Memorial of St. Frances de Sales, Priest

"Loneliness"

In the verse preceding today’s Gospel reading, the family of Jesus had come for him as they saw him being consumed by his mission. They said: “He is out of his mind” (Mark 3:21). Today misunderstanding takes a giant leap forward as Jesus is accused of working in league with the Evil One.

Throughout Mark’s Gospel we hear of how uncomprehending those around him were – including his closest friends. In his truly human state Jesus experienced most profoundly our loneliness. In our loneliness we share his cross. Our desire for love and understanding seems a constant, but is it ever totally satisfied? We can never completely know another or be known by another. This is another example of how intimately the cross is woven into human life. The words of Jesus about taking up one’s cross (Mark 8:34, for example) testify that the cross is built into human life; no one needs to go looking for it. It’s there; it’s always there in the fact that our individual self in never totally accessible to another human being. This is both the pain and the glory of being unique. Our spiritual tradition down through the centuries sees in this an opening to deeper intimacy with God, an graced opportunity for growth and maturation in Christ, but one that is often hard to appreciate. In other words, the cross of loneliness, the fact that we never feel completely understood, points us, nudges us toward the One who knows and understands our hearts in a profound way beyond our imagining. It leads us along on our pilgrim way toward the promise of plenitude, the overwhelming graciousness and fulfillment for which our hearts yearn.