What do you want me to do for you? ~ A Reflection on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Jer 31:7-9

Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6

Heb 5:1-6

Mk 10:46-52

In today's Gospel reading from Mark, we hear about the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, who called out to Jesus to have pity on him.  He was loud and persistent, and the crowd surrounding Jesus as he was leaving Jericho tried to silence the beggar, rebuking him for bothering someone as important as Jesus.  But Bartimaeus would not give up.

Even though Bartimaeus could not see, he had heard all about Jesus and believed that Jesus could heal him.  "Son of David" is what Bartimaeus called him... and Jesus stopped.  "What do you want me to do for you," he asked.

"Master, I want to see."

Bartimaeus' great faith and his persistence in asking for help touched the heart of Jesus.  Can you imagine Bartimaeus' joy when his eyes were opened and he could see this Jesus who had just healed him.  What could he do but to follow him.

In the first reading from Jeremiah, we hear the Lord speak about how he will deliver his people, the remnant of Israel and that his people should shout for joy and praise God who is a father to them and who cares for them.

In both of these instances, we see the love, the care and the concern that the Lord has for us human beings; especially for the least of us... even for sinners...  When we have faith and trust in him, our hearts are changed and opened so that God can work in us and through us, to bring his Kingdom to life in our own times.

"The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy."  (Ps 126:3)
   


 ~ Image Source: Healing of a Blind Man by Brian Jekel

November birthdays at St. E's

11/01/12 ~ Frederick Archer and Laverne T. Braxton

11/02/12 ~ Althea Williams

11/03/12 ~ Mary Tucker

11/04/12 ~ Karen Carter Brown

11/08/12 ~ Thomas Williams

11/11/12 ~ Keeja Majors

11/12/12 ~ Norma Antomattei

11/18/12 ~ Kayden Chita

11/21/12 ~ Ronald Timmons and Stacy Wright

11/25/12 ~ Christine Davis

11/29/12 ~ Kevin Teachey

"You do not know what you are asking." ~ A Reflection on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Is 53:10-11

Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Heb 4:14-16

Mk 10:35-45

"You do not know what you are asking... Can you drink the cup I drink..." were the words of Jesus in Mark's Gospel today.  In this reading, we hear Mark's version of an episode during the ministry of Jesus wherein Jesus stresses servant-hood rather than power and authority.

It appears that even among the disciples of Jesus, there was a desire to be placed among the highest and most important of the followers of the Lord when he comes into his Kingdom.  Such a human trait, isn't it?  And can't you imagine the anger among the other disciples on hearing James and John asking Jesus for this honor?  Could they have wanted it for themselves but had not dared to ask?

But Jesus brought them back to earth by telling them that they indeed would drink the cup...  they would suffer for their faith in him and even die for it, but that granting them the favor they were asking, was not his to give.

What the disciples were asking for, was power and authority.  They did not fully understand yet, that for Jesus, power and authority meant being a servant to all...  His power was linked to service to all who were in need; physically or spiritually.  To give of himself...  He brought healing through his miracles and through his loving concern for others... It was the inner person, that his concern and his miracles were meant for.  The outward signs of healing were overshadowed by the forgiveness given to the person and the change in their lives that occurred  because of this.

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah describes the suffering servant, whom "the Lord was pleased to crush...in infirmity..."; that "through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear."  That suffering servant was Jesus...  The will of the Lord was accomplished through him, as Isaiah prophesied.

The disciples could not yet comprehend that Isaiah's prophecies were being fulfilled before their eyes...  Not until later, after receiving the Holy Spirit, did they really begin to understand what Jesus wanted of them.  The gifts the Spirit gave them, enabled them to conquer their fear and go out to preach the Word they had been given.  They became the servants that Jesus spoke of.

We too, are to serve others... to bring that Word to people in need by the way we live our lives as Christians and by how we give of ourselves to the poor in body and spirit.  We trust in God's grace to help us to use any power or authority we have been given, for the benefit of others, not for ourselves...

We pray along with the psalmist:

"Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield."  (Ps 33:20)


Image Source

               

He went away... ~ A Reflection on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Wis 7:7-11

Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

Heb 4:12-13

Mk 10:17-30

Sadly, the young man in Mark's Gospel walked away from Jesus.  He realized that even though he had kept the commandments and had done all that was required of him as far as Jewish law was concerned, there was something missing.  This young man had wealth, status, family and connections.  He was a good man... Mark writes that Jesus looked at him and loved him for who he was.  And because Jesus loved him, he asked that the young man become more than who he was already.  He asked the young man to follow him.  To give up the life he was leading for the sake of the gospel.

What an unexpected turn of events that must have been!  The young man might have wanted Jesus to praise him and assure him that he had already inherited eternal life because of the righteous life he was leading... But Jesus' request that the young man sell what he had and give it away made him realize that he loved his life even more than he had expected.  The young man was not able to give up the security he had in his life.  He could not bring himself to trust God to take care of him if he gave up everything to follow Jesus.  Instead of viewing his wealth as a gift from God, the young man saw it as a possession.  When it became a possession, his wealth turned into a burden that he could not give up.  And so he went away.

How often do we find ourselves in a similar situation.  How often do we let our possessions become burdens that keep us from coming closer to the heart of God.  Those "possessions" may not even be wealth or status or position.  The possessions that burden us could be bad habits that are hard to break, anger that we inflict on others, our attitudes of superiority and pride that belittle others... everyday actions that show us that we have drifted away from the path that leads to eternal life.  Jesus is asking us to lay those burdens down...  to give up those kinds of "possessions" so that our minds and hearts are in tune with him.  So that we can follow him.

This is not easy.  Even the disciples questioned among themselves:  "Then who can be saved?"  when Jesus told them how hard it was for those who had wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven.  But Jesus also said that anyone who puts aside those possessions for his sake and for the sake of the gospel, would gain eternal life in the age to come.

We ask God for wisdom of heart, as the psalmist did, so that we can see God's work and his glory.  We ask the Lord for the grace and courage to lay our burdens down; and we pray, "may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours." (Ps 90)

And it will be...



 ~ Image Source: For He Had Great Possessions by George Frederic Watts, 1894 

From Adam's Rib ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gn 2:18-24

Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Hb 2:9-11

Mk 10:2-16

There are two important themes  in today's readings and it is difficult to decide on which to concentrate, so I will touch on both of them.
  
In the first reading from Genesis, we learn about the creation of woman.  The Lord God realized that it was not good for the man to be alone.  He needed a companion.  None of the animals that the Lord had created were suitable as a partner for the man, so in an ingenious way the Lord God fashioned a woman from the man's rib.

The man was overjoyed because he recognized immediately that this new being was to be the perfect companion and partner for him.  Their future together became the first marriage.

This idyllic state apparently did not serve as an example for future generations because we find that by Moses' time, bills of divorce were allowed the Israelites.  In Mark's Gospel, we hear Jesus' response to the questions of the Pharisees who asked Jesus whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife.

Jesus assured his listeners that God only allowed the Israelites to divorce their wives because of the hardness of their hearts.  That in reality, God created male and female so that they could cling only to each other and become one flesh; and what God had joined together no one should separate.

But we recognize today that some marriages, for whatever reason, have broken apart...  Not necessarily through the unwillingness or hardness of heart of the people involved, but for real issues of immaturity, abuse, etc.  In our complicated world, we celebrate those couples who have been able to work through problems in their marriages and who are still together in love and respect for each other.

This leads us to the other theme of the Gospel reading this week: that we are to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven.  It is important to note that Jesus did not ask us to be childish.  No, instead, we are to be trusting and loving, and to believe in him as a child would.  Jesus welcomed and embraced the children of the people, showing care and concern for them, even as his disciples were trying to keep the children from bothering him.  "Let the children come to me;...  for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

This gospel always reminds me of a vacation bible school program that St. E's presented to the community many many years ago.  The woman who planned and ran the program came up with a wonderful theme and I have never forgotten it.  What could be more appropriate than this one:  "Let the children come!"



~ Image Source:  Holding Hands by Gare and Kitty

"Do Not Prevent Him!" ~ A Reflection on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Nm 11:25-29

Ps 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 (9a)

Jm 5:1-6

Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

In this Sunday's Gospel reading, Mark gives us an instance showing that the disciples did not yet understand that Jesus' Kingdom was open to all people.  That the ministry of healing, for example, was not exclusively given to the disciples of Jesus.

It appears that others were curing the sick in Jesus' name.  This was alarming to the disciples.  Perhaps they even felt a little jealous that this power had gone beyond their little group.  John came to Jesus with their concerns.

But Jesus, knowing their fears, showed his disciples what was the important issue here.  The people who were healing others were not strangers to the teachings of Jesus.  They had followed Jesus and believed in him even though they were not members of his inner circle.  And most importantly, they were healing in Jesus' name; not in their own names or in the name of other gods.

Jesus was very clear when he told his disciples that anyone who did mighty deeds in his name could not speak ill of him at the same time.  That anyone who "is not against us is for us."

Moses faced a similar issue in his own time.  In the first reading from the Book of Numbers, we learn that the Lord gave some of the spirit that was on Moses to the seventy elders, causing them to begin prophesying.  Two of the elders were not with the group but had stayed in the camp when the Lord bestowed the spirit.  Nonetheless, those two men began to prophesy also.  Joshua became alarmed when he was told what was happening and went to Moses asking that these two elders be stopped from prophesying.  Moses, understanding that the Lord meant for all the elders to receive the spirit even though the two had been elsewhere, made it clear to Joshua that jealousy and alarm was not the appropriate response to the Lord's gift to his people.

Jesus also wanted to make sure that his followers would be careful of their actions; in relation to themselves and to others.  That it was very important that they not be the cause of another's sin; or to fall into sin themselves because of their evil desires.

In the second reading, St. James spells it out in detail for those who have fallen into sin or have caused others pain and suffering by their selfish actions.

The psalmist prays that sin not rule over him and instead, that he live a blameless and sinless life because he knows that God's laws endure forever.

        

 ~ Image Source:  Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church