MONDAY, March 8

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Mark 5:21-43. But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."
 
Reporters used to go down to the Bay to interview notable visitors. Often the reporters first asked silly questions because it was hard to start the visitors talking.
 
Similarly, it would be silly to ask a great Bible scholar, "What is the greatest word in the Bible?"
 
Yet it is not an altogether idle question, for one great Bible scholar, Bishop B. F. Westcott, records a visit to his old schoolmaster, Bishop Prince Lee, who said: "People quote various words of the Lord as containing the sum of the gospel--the Lord's Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, and the like. To me the essence of the gospel is in simpler and shorter terms: Be not afraid, only believe. Ah! Westcott, mark that only," and his eyes filled with tears as he said it.
 
The opposite of belief is not unbelief; it is fear. Mark that only! Fear of loss, fear of death, fear of consequences, fear of unpopularity, of neighbors' opinions. We have our intellectual difficulties, but deeper than that is lack of courage. (1942)
 
PRAY for the Diocese of Bolivia (Southern Cone)
 
Ps 80 * 77, [79]; Genesis 44:18-34; 1 Corinthians 7:25-31