REFLECTIONS TODAY The Gospel narrates Jesus being very active and “successful” in his ministries of healing, teaching, and driving out demons. People from all over come in order to experience his power. He and his disciples have to be very creative in order to meet the excessive demand. We imagine, then, that Jesus became very popular: people must have been so grateful to him and saw him as indeed the promised Messiah. All of this, however, we know to be fleeting because in his moments of crisis, when attacked by his enemies, these people who benefited from or witnessed his power would be nowhere to be found and, perhaps, would even be allied with his enemies. Many times we human beings are like that: in moments of crisis we let go of our principles instead of fighting or dying for them. We change our allegiances as fast as situations change, becoming traitors or betrayers in the process. The basic tenet of existentialist philosophy is to live for oneself, make one’s own choices, and not allow the “crowd” to influence them. Being Christians espousing that philosophy means standing up for Christ and his values even if one ends up being alone in the fight.  Gospel • Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw Him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known. Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.