Commentary on 1
Peter 4:7-13
Today we jump to chapter 4 of Peter’s first letter. We
have skipped over a longish passage where he gives instructions to various
classes and groups of society. Today’s reading consists of the final
verses in Part III on ‘Christians in a Hostile World’ and the opening verses of
Part IV, which consists of advice to the persecuted.
Today Peter gives some warnings about the end time, which is
believed to be close at hand. The early Christians expected to see Jesus
come again in their lifetime. But by the time the later writings of the
New Testament came to be composed, this expectation was fading and a longer
wait was anticipated. This also changed church attitudes, which looked
more to present behaviour as a long-term preparation for the coming of the
Lord.
The anticipation of the end times, particularly Christ’s
return in glory, should influence the believers’ attitudes, actions and
relationships:
The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and
discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.
If they are to be ready for this coming, Christians are to
be characterised by reason; they are to make wise, mature decisions and are to
have a clearly defined purpose in life. Prayer should form a central part
of the Christian’s life—not just the reciting of prayers, but being in close
dialogue with the Lord, of which a large part should be listening.
In their relationships with each other, love, a real care
for each other, should dominate. That love should be “constant”
because “love covers a multitude of sins”. This is a phrase which we can
use very glibly, but it contains a profound truth. The truly loving
person, the one dedicated to taking care of the needs of others, can never be
far from God. Wherever there is love, there is God; wherever there is
love, there cannot be sin.
And such love clearly includes the Christian virtue of
hospitality, of opening one’s doors not only to friends, but even to strangers,
especially those in need. In addition, all have received gifts in
abundance from the Lord, and these are to be generously put at the service of
others. That is why they were given in the first place. In a
climate of fear and anxiety, where love is missing, it is so easy just to think
selfishly of oneself.
Those who have the gift of public speaking, for instance,
should use that gift to share the message of the gospel. And this applies
not just to community leaders, but to every person to whom the Spirit
speaks. Those deputed to minister to the community (including liturgical
service) should do so with all the strength that God has given them.
In a word, all is to be done:
…so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus
Christ.
Everything we have belongs to him and our enrichment is in
giving everything back to him—through those around us.
In the final part of the reading, there are words of
encouragement. Peter addresses his readers as ‘Beloved’ (Greek,
agapetoi)—the objects of his agape-love. They are reminded not to be
surprised at trials they may be experiencing from those who attack or persecute
them. Far from being disturbed by this, they should rejoice to be able to
share in the sufferings of Jesus. When it comes to misunderstandings,
abuse and suffering physical violence, Jesus has experienced it all—and for our
sake. It was Peter, we might remember here, who opposed the idea of Jesus’
suffering (see Matt 16:21-23).
Much of this advice needs to be heard and taken on board by
each one of us. It is as valid now as when it was written over 2,000
years ago.
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Commentary on Mark
11:11-26
We are now entering the final part of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus
is now in Jerusalem and in the final days of his ministry.
Today we have the strange incident of the fig tree. Jesus
was leaving Bethany for nearby Jerusalem and was hungry. He went up to a fig
tree looking for fruit to eat even though it was not the time of year for figs.
Jesus then cursed the tree:
May no one ever eat fruit from you again.
Why curse a tree for not having what it could not have at
that time of year? And in the evening on their way back to Bethany, the
disciples saw the fig tree that Jesus had cursed all withered.
This story is generally understood as a kind of parable. The
fig tree without fruit represents those people among the Jews who rejected
Jesus. When he came to them looking for faith in his message, he found nothing.
In a sense, they had closed their minds and withered up.
This meaning is reinforced by another event which is
sandwiched into the middle of the fig tree story. This is a common device used
by Mark and it is called an ‘inclusion’, i.e. when one passage is enclosed
within another. Another example is the story of the woman with the haemorrhage,
which is included within the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter.
After cursing the fig tree Jesus went to the Temple in
Jerusalem and began driving out all those who were trading in the Temple court.
He accused them of turning God’s house of prayer into “a den of robbers”—a
market place. It was an example of people who had reduced their religious faith
to mere commercialism. Religious ritual had been turned into an opportunity for
making money. The meaning of the Temple as the symbol of God’s presence among
his people was being lost. As well, there was also the failure to see the
presence and power of God working through Jesus himself. The fig tree was
adorned with beautiful leaves, but there was no fruit.
And so at the end, Jesus urges his disciples to develop real
faith, a real trust and insight into God’s presence in their lives. He says:
Have faith in God. Truly I tell you…what you say will
come to pass, it will be done for you.
It is an essential condition for prayer. And prayer must
include a willingness to forgive and be reconciled with those who cause us difficulties
so that we may find forgiveness and reconciliation from God for our own faults
and failings in his service. Let us pray today for that kind of faith. A faith
that produces much fruit.
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Prayer
Lord, merciful Father, You
chose each of Your children, that they might become heralds of Your love in the
world and bring the good fruit of Your Presence to all peoples. May our fruit remain, thanks to our communion
with You and with Your Son, Jesus; help us to gather this fruit, which is our
Friend and Teacher, who enters every day into the holy temple of our
lives. May He renew His covenant with us
daily, through faith and prayer full of trusting abandon. Amen.
Reading
The Gospel Reading - Mark 11:
11-26)
Jesus
entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything
and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The next
day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree
in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached
it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it
in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" And his
disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he
began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of
the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He did not
permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then
he taught them saying, "Is it not written: My house shall be called a
house of prayer for all peoples? But you have made it a den of thieves."
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to
put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at
his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city. Early in the
morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its
roots. Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that
you cursed has withered." Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in
God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and
thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he
says will happen, it shall be done for him.
Therefore, I tell you, all
that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be
yours. When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a
grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your
transgressions."
Meditation
•
“Jesus
entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.” One of the
characteristics of this passage is the continuous movement of Jesus, expressed
in the repetition and alternation of the verbs “enter” and “leave” (vv. 11; 12;
15; 19). In fact, the Lord continuously
comes into our life, into our space, into our experience, and passes and walks with us. Later, He goes - He distances
Himself - He leaves us to search and wait, and then He returns again to be
found. He does not disdain to enter the
Holy City, into the temple, and thus is within us, in our heart, offering us
His visit of salvation.
•
He
was hungry.” The verb we find here, from Mark’s pen, is the same
verb used in Matthew and in Luke in the story of the temptation in the desert
(Mt 4: 2; Lk 4: 2) and is used to express a condition of weakness, fragility,
need, and tiredness. Jesus searches for
something more than a simple fruit to satisfy
His hunger. He does not ask
something of a fig out of season, but asks of His people, asks of us, the good
food of love. That which comes prepared to the table of the covenant, from the
“yes,” pronounced with trust and abandon.
•
“Seeing
from a distance a fig tree in leaf.” The figure of the fig tree,
which occupies a central place in this passage, is a very strong symbol of
Israel, the chosen people; of the temple and cult rendered to God in its
entirety; and finally of ourselves, if we want it, of the most profound truth
of our heart.
•
The leaves of the fig clearly refer to the
experience of Adam in the Garden of Eden, his contact with sin, his nudity, and
his consequential shame. Jesus, stopping
before this fig during His journey toward Jerusalem and setting His eyes on the
leaves that hide the lack of fruit, tears the veil hiding our truth and exposes
our heart, not to condemn it, but to save and to heal it. The fruit of the fig is indeed sweet. The
Lord searches for the sweetness of love to speak to our life. The barren fig, empty of fruit and life,
anticipates the temple emptied of sense, profaned and made useless from rapport
with God which is only flight, is in a lack of encounter. Like Adam, then Israel, and perhaps also us.
•
“those
selling and buying there.” The scene of the purification of the
temple (vv. 15-17), which Mark inserts between the two moments of encounter
already anticipated by the curse of the fig tree without fruit, is very strong
and animated. This time, we are called
to set our attention on the verbs “drive out,” “overturned,” “did not permit,”
“selling,” “buying,” “moneychangers,” “vendors,” “thieves,” “carry
anything.” Jesus inaugurates a new
economy in which “you were sold for nothing, and without money you shall be
redeemed” (Is 52: 3), “He shall…let my exiles go free without price or ransom”
(Is 45: 13) and “you were ransomed…not with perishable things like silver or
gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb”
(1 Pt 1: 18-19).
•
“house
of prayer.” From the holy temple we are led into the house, the
dwelling of God, where the true sacrifice is prayer, that is, the face-to-face
encounter with Him as children with our Father.
Here nothing is bought, there is no money, but only the gift of the
heart that opens itself with full trust to prayer and faith.
•
“the
fig tree withered to its roots.” It is these themes that the word of
Mark wishes to offer for our meditation, continuing the reading of the
passage. We must leave the temple to
enter into the house. We must leave the sale to enter into the gift and trust.
The tree without fruit is withered and seems to be in the middle of the road,
indicating the new way to go, with the rising of a new morning (v. 20), a way toward God, and towards our
brothers and sisters.
•
“have
faith with no doubt.” With this most beautiful expression, Jesus
helps us to enter into the depths of ourselves and to make contact with our
heart in truth. The Greek text has a
wonderful verb, translated here as “doubt,” which wishes to express an interior
split, a division, a battle between two factions. Jesus invites us to place absolute trust in
Him and in the Father, to
not become shattered within. In a full and complete way, we can come near
to God, and we can be in relationship with Him, without the need of leaves to
mask ourselves, without beginning to count our change and calculate the price
to pay, without making separations within ourselves, but offering ourselves
completely to Him, as we are, bringing with us the good and sweet fruit of
love.
•
“When
you stand to pray, forgive.” And it cannot be any other way than
this: the end and the new beginning of the way of faith and prayer, in the life
of the Christian, is found in relationship with brothers and sisters, in the
encounter with them and in the exchange of reciprocal giving. There is no prayer, cult of God, holy temple,
sacrifices pleasing to God, no fruit or sweetness, without love for our brother
or sister. Mark calls it forgiveness,
Jesus calls it love: the only fruit capable of satisfying our hunger, of
relieving our weariness.
Questions for Reflection
•
Meditating on this passage I encountered two
strong figures: the fig tree and the temple, both without fruit, without life
and love. I saw Jesus, who with His
coming and His strong and sure work, changed this situation, offering a new
aspect to life. Am I able to recognize
my need to let myself be reached out to by the Lord, to let myself be touched
by Him? Do I see myself, in certain
aspects of myself, of my life, as a barren fig, without fruit or like the temple,
a cold place of commerce and calculation?
Do I feel within myself the desire to be able to give the sweet fruit of
love, of friendship, of sharing? Do I
hunger for prayer, for a true relationship with the Father?
•
Following Jesus along the way, can I also enter
into the new morning of His Law and His teaching? Am I able to recognize the cracks that I
carry in my heart? Where do I feel most
divided, most insecure, most confused?
Why can I not completely entrust myself to my Father? Why do I still hobble on two feet, as the
prophet Elijah says (cf. I Kings 18: 21).
I know that the Lord is God and now I want to follow Him! Not alone, but opening my heart to many
brothers and sisters, making myself friend and companion on the journey, to
share in the joy and in the struggle, the fear and the enthusiasm of the way; I
know with certainty that following the Lord I will be happy. Amen.
Final Prayer
Lord, I want to sing a new song!
(Psalm 149)
Sing to the LORD a
new song, a hymn in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in their
maker, the people of Zion rejoice in their king. Let them praise His name in
festive dance, make music with tambourine and lyre.
For the LORD takes
delight in His people, honors the poor with victory. Let the faithful rejoice
in their glory, cry out for joy at their banquet, with the praise of God in
their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands
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