Tag: James

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” | Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (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.”

Jesus goes on to ask Bartimaeus what he wishes for him to do, and he replies, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus tells him that his faith has saved him, and immediately Bartimaeus sees and begins to follow Jesus on their way. Bartimaeus is prepared to receive healing from the Lord by his faith. First, he calls Jesus “Son of David.” Then the disciples lift him with encouragement to respond to Jesus’ call. And on encountering him, Jesus says that his faith has saved him. In response to that call, Bartimaeus’s sight is healed, and he begins to follow Jesus. Be attentive today to the ways the Lord calls you to him. What is your response?

“But he kept calling out all the more, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.'” God, help me listen out for you today, whether I experience encouragement from someone or hear in my heart the words “What do you want me to do for you?” Strengthen my faith to hear you and receive your healing. Throughout the day, Lord, help me see your presence more clearly, making ready the way to enjoy eternal life with you. As Saint Peter says in the first reading: “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” | Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 10:32-45)

Jesus summoned [the disciples] and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes clear the path of discipleship. As Jesus tells them of his suffering and death in Jerusalem, James and John ask to be given a special role of power. Jesus teaches them that instead the greatness he exemplifies comes from serving others even to the point of suffering and death, as he predicts about his own coming passion and crucifixion. What Jesus says about being mocked, spit upon, scourged, and put to death James and John seem not to hear. But Jesus shows them that following him is about service, not the exercise of worldly authority. As Jesus teaches that following him calls for humility and serving others, he turns on its head the pursuit of worldly power and status. “If anyone wishes to be first,” Jesus says, “he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

God, give me the gift of wisdom to reject the all-too-subtle temptation to power and authority. As Saint Thomas Aquinas writes, the four typical substitutes for God are wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. Any one of these slips into my daily thoughts, often in the form of “If only I had enough” or “If only I were given.” With humility, help me call to mind the simple phrase from the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” And the super-substantial bread of the Eucharist, help me realize that what I hold in my hands and take in is the body of Christ in the service of love to our salvation. Saint Paul VI, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“They abandoned their nets.” | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Free lectio divina prayer guide: quarryapps.gumroad.com/l/jojqau

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:20-21)

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

Jesus calls Simon and Andrew in the midst of their workday. They are in a boat, working for their sustenance and casting their nets into the sea. James and John, brothers in a family business, are mending their nets. In their livelihood, they are literally and figuratively in the same boat. When Jesus calls them, he refers to their occupation to make clear that what they have done as humble fisherman will be relevant to their work as disciples. Jesus invites them to get out of their boat and into his, not literally but figuratively, and they did. “They abandoned their nets and followed him.” Mark adds that Zebedee was not left to work alone but had hired men there to help him, a subtle suggestion that God takes care of all of the details when his invitation to follow is accepted. In the words of Christ, here is his invitation: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

God, help me understand the depth of today’s Gospel, how it was that the first apostles abandoned their way of life to follow Jesus Christ your Son. There are levels of understanding in the reading, ways to approach it. What did it mean for each of the apostles to follow Christ? Where did it lead them? And then I might ask what it means to me to hear Christ’s invitation to follow, to fail to follow, repent, and try all over again through the sacrament of reconciliation. The rich young man who appears elsewhere in Mark, could not bring himself to do what humble fisherman accomplished: they abandoned their nets. Give me the grace to remain humble, to recognize that whatever I do for worldly gain means nothing if it prevents me from following you. Help me recognize, Lord, as Paul says, that time is running out and that “the world in its present form is passing away.” Lord, give me clarity and wisdom in hearing and responding to your call.

From the responsorial psalm: “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Teach me your ways, O Lord.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Feast of Saint James, Apostle

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 20:20-28)

Jesus said in reply to James and John, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

The mother of James and John approaches Jesus, kneeling before him and asking a favor. She says, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Revealing a glimpse of the mystery in the relationship of the Son and the Father, Jesus indicates that the brothers will drink the chalice of suffering that he will drink but that it is not his to give but the Father’s the seat that he has prepared for them. Jesus tells the indignant ten apostles who overhear that authority in his kingdom is not as it is in the world: “Rather,” Jesus says, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.”

God, help me see what exercising authority in your service means. Keep me from aims of personal ambition and desire for power and instead help me follow Christ in his mission of self-giving love. Give me the grace to be ambitious for the things that endure to give you glory: humility, love, and selflessness. As Saint Paul says in the first reading: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.”

Lord, help me follow the example of Jesus today by doing your will and exercising authority through the humility of service to others. Saint James, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.