Cesar Fernandez-Stoll

Gospel text ( Mc 10,13-16) : People were bringing their little children to Jesus to have him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, «Let the children come to me and don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it». Then He took the children in his arms and laying his hands on them, blessed them.

Gospel text ( Mc 10,1-12) : Jesus went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around him and once more He taught them, as He always did. Some (Pharisees came and) put him to the test with this question, «Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?». He replied, «What law did Moses give you?». They answered, «Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce». Then Jesus said to them, «Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined». When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked him about this and He told them, «Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husb

  Gospel text ( Mc 9,41-50) : Jesus said to his disciples: «If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear his name, truly, I say to you, he will not go without reward. If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck. If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than with two hands to go to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than with both feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you fall into sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, keeping both eyes, to be thrown into hell where the worms that eat them never die, and the fire never goes out. The fire itself will preserve them. Salt is a good thing; but if

  Gospel text ( Mc 9,38-40) : John said to Jesus, «Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group». Jesus answered, «Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon after speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is for us».

  Gospel text ( Mc 9,30-37) : Jesus and his disciples made their way through Galilee; but Jesus did not want people to know where he was because he was teaching his disciples. And He told them, «The Son of Man will be delivered into human hands. They will kill him, but three days after he has been killed, He will rise». The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask him what He meant. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, «What were you discussing on the way?». But they did not answer because they had been arguing about who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, «If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all». Then He took a little child, placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, «Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me».

Gospel text ( Mc 9,14-29) : When Jesus came to the place where they had left the disciples, they saw many peo­ple around and some teachers of the Law arguing with them. When the people saw Jesus, they were astonished and ran to greet him. He asked, «What are you arguing about with them?». A man answered him from the crowd, «Master, I brought my son to you for he has a dumb spirit. Whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not». Jesus replied, «You faithless people. How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me». And they brought the boy to him. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it shook and convulsed the boy who fell on the ground and began rolling about, foaming at the mouth. Then Jesus asked the father, «How long has this been happening to him?». He replied, «From childhood. And it has often thrown him