Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (9: 43-45) in which Jesus, while everyone was marveling at all he did, knows the future that awaits him and says to his disciples, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men’. Fr Paul says, this is the second of three great prophecies of the Passion, of Jesus being handed over to the power of men. In each of the three prophecies Jesus uses the mysterious title ‘Son of Man’ for himself, perhaps softening the horror of the prediction he is making. Even though the great journey up to Jerusalem has not yet begun, the atmosphere is already becoming more sombre. In Mark’s Gospel the failure of the disciples to understand these prophecies is part of the theme of the disciples’ slowness to believe, which Mark really highlights. But Luke, who we read today, however, lifts the blame from their shoulders by explaining each time that the meaning of Jesus’ words was hidden from them and they were afraid to ask. For our reflection today, Fr Paul says, we remember the words that Christ wanted the disciples to keep in mind constantly – the Son of Man was going to be handed over ‘into the power of men’.