While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pay attention to what I am telling you.The Son of Man is to be handed over to men." But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

This is the entire gospel for today. The disciples are,as always, amazed at the things he is doing but not really paying attention to or understanding what he is telling them.

The word "obey" comes from two Latin words, ob + audire, to listen while facing someone. When our mothers said, " Look at me when I'm talking to you," they were capturing the original sense of the word obey.

We associate obedience with action, but often find we fall short of the mark in our actions. Perhaps it is because we don't spend enough time being obedient in the original sense, listening, keeping our eyes fixed on Christ.

In today's gospel, the command is "Pay Attention!" How long is your attention span? Perhaps if we spend more time listening, the time we do spend speaking and acting will be closer to what we know we are called to do and say. How do we do it? Practice.