Deacon Tom Anthony

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 149

Reading 1 Jer 31:7-9

Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
exult at the head of the nations;
proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
Ephraim is my first-born.

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

R. (3) The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Reading 2 Heb 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters:
Every high priest is taken from among men
and made their representative before God,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,
for he himself is beset by weakness
and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself
as well as for the people.
No one takes this honor upon himself
but only when called by God,
just as Aaron was.
In the same way,
it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,
but rather the one who said to him:
You are my son:
this day I have begotten you;
just as he says in another place:
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.

Alleluia Cf. 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 10:46-52

As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 We must all take courage and come forward proclaiming that Jesus Christ is our Lord and savior. The way we approach our faith and our relationship with Jesus Christ will impact how much of an influence He will have on us. If we keep Jesus central in our thoughts then He will also be central to the determination of our successes and joys experienced in this life. Our thoughts truly do determine our lives. A life with Jesus brings us to a higher awareness of the world around us and how we figure into the Salvation Story of the universe.

The Gospel Reading today where Jesus cures the blind named Bartimaeus gives us all an idea of how we can start approaching our relationship with Jesus. Bartimaeus knew little about who Jesus actually was. He was blind physically but also blind to the fact of the true divinity of Jesus. He recognized Jesus as the Messiah but not much beyond that fact was truly known. There was no intimate relationship or understanding between the two of them yet it was enough to bring about Bartimaeus’ healing. His eyes were opened and more was revealed to him. In much the same way, we just being open to the concept of Jesus and willing to pursue a relationship with Him bring about immediate results in how we feel and how we perceive things. We are oriented in a new direction, the right direction, and it is from there we can start living our lives the way Jesus intended.

Saint Mother Theresa often spoke about the little things and the little actions in life that ultimately have great consequences. Too often we are tempted to look at things in a larger scale while missing the intimate details that really make life worth living. When we get closer to Jesus Christ, our lives are impacted immediately and we start to change. These changes have the possibility of going unnoticed to us because we are distracted by the bigger picture. The little steps and little transformations which occur within us because of the presence of Jesus are very important and always lead to bigger things. It has to always start with a simple choice and recognition of who Jesus actually is. It is from there that every small effort and adjustment produces more and more results.

God makes big promises and He has the ability to fulfill them. He always has our best interests in mind. This cannot be forgotten. He wants to restore us to our former greatness which was intended for us before we were even born. It was us who corrupted this intention and vision by refusing to take into consideration what He wanted for us and instead pursued what we wanted. The more we pursued it, the more we drifted away from Him: The one who loves us completely. Still, He calls to us and invites us to love Him. We need to ask ourselves why do we keep resisting the ultimate love which is God Himself.

We put ourselves in danger of destruction by focusing only on ourselves and not Jesus. Jesus is here among us solely for our benefit and not for His. God presented Jesus to us and sacrificed Him so that we may be healed of all of our self-inflicted wounds and start anew in this life and the next. A new day brings forth a new creation in us. With Jesus we will not be the same person as we were yesterday and again we will be different tomorrow. Constant revelation brings about constant change and new experiences. With Jesus all this is positive. There is no negative. He wants to take all of our sins and throw them away. He wants to comfort us and experience our pain with us. He wants to love us.

It is time to cry out and take that first step into a new world with our eyes opened and our hearts surrendered to Jesus.

Deacon Tom